Job Discussion Forums

[Mr_Monkey]

Not to my recollection, no.

I wasn't even out trying to meet women - I was just married at the time. I guess someone surreptitiously slipped something in to my drink when my back was turned.

[rxk22]

[Mr_Monkey]

It was just your average gaijin bar. It closed in the four and a half years I spent back in the UK.

[rxk22]

[flyer]

thanks for sharing your story

[kathrynoh]

It's not just Roppongi. I went on a lunch date with a guy I met through Metropolis Classifieds and ended up with a lot of money being stolen from my wallet. All evidence pointed to him but the police wouldn't do anything. There was no drugging involved... just a bit of stupidity on my part (having my rent money in my wallet and completely forgetting about ... I usually only carry small amounts of cash on me).

Anyway, at the end of the day the police were very polite but couldn't/wouldn't do anything.

The police did tell me that crimes have been significantly increasing in Tokyo. Stuff like pickpocketing, theft etc. Also, just about everyone I told about it (Westerners and Japanese) knew someone who'd been robbed! It's easy to get complacent in Japan and believe all those stories about it being a safe country but you have to be as cautious as anywhere else.

[Mr_Monkey]

[rxk22]

[mhard1]

there is nothing in any one of these stories that could not have been avoided with some common sense. Also do not be so trusting of other people.

If you keep these two things in mind, you will save a lot of money and hassle in this country!

[Mr_Monkey]

Thanks for the insight, mhard...

[PO1]

I was followed by someone one night near Kabukicho just wandering around getting a look as I had a job interview in the area the next day so I got a hotel that night, which was a bad idea. As soon as he started talking to me I knew it was some kind of scam, so I kept telling him I wasn't interested. When he showed me a photo of a young lady, I sighed deeply. He kept following me so I finally said "Get away from me." That made him go away. The key is to never be trusting of anyone in that area. Only go with friends or other Japanese people. If they see a foreigner alone, you stick out like a sore thumb.

I was also told to feign not knowing English and they'll leave you alone (pretend you're a tourist from another country.) Luckily this sort of thing isn't as rampant where I live, so I don't have to worry about unsavory characters much.

[Cool Teacher]

Whoaaah! So much for the "safety country" mind you things like this will probably make Shinatro Ishihara go, "See! The gaijins are not trustable!"

Mind you why didn't the police go to the bar that that lady took you to? Did the Nigerian gentleman work there???

[It's Scary!]

By and by, Japan follows the "96% rule"...96% of it is safe.

[Tiger Beer]

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

I have been wary of Roppongi from the time an upsetting news story broke of a British national going missing there for some time. This happened in the late nineties and murder was suspected. Her name, I believe, was Lucy Black.

She had been working as a hostess in a Roppangi nightspot for some time. And then, simply disappeared, last seen exiting the club with a questionable looking Japanese guy (not a Nigerian, although some of those guys make me nervous too).

Turned out she was drugged, killed and ultimately dismembered. This was eventually discovered weeks or months later, probably fueled by pressure by her distraught family.

I still remember with a shudder, her broken bits being brought out under a blue tarp from where she had been buried. The man responsible for her death being led off and pictures of her family grieving.

I would (and always did) avoid Roppongi. Just not a very safe place. And Japan is definitely not as safe a place as I thought it was a couple of decades ago.