Posted on 07/05/2003 9:52:46 PM PDT by ex-Texan
Sex, rape & slaves inserted in sick holiday menu
Outbound travel has been hit hard this year by such factors as the war on Iraq and the SARS outbreak, but plenty of Japanese have headed overseas on underground tours involving sex, slavery and savagery, according to Tokusatsu Shinsengumi.
Japanese used to their peaceful lives in their sheltered archipelago would be horrified to learn what goes on in developing countries.
Many overseas travelers are on the lookout for something new and, in poorer parts of the world, they're likely to find locals willing to supply them with illegal options to their tours provided the price is right.
Take Indonesia, the magazine suggests as an example.
Considerable criticism was leveled at Japanese men taking sex tours several years ago, but instead of declining in the wake of the furor, the number of such travelers is apparently on the rise.
A crackdown on schoolgirl prostitution in Japan has created strong demand among Rising Suns for underage prostitutes in other countries.
"Indonesia's government shut down Jakarta's brothels, which led to an increase in the number of women working the streets. You've got jobless women down to even little homeless children prostituting themselves," a journalist well versed in Asian prostitution tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. "The greatest reason is undoubtedly the country's poverty."
For Japanese men sick of plying professionals, there are always the rape brokers of Vietnam - touts who'll apparently drag a woman off the streets so a Japanese man can violate her.
"I was walking alone through a market when this guy about 40 came up to me and, in broken Japanese, started saying, 'woman, woman.' I thought he was talking about prostitutes, so I told him I didn't need him, but he wouldn't go away. He turned to me and told me I could rape her. I asked him for more details and he said he'd kidnap any girl I pointed out and let me rape her," a 32-year-old man who traveled to Vietnam last year tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. "I was terrified. I ran away from him as soon as I could."
In Ecuador, Japanese can, according to the men's weekly, hunt for children in a different manner as they are armed with a rifle and permitted to track down a youth let loose in the jungle. About 10 Japanese have so far taken part in the tours, with only three getting a shot off at their target and no fatalities reported.
Japanese are tapping into the underground in European countries, too. Belarus attracts a monthly gathering of people from all over the world for its sickening slave auctions.
"I'm what you'd call a broker. My job is to buy people (in Belarus) and sell them all over the world. Buyers are the types you'd expect, doctors, politicians and the like. Belarus has its underground slavery companies. They have a monthly auction in poor villages. Young men, women, children and even the middle-aged are auctioned off," an unnamed man tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. "Belarussian women are beautiful, so they sell for a high price. Higher than you'd imagine. Basically, the younger they are, the better price they command. Let's face it, they can be enjoyed for longer, right?
"You'd be surprised how few of them are worried about being sold. Some of the women say they'd rather be a slave in a rich person's home than stay on in the poverty of their village. I've imported five Belarussian women into Japan."
Africa, a continent ravaged for centuries by slavery, continues to be blighted by the most evil of trades even today.
"Customers are looking for something different these days, right? Eastern Europeans or South Americans just aren't good enough any more. So, I decided to get myself some black women. A coordinator I know told me about the slave auctions in Africa and asked if I was interested in taking part. The coordinator's job is to bring foreign women to Japan. He said he was going to the auction again. I thought it looked interesting, so decided to tag along with him," the operator of an Osaka bordello tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. "It was held in Kenya. They brought out over a dozen young men and women and lined 'em all up in front of us like they were products. I asked who they were and was told they were all people badly in debt. Just looking at what was going on, I couldn't possibly buy anybody. I came home empty handed, but I've heard of sex businesses in Japan that use slaves. If they ever got picked up, there'd be an almighty uproar."
WaiWai stories are transcriptions of articles that originally appeared in Japanese language publications. The Mainichi Daily News cannot be held responsible for the contents of the original articles, nor does it guarantee their accuracy. Views expressed in the WaiWai column are not necessarily those held by the Mainichi Daily News or Mainichi Newspapers Co.
You have got to be kidding me. Buddy, WWII is over. We won. We have forgiven Japan, and Germany too. As for never forgetting...well yeah, that's what U.S. History is all about, isn't it?
There is currently a movement by the Japanese to rid themselves of our presence.
Gosh, how dare a minority of the Japanese population exercise their rights to advocate for the sovereignty of their own soil! As far as I'm concerned, I'd love it if the Japanese started footing the bill for their own self-defense. And while some of the bases we have in the area are damn useful, we have other places that serve our strategic needs in the Pacific.
They are also still involved in industrial espionage. I believe the CIA came out with another report of this in 2001.
As another poster has pointed out, every country does this, so why single out Japan?
VR
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