Chikan (body contact)
{{Short description|Japanese term referring to sexual harassment}}
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File:Noun-sexual-harassment-4670347.svg
File:Chikan Sign.jpg, warns "Beware of Chikan!"]]
Chikan ({{lang|ja|痴漢}}, {{lang|ja|チカン}}, or {{lang|ja|ちかん}}) is sexual harassment or other obscene acts conducted against the victim's will, or a person who commits such an act.{{Cite news |date=2023-06-07 |title=Catching the men who sell subway groping videos |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65811838 |access-date=2023-06-08}} The term is frequently used to describe men and women[http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/search.php?MT=%C3%D4%B4%C1&kind=jn&mode=1 Daijirin dictionary entry for chikan] who take advantage of the crowded conditions on the public transit systems to grope women, although men can be victims of chikan as well.{{Cite journal |last=Zhu |first=Lingfeng |date=2023 |title=Criminal remedies for sexual rights of male in Japan and China |script-title= |trans-title= |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10748/00013415 |journal=Tokyo Metropolitan University Journal of Law and Politics |language=ja |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=423–458 |issn=18807615}} While the term is not defined in the Japanese legal system, vernacular use describes acts that violate several laws. The neologism referring to the corresponding female chikan is chijo.
In clinical psychology, the desire is called frotteurism. While women on crowded trains in Japan are the most frequent targets of chikan, sexual predators in Japan can take advantage of people in other situations as well. One such situation (warned against in the sign pictured) is bicycle parking lots, where a molester will wait until a woman or man is bent over, unlocking their bicycle lock, and then grope them from behind. Chikan often features in Japanese pornography, along with other non-consensual themes.{{Cite web| title = On Tokyo's Packed Trains, Molesters Are Brazen| author = WuDunn, Sheryl| work = The New York Times| date = 17 December 1995| accessdate = 2016-10-13| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/17/world/on-tokyo-s-packed-trains-molesters-are-brazen.html}} As part of the effort to combat chikan, some railway companies have designated women-only passenger cars.[http://www.belsona-strategic.com/hisandhers_subway.htm The His and Hers Subway] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226060039/http://www.belsona-strategic.com/hisandhers_subway.htm |date=December 26, 2007 }}{{Cite web |title=Japan Tries Women-Only Train Cars to Stop Groping |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/International/story?id=803965 |publisher=ABC News}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/053105WB.shtml |title=Women-Only Cars on Commuter Trains Cause Controversy in Japan |access-date=2005-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051113000443/http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/053105WB.shtml |archive-date=2005-11-13 |url-status=dead }}
In FY2024, there were 2,254 arrests for molestation, of which 1,321 were in stations and trains, and 1,203 arrests for voyeurism, including 1,000 on escalators and stairs in stations.{{Cite web |url=https://www.npa.go.jp/bureau/safetylife/bouhan/chikan/R05-1chikan.tousatsu.pdf|title=Results of Arrests for Molestation and Voyeurism in 2023|publisher=Metropolitan Police Department|accessdate=2025-04-18}}Victims of molestation may be inhibited from reporting their victimization, psychologically unable to ride the train, and other ongoing harms.{{Cite web|title=痴漢にあった女の子の涙 警察は「被害届出すの？ 時間かかるよ」 加害者への「広告」に絶句 北原みのり|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0ec49aedf7dde0d04bdde88f80030051c5d08f50?page=1|website=AERA|date=2025-04-23|access-date=2024-04-24}}
== Description ==
CHIKAN is the act of touching or hugging someone on a train, in an elevator, or on a street at night, or of exhibitionism of the lower half of one's body and enjoying seeing the other person's reaction, which is a sex crime.上田基編著『命のたいせつさを学ぶ性教育』ミネルヴァ書房、2008年、{{ISBN2|4623051021}}、86頁Basically means non-lethal sexual assault, sexual violence, and the person who commits it.[https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/dd05148f873599e3aea6fb48fb424dd61413026b 痴漢は性暴力に入りますか?(小川たまか) - 個人 - Yahoo!ニュース]|access-date=2021-07-05痴漢から女性を守る会 著『満員電車は危険がいっぱい』マイクロマガジン社、2007年、{{ISBN2|4896372514}}、p.23
BBC News reports that the word chikan has spread around the world, so much so that foreign molestation and voyeurism groups are targeting Japanese trains. {{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65811838 |title=Catching the men who sell subway groping videos |publisher=BBC |date=8 June 2023 |access-date=2025-04-24}}
While some countries publish country-specific travel advice, the United Kingdom government has posted for its citizens traveling to Japan, “Female passengers travelling on commuter trains have experienced inappropriate behaviour. This includes touching and upskirting – taking photos or videos from below when women walk or stand nearby. ” and the Canadian government has posted, "Inappropriate physical contact may occur on busy subways and trains. ”{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/japan/safety-and-security |title=Foreign travel advice Japan |website=GOV.UK |access-date=2025-04-24}}{{Cite web|url=https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/japan|title=Japan travel advice|website=GOV.CANADA |access-date=2025-04-24}}
On the Osaka Metro Midosuji Line, an 18-year-old woman was raped on a platform in 2019 as a result of escalating molestation on the train.{{Cite web|url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN6M5CR9N6HPTFC00Y.html|title=駅のホームで強制性交 社会は痴漢と向き合ってきたか|publisher=朝日新聞|author=机美鈴|access-date=2024-05-07}}On this train, there was also a rape case in 1988 due to an accusation of molestation and recrimination.{{Cite news|title=News Up もし、あなたの大切な人が…女性専用車両を考える|newspaper=NHKニュース|publisher=日本放送協会|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20180326/k10011378781000.html|accessdate=2018-03-26}}