TOKYO (TR) – An idol group appeared at an event that aimed to eradicate the crime of women being molested on commuter trains, the second such initiative featuring a pop group in the past week, reports Nippon News Network (Dec. 1).
On Thursday, members of Momoiro Clover Z, police and railway personnel gathered for an event in Hachioji City that sought the elimination of chikan (molesters) inside train carriages and on the premises of stations.
“I once saw a girl being molested, but a salaryman helped her,” member Ayaka Sasaki is quoted. “In seeing this kind of assistance, I think it is very encouraging for girls.”
Last week, Nanaka Kawamura, a member of idol group Kamen Joshi (Masked Girls), initiated a patrol through JR Yokohama Station to warn women and children regarding molesters and tosatsu (illicit filming).
There were around 1,900 arrests for women being molested on trains and in and around stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area last year. More than half of the incidents took place inside carriages. “We would like [women] to be especially cautious inside carriages,” a member of the Tokyo police is quoted by TBS News (Dec. 2).