JAPAN — While the grabby, boundary-invading, Macho behavior of male Mexican commuters may be legendary, the inappropriate ways that seemingly manner-filled Japanese company men are lesser known. Apparently the women of Japan are familiar with them, however, because at least once cell phone company content provider has taken the time to give them a very special message to pass along to would-be fondlers. Games developer Takahashi released its “Anti-Groping Appli” in 2005, but it’s climbing the popularity charts this year, having reached Number 7 in a recent Top-10 Spicy Soft Corp list of best cell phone applications.
The beauty of the app is in its incredible simplicity, and its power lies in its ability to do what many Japanese women are discouraged form doing – speaking clearly and with emphasis.
Although it still requires that an offended women interact with the boor who violated the laws of good taste, it’s a start in the right direction. Each time the woman feels an unwanted hand, she can call up a warning message on her cell phone screen and show it to the object of her annoyance, by pressing an “anger” icon.
Early on the warnings are gentle and inquisitive. “Excuse me, did you just grope me?” the program asks. In case the lusty reader doesn’t realize his error, another message reminds him that “Groping is a crime.” If that still doesn’t encourage corrective behavior, the offended can ask her attacker “Shall we head to the police?” as a sign that she means business.
Commuter trains in Japan are notoriously crowded and the popularity of cell phone gadgets, games, and applications has soared recently, with Yahoo Value Insight reporting that 61-percent of Japanese mobile phone users employ an application each day. Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested 1,853 people during 2005 for groping other riders in the city’s passenger trains. Experts believe that the number of unwanted touches is far higher, but under reported by the nation’s women.
Whether the free app works or not is unknown, although at least one Spicy Soft official has come to love it. “I first downloaded this as a joke,” Michika Izumi confesses, “but I think it could be a lifesaver if I get groped.”
Although an increase in awareness and annoying with commuter gropers may be responsible for the increased popularity in the Anti-Groping Appli, Izumi thinks it might have something to do with it being located during searches for other Takahashi apps, including a new horoscope, number game, and blogging program.
