|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
cornishmuppet
Joined: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 642
Location: Nagano, Japan
|
 Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:00 am Post subject: |
 |
|
I was sure someone had to be helping him. Just the fact that he apparently got the job by going up to the company boss in the street and begging for it would have made me suspicious, and at the time he wouldn't have had time to grow his hair or beard.
Glad they caught him in the end. There were some pretty scathing comments about the efficiency of the Japanese police posted as comments on an article on a news website I was reading yesterday. "Keystone Cops" was the one that seemed most accurate. Wikipedia has some interesting information about his first escape, 9 officers, or something, starting around outside for two hours because they weren't allowed to knock without due reason, something like that. At least they've caught him though. Hopefully it actually IS him.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Apsara wrote:
I'm not surprised either, and it has nothing to do with it happening in Japan.
I'm not sure I agree with this. It takes years to apprehend suspected murderers in many parts of the world, but there are relatively few cases where the identity of the suspect is so widely advertised and they remain "at large" for 2.5 years. The time when he started working for the construction company would've been shortly after the 1 year anniversary (and associated media coverage). |
So what conclusion are you drawing here? That the people at the construction company actually knew who he was but didn't say anything and that this is because they are Japanese? I sincerely doubt that. Or are you just saying people here are oblivious?
Have a look again at what I said in my post:
| Apsara wrote: |
Also, unlike the picture of him that was widely circulated originally, while working at the construction company he had longer hair, a short beard and moustache, and apparently always wore a hat and glasses, and often a mask, even while working.
|
If Ichihashi had walked up to you wearing a hat, glasses and a mask, can you honestly say you would have recognised him? As I said above, I think that the fact that he actually disguised himself quite heavily makes it understandable that he was able to hide for so long. We can't pass judgement on these people, because we weren't there, although this case seems to attract an enormous amount of people passing judgement in all directions, on the police, his parents, Japanese people in general. I find statements like "he got away with it for so long because this is Japan" and similar to be somewhat racist, and I'm amazed that intelligent people feel comfortable making comments like that on a public forum. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well, and it's a stretch, but I do think it's odd with the amount of press initially that before he had plastic surgery he wasn't picked up. People would see his face sometimes, as he was living in a company dormitory.
I mean, wouldn't you recognize someone who had been on the news living in your own dorm?
Wouldn't you wonder why a construction worker was getting plastic surgery (it's not like he was making a bundle)?
As to the keystone cops analogy, actually not all the police officers were there when he escaped, a mere 4 at that time. Still seems odd that he could get away.
Seems to me the police should have put more pressure on the relatives, as obviously someone was helping him as initially he had litle or no money. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
| gaijinalways wrote: |
Well, and it's a stretch, but I do think it's odd with the amount of press initially that before he had plastic surgery he wasn't picked up. People would see his face sometimes, as he was living in a company dormitory.
I mean, wouldn't you recognize someone who had been on the news living in your own dorm?
|
Remember that until a few days ago, all anyone had seen was the old picture of him- short hair, arched eyebrows etc. As soon as the new photo came out, people started reporting sightings of him, which shows how effective the measures he took to change his appearance were previously. Not everyone in Japan paid the amount of attention to this case that the foreign community did, and I don't think they can be blamed for that. As well as the hat, glasses, mask etc, he apparently spent almost all his time alone in his tiny room- it's not as if it was a college dorm situation.
Last edited by Apsara on Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:32 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cornishmuppet
Joined: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 642
Location: Nagano, Japan
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
[/quote] As to the keystone cops analogy, actually not all the police officers were there when he escaped, a mere 4 at that time. Still seems odd that he could get away.[/quote]
Nine, according to this article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5139609.ece
While before all the keystone buffoonery began she was probably already dead, it makes my blood boil reading that section about the police. Couldn't 'knock', couldn't 'restrain him', couldn't jump down after him for 'health and safety' reasons.
Obviously the article takes a certain stance, and has certain "inaccuracies" - "a club in Tokyo�s gay quarter, Shinjuku" (er, not all of it), judging from what I've seen of Japanese police I wouldn't be surprised if this is exactly how it went down.
Their training must specialise in checking bycycles for lights, cars stopping at stop lines, and old men riding without seatbelts. Nice job, boys. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
| gaijinalways wrote: |
Seems to me the police should have put more pressure on the relatives, as obviously someone was helping him as initially he had litle or no money. |
This idea seems to have been pretty much disproved. His parents made statements urging him to give himself up and categorically denied that they had helped him in any way or even had any contact with him- I tend to believe them. Also, I'm certain the police went after that line of investigation, and clearly they didn't turn up anything. We don't know how much money he had with him when he ran, or whether he was able to steal money to get by initially- wouldn't have been that hard. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:48 am Post subject: |
|
|
The parents urged him to give up recently, not when he first disappeared.
People can state what they want, it doesn't mean it's true. In other words, I believe he was getting help, as his own income was not enough to support an initial life on the run. Some people strongly suspect the father's side of the family, so it may not have been the father directly, but rather a relative.
They didn't investigate the parents harddrives nor tap their phone lines, so I'm not sure what you mean by a 'full' investigation. |
|
| Back to top |
| |
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
