My 12 Chikan (Sexual Assault) Stories that Almost All Japanese Women Would Relate to. #2

Elevators are another hell spot for sexual assault. Girls, bring your Katana sword when you get In elevators. Let’s see how Japanese women grow up in Japan? This is not just my story but OUR story.

Momoiro Clover Z with katana

Here is the second half of My Chikan Stories from my childhood.
(You can read the first half of My Chikan Stories from my childhood here)

I went to a private elementary school with a school uniform dress code, so I really stood out in the crowd.
There are PSAs on Youtube demonstrating how safe it is in Japan to let kids take public transportation to school alone.

Every day from the age of seven until I was fifteen, I took a bus and a train an hour and a half each way to and from school.
Public transportation seemed basically safe to me. Nobody tried to grope me, maybe because I was small and my Japanese school bag, called a randoseru (ランドセル), was enormous and protected me from behind.

Randoseru. It’s become common for girls to carry black randoseru.

The real ghosts were in my neighborhood.

3. 11 Years Old: Elevator Black Box AGAIN

Do you remember my very first Chikan experience at 7 years old?

I stood out from the other kids in the neighborhood where our apartment was located.
Because I went to a private elementary and middle school, I wore the academy’s sailor-style uniform, and I carried a black Japanese school bag called a randoseru (ランドセル).

Sailor-style uniform. It fits any age.

Many kids in the apartment complex went to public school and black randoseru were only for boys back then, so my outfit and my school bag really stood out.

This is what my apartment complex looks like.

Actually, after I grew up, I got to know some rappers from the same apartment complex as mine, and they reacted, “Are you THAT girl with a black randoseru!?”

Yes, I was famous!!

So, I might have been marked by “that guy”.

One day just after I got home from school, the elevator horror happened again.
I got on the elevator in my apartment building and a young guy in a high school uniform followed me in. I thought he might be a friend of one of my neighbors.

While standing in front of the buttons, I felt being touched on my butt.

I turned and glared at the guy, but he acted as if nothing was happening.

My rage boiled over in a flash.

As I was about to yell “Temee! てめぇ！( close to MOTHERF**KER!!),
he pushed me against the wall and shoved his tongue down my throat.

I was an eleven-year-old child totally pinned against the wall by a grown man, and my mind went totally blank.

When the doors opened, I managed to wiggle out of the elevator.

Maybe he knew that I was standing right in front of my apartment, but he didn’t try to come after me.
I was speechless, glaring at him fiercely until the doors closed.

Then…I realized he was the same guy I’d encountered in the same elevator when I was seven.

My mom filed a complaint with the resident’s association.

Alerts were posted in every building in the complex. There weren’t security cameras in the elevators back then.
Nothing ever came of it.

4. 15 Years Old: An Inch to The Elevator Black Box AGAIN

The black-box horror almost happened again while I was in middle school.

After middle school, we don’t carry randoseru.

Because of mid-term exams on that day, I was on my way home earlier than usual.
Also, my school’s schedule was different from the kids’ in the area, so the streets were empty and no one was around.

The bus stop was a 10-minute walk from my apartment.

About halfway there, I had a faintly weird feeling.

There was a guy just walking along, about 20 meters behind me. But something didn’t feel right.

I sat on a bench to drink a bottle of tea, and he passed by me.

After a few minutes, I started walking again. But, before I knew it I found myself being followed by him again.

I varied my pace faster and slower. But he never tried to pass me, he just kept the same pace. When I finally arrived at my building, I realized the guy was that same chikan who had assaulted me twice before!

I was desperate to get home safely. I don’t remember details, but it was like a cop and robber chase.

Once I got on the elevator and immediately pushed the close button, I realized he took the stairs.

So I guessed he’d try to get on the elevator from a floor somewhere in the middle.

I got off the elevator and let it go empty. I ran out and into the lobby of the next building.

I went upstairs and carried out surveillance from a window in the stairwell.

After a few minutes, I saw him running out of my building and going to search in the opposite direction.

I rushed out of the building and ran up the stairs to my house safely.

Chikans are the real ghosts waiting in elevators.

Let’s have katanas prepared at all times.

I strongly recommend all women, including kids, learn martial arts, and to take the “right action” like this woman:

Those are my unforgettable chikan experiences from my childhood.

Most news articles about chikan are about cases of women older than junior high school on trains. But women become a target while they are still girls the moment they start walking in public alone.

It’s rumored that more foreigners are turning into chikan in Japan.

Before becoming “Japanized” in such a way, please imagine if your daughter got victimized by YOU.

Thank you my unicorns for reading!

Starting with the next article, My Chikan Stories #3, I will share stories of my adulthood, including weird happenings.

I will continue posting stories on mental health, women’s issues, and diversity with a Japanese comedic voice.

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ARGT! (Arigato)