Brown hair must be a sign of power in Japan

See, everyone in Japan has played Dragon Quest.

130000 yen? God damn, don't the Akihabara-visiting types know what a credit card is?

Gold too?

@hobob: Lol, I always thought that it would be yellow hair.

And didn't they arrest this guy or anything???!!!

Whats an otaku?

Wow, typical crime mentality. I used to know a girl, who was addicted to shoplifting. She is still my best friend, she used to compulsively steal in everystore.

So once I sat her down and had a talk *She is younger than me by about 2 years, so she looked up to me for advice*

I said to her

"Why do you steal?"

"As nobody stops me."

"Well why don't you think before you go into the store "Is this worth a criminal record?"

"Ok, i'll try."

We went into a store....She stole a snickers bar. I was like "You're not thinking are you?"

I mean, I think it was peer pressure as all her friends would shoplift people things for each other as gifts.

Luckily that was a LONG time ago, she got caught trying to shoplift a great deal of stuff once. The security guard let her off, said they only prosecute once per day. So she luckily didn't get a criminal record, but [b]SUPRISE SUPRISE, she stopped shoplifitng from then on[/b]

People just need a reality check, that seems to be what this kid is hoping for. Now if only I could steal some flight money and go and give it to him....Whoops!

@Link_the_Collector: it wasn't a cop interviewing him.

Nm, wikipedia to the rescue

Crap, think of the XP the guys got after all that grinding. You need a super party to get him.

It's only a matter of time before he has enough exp to take on the brown-haired ones. They should mob him before he gets max level.

Also, what's up with the cardboard girl on the left, the one holding up her skirt, she's wearing one hell of a skimpy pair of underpants.

@Lennin: haha, you win.

man, when i lived in texas, youd have this clientele at the local comic shop that'd pay hundreds upon hundreds in cash for that warhammer tabletop stuff...such an obvious mark its not even funny.

This guy works for a hair dye company.

If otaku's have so much money wouldn't he make [i]more[/i] money by offering to protect them from the criminals? I mean he robs them for a while and the area gets a reputation of being unsafe and then sets up a protection service were you pay **200 yen/ hour or something ... Obviously this criminal doesn't think enough. You can't stay in the same line of business too long otherwise you'll get caught. Diversification is the key to success!

**No idea on how much that is worth

I show this story to my friend in Taito and he blame it all on Zainichi Kankokujin.

how ironic these otakus dont know karate, every cartoon they watch features it as a mayor part of beating the bad guys.

@VakeroRokero: Well most of the otakus are either too thin or too fat to be of any use even if they did know karate. XD

Yes Im being a dick I know, but seriously if you look at most of the people there you will see its not that far off.

Damn. Hopefully otakus will take heed and start travelling in packs...

This is why I like being relatively physically fit, I could probably beat down a mugger, or at least make them regret their time.

I really want to read the follow up interview after someone does finally stand up to this asshat and beats the holy shit out of him.

And this, my friends, is why I never carry cash on me.

@Duoae: ...Under 2.00USD an hour. XD

Well, I've got brown hair and I deadlift 365 pounds, does that mean he'll get more money if he mugs me? Ha. I wish.

@Elroc: An otaku, from what I understand, is a geek.

Why on earth does Kotaku glorify and make celebrity-like these thieving scumbags? Hang your heads in shame Kotaku for reporting/publishing such rot. The thief should be reported and handed over all details of the crimes committed immediately to police.

@The Pinny Parlour: They arent glorifying it, but showing a part of the culture and an incident that is currently going on.

In a sense we here are a different breed of Otakus, gamer otakus. Since an Otaku is pretty much a person who enjoys a certian hobby excessively. Since we all spend time sitting around on a gaming blog, we do "fit" into the category, since its not something a casual gamer would do.

Also since Ashcraft is in Japan, he has every write to post up such stories. Even more so since its related to Akiba, not to mention the (K)otaku you notice the word otaku in it? So its not like this is a totally unrelated subject.

Get the hell off your high horse and if you dont like it just dont read it. Nobody likes a pseudo good guy act.

About the credit card thing,... from what I understand, credit cards aren't as big in Japan as they are here. Not to mention there are still a lot of people who are paid in cash come pay day. Then again, my information is a year or so old, so correct me if I'm wrong people who live in Japan. (looks at Witzbold)
Oh, and making your hair brown is like yankii. I don't know how to describe that right now.

Really, though, those otaku that are getting mugged are probably those that play eroge. I'm sure if any of them played MMOs they'd know that they shouldn't go out alone. Hell, their own major MMO, FFXI, it's impossible to do anything solo after level 5! (Not sure how accurate that statement is, no need to nick pick that).

@Witzbold:

lol No I won't 'get off my high horse' because I'm not on one.
How does being in Japan, (or any country) automatically certify one to glorify criminal acts? Crime is crime and any victim of theft will tell you that the perpetrator deserve all they get.

Report the thief to the police as they are criminals.

@The Boy Least Likely: I think the fact that you can get caught is part of the thrill. Lots of people don't shoplift for the stuff, but for the act of shoplifting itself. I think Winona Ryder can afford pretty much anything she wants :-)

@Channing: Actually in Japan it seems to be harder to get a credit card.

Or at least it has been the case for my friends and I so far. Even a few who were Japanese.

Plus I think most people dont like the idea of going into debt with a credit care, so they use cash. Plus its been a cash society for quite some time too.

---

More importantly over the no credit card situation, is how the fuck do some of these otakus get that kind of cash. When you look at them, its sure as hell doesnt look like they could hold down some sort of job. Even more so, one that would pay them well enough to support themselves and their atrocious buying habits.

@Witzbold: Shit you forgot to mention that there still are quite a few stores that dont take credit cards also, and work on a cash only basis.

Although its been changing a lot reciently, but there still are quite a few that dont accept cards.

@The Pinny Parlour:
Kotaku just repors$t news that is relevant to their readers. I'm sure most people here know what an otaku is and where akihabara is located.
"Journalists" are not supposed to take the law into their own hands and divulging the identity of a confidential source is frowned upon by groups representing journalists in many countries.

Please grow up and be realistic.

I lolled at the fact that the guy plays DQ.

The stores that have the real good deals rarely accept credit cards. SofMap does, but that sorta ilustrates my point. So, yeah, it is still not convenient for most people to just carry a CC.

BTW, the bastard wasn't talking about stealing *his* father, from the context, he was using "oyaji" as "old man". This cowardly punk needs to get his ass beaten.

Wait so this guy steals from oktakus in Japan? (sorry I didn't read the first post about this).

Wow...stealing from nerds. I imagine they don't retaliate much do they?

interesting read nonetheless. I feel sorry for 'em I really do.

So Crackdown wasn't all that successful over there?

Oh and the otakus should just travel in groups or something. If they still can't fend him off, they can use their combined stench to paralyze him.

Or they can cast Haste or something and run away...I kiiid!

@Cirrus:
I found that funny too. He preys on Otaku's partially because they annoy him, yet he has the balls to liken his act to a damn video game. Something tells me that he himself is a closet Otaku.

Regarding the "my dad" part, as inu points out, that was a mistranslation of "親父", which literally means "dad" (not "my dad"), but usually just means "middle aged guys".

Regarding credit cards: Japan has two things which have traditionally made credit cards less popular than in the US: 1) People save more, thus are less likely to spend money they don't have (don't get me wrong, there are plenty of folks who use credit, just witness the proliferation of Promise and Honobono Lake and other small-credit shops, but it's not near the level of credit use as America), and 2) Traditionally there is very, very little mugging, so it isn't problematic to carry cash. Since this "Akiba Crime Wave" isn't really being reported over here, most people wouldn't think that Akiba is so dangerous they should avoid carrying cash, so they don't.

And regarding the "brown hair" thing, in the Japanese, he doesn't just say "The ones who seem to be wandering around - the weak ones.", but something more along the lines of "The ones walking alone, skinny, totally 'that type' of weak guys". By "that type" he means "stereotypical weak geek". So he's not avoiding brown haired folks because they're brown haired, but because he's targeting the absolute uber-geek type.

@The Pinny Parlour: "Hang your heads in shame Kotaku for reporting/publishing such rot. The thief should be reported and handed over all details of the crimes committed immediately to police."

"Shame on you for reporting. He should be reported."??

@The Pinny Parlour: "How does being in Japan, (or any country) automatically certify one to glorify criminal acts?"

How does reporting on a crime in Japan (or any country) automatically certify one as glorifying it?

@The Pinny Parlour: If they had 'glorified' it, that would probably be because it's funny, which is always a good enough reason. But in this case they didn't. So, like, whatever.

@Havok154: Yes, the Dragon Quest reference is comedy gold. :) Well, it's a bit less funny if he did it on purpose (or if the entire interview was made up, for that matter), but...

Man... I want to live in a place where I can walk in to a store to see giant anime cutouts lifting thier skirts.

@hondo: Sure just go live by your local porn store. Same thing.

The sad thing is if you're a westerner, you can pretty much walk around even the most dangerous areas of Japan and it still feels kind of quaint. I'm 6'4 and 200 lbs' - there's not a non-Yakuza anywhere in Japan that's going to mess with me. This interview pretty much reconfirms that - these guys go after "weak" otaku because they don't want any "hassle" as they get their money. They're bottom-feeders; weak themselves. Just trying to prove to somebody that they're not as weak as the weakest of the weak.

@The Pinny Parlour:
You okay, buddy?

This is what I'm doing: linking to an article that linked to an interview with a hooligan whom I've never meet and whose identity I don't know.

This is what you are doing: being irrational and immature. Oh, and a tool.

@ashcraft: He has saved us once again!

Just who was that masked man? ;D

@The Boy Least Likely: Yeah your right people do need a reality check.

@bugbread: I know they are geeks but over here if you get robbed your going to get shot too if your in the right "wrong" places. Also too are these gun point stick ups or knife stick ups or trading card power deck stick ups?

gg. man with the banhammer always wins.

@badasscat: Well Id say people dont mess with you since, your are a lot bigger than normal people. About 3 inches taller than me and Im considered pretty big here.

Although, when theres drunk business men they will just pick fights with anyone, but hey its the same in any country with that right? :D

Most Yakuza arent stupid to go bugging normal people anyways, unless provoked of course.

Its not like the old movies or in games.

Ive walked around areas infested with Yakuza and those types of people, and you act like you belong there and mind your own biz, they do the same.

Muggers the world over go for weak victims who won't put up a fight. This guy is no different. To avoid it walk tall, belong, look around you not at the ground.

Ashcraft - don't insult the readers! Not even the slower ones. He's entitled to his mis-informed opinion.

@The Pinny Parlour: Also too Kotaku is doing the right then as many of your go around with PS3 money in your hand going to each store. This is great reporting as it put fear back into your heart. Some thing geeks needs some time and especially otaku as they don't really dewl in reality a lot.

I wish all news sites did this. The criminals need to be heard from as to why they do what they do as part of their sentencing. This way the public can learn or expose the real problems in society instead of just locking up more and more people.

Jails don't prevent crime, people that are proactive do. You can't be proactive if you don't realise what is causing the crime.

So basicly otaku should get together and discuss security messures or at least buy temporay bank cards that hold your money for you. Most people want cash so if you only have plastic then thats a lot harder to get money off of. Plus too it makes the whole thing much more of a hassel for the robber as it's not easy money any more.

@Runna: The criminals arent stupid, others will just wait till their "mark" goes into an ATM corner to get the cash, and mug them after.

It happens quite a lot to the older people. They usually get hit after leaving the bank or post office.

But yeah, your other points are very true and I think if its one thing Japan needs is more education on these types of situations. Then again its not like most people here really care about the Otakus anyways, since in a sense they are still looked down upon in general. The funny thing is that they run a good portion of the economy, buying all sorts of crap in excessive amounts.

If it wasnt for them I seriously think the DVD and CD industry would be a lot more dead than it already is.

They have debit cards, at least? Cant they just carry those around instead of a sack with a Yen sign on it?

It's not really as if Ashcroft did the interview himself, and then gave the guy a high five. This is a news site reporting news - shocked? It would actually be a much more poignant sin for them to not report something because an interview is a moral retard. The truth sucks sometimes, but it is what it is.

On brown-haired otaku, I think there is something to say of the hair color. In Japan there is a definite stereotype associated with having a bit of hair color, and while in the States or elsewhere it's not really a big deal, dyeing your hair is kind of a bigger statement here. There are a lot of automatic associations that can be made, albeit much more so with guys than with women. If you're a true shut-in otaku (the kind this guy is sniping for), it's kind of unlikely you'll do something to bring attention to yourself.