Japan Steps Up Patrols Over Exam-Season Train Groping (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Why are Japanese police warning about so-called groping day? And why are students riding trains in danger? If you've ever visited Tokyo, you've seen the posters. The ones warning you about gropers, or chikan, who might be lurking right behind you. Or the social media videos of civilians catching gropers in the act.

[00:00:20] Speaker 2: Government data shows that these crimes are rising, and here in Tokyo, about one in two women have experienced groping at some point in their lives.

[00:00:27] Speaker 1: Victims who shared their experiences with us said how they were so terrified they couldn't speak up.

[00:00:34] Speaker 2: Most of these crimes happen on trains during our shower, where millions of people ride the metro every day.

[00:00:39] Speaker 1: But there's another disturbing pattern that's happening right now. Gropers targeting students during exam season in January. The thinking is, students can't afford to be late on such an important day, so they'll be less inclined to speak up. On Japanese social media, some posts even call exam day groping day and exam season a molester's festival. To combat this issue, police are increasing patrols at stations during exam season, running awareness campaigns on trains, and even responding directly to posts online, saying offenders will be apprehended. They're also encouraging bystanders to speak up, and promoting tools like safety apps that can alert authorities quickly. And of course, reminding perpetrators of the very simple fact that what they're doing is a crime.