[Captured from online community FM Korea]
[Captured from online community FM Korea]

A video showing a man repeatedly brushing against women and touching their bodies in a busy Japanese shopping arcade has stirred controversy online.

The footage, filmed at an arcade-style shopping street in Japan, was posted to the online community FM Korea on Wednesday and quickly spread across the internet.

The person who shared the video, identified only as A, titled the post "Watch out for sexual harassment in Japan," saying the man "deliberately touched women's bodies as he walked past them."

A said he spotted the man behaving suspiciously while walking through the shopping street and followed him at a distance to film the incident.

The video shows a man in a black short-sleeved T-shirt walking through the crowded arcade and using the back of his hand to make contact with women's thighs as he passes them.

Rather than stepping aside for women walking toward him, the man extended his hand in the narrow space between them and repeatedly made contact with their legs and thighs.

At least one woman appeared to sense something was wrong as the man brushed past her, turning around to look at his hand.

However, the man's identity and nationality have not been confirmed.

Online commenters reacted with anger, writing that the behavior was "disgusting," that "it looks even more disturbing because it's made to look accidental," and that "he can't just be let go." Others said the man appeared to "get a thrill out of the act itself" and noted that such behavior is difficult to prosecute.

Some also cautioned against generalizing about Japan's public safety or culture based on the unidentified man's actions, saying his behavior should not be used to condemn an entire country or group. Meanwhile, a related phenomenon known as "butsukari" — in which some men deliberately shoulder-check women, children and elderly people on streets and at train stations — has been flagged as a social problem in Japan for years.

In June, a man living in Yokohama was arrested on charges of shoving an elementary school student to the ground and injuring the child. In February, a woman was caught on camera deliberately bumping into a foreign child in the middle of Shibuya in Tokyo, sparking international controversy.


betterj@heraldcorp.com