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 Posted May 24th, 2004 01:08 PM IP   
Satanic sex crime explodes
among society's big guns
By Ryann Connell
Staff Writer
May 23, 2004
Dacapo (6/2) reports what it's like when divorced parents with children go hunting for a new spouse.
Dime (6/3) gives the reasons why consumers purchased new products in 33 genres.
Shincho 45 (June) looks at mainland China's "material girls," who expect a male suitor to spend more on one date than his entire monthly salary.
Shukan Jitsuwa (6/3) boos and hoots at the things it doesn't like about the ways baseball games are broadcast on TV.
Shukan Bunshun (5/27) speculates on why the relationship has chilled between the Empress and Crown Princess Masako.
Its no wonder Chinese are so anti-Japanese, thanks to the 200,000 monthly visitors to the Memorial to the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, sighs Shukan Shinto (5/27).
Flash (6/1) shows the mug shots of 115 Diet members who have been delinquent in paying into the compulsory national pension fund.
Here's everything males need to know about the latest diagnoses, treatments and remedies for baldness, sprouts Weekly Playboy (6/1).
Asahi Geino (5/27) gives a listing of popular "time tunnel" businesses, where readers can shop and eat in a nostalgic atmosphere of the 1950s and 60s.
According to its survey on HIV/AIDS in Japan, Spa! (5/25) reports that more people are concerned about catching the virus from a sex worker than from their doctors, nurses or policemen.
Sunday Mainichi (5/30) yelps that 93 percent of condominium residents suffer from disputes with building management.
Shukan Asahi (5/28) slam dunks five forces at work that will see a revival of Japan's fortunes at women's volleyball competition at Athens this summer.
Yomiuri Weekly (5/30) gums at how to determine when a dentist is incompetent.
The vestiges of the AUM Supreme Truth cult that terrorized Tokyo's subways in 1995 with toxic nerve gas are now virtually leaderless and on the verge of collapse, sniffs Shukan Taishu (5/31).
Shukan Tokuho (5/31) heralds the launch of 24 different new types of instant cup noodles, to be sold from this summer at the nation's convenience stores.
Aera (5/24) advises parents on ways to keep their children from becoming "freeters" (part-time workers with few future prospects).
Sapio (5/26) blows the whistle on rapidly growing "NPO businesses" that are springing up at facilities for the homeless. (Compiled by Masuo Kamiyama)
Growing numbers of middle-aged Japanese men are committing sex crimes, with the country's best and brightest apparently turning out to be its worst and darkest, according to Shukan Tokuho (5/31).
A spate of recent sex crimes carried out by 40- and 50-something men has attracted attention because the perpetrators have come from what would normally be regarded as respectable professions such as teaching, medicine and academia.
Niigata Seiryo University psychology Prof. Masashi Usui says excessive strains are turning ordinary middle-aged men into sex-driven beats who prey on little girls.
"Middle-aged men are at an age when they wouldn't normally be thinking about crime. Young people who have less to lose commit most crimes. Middle-aged men have achieved a certain status and income, with most also having families to look after. But in recent years, Japan has witnessed an alarming escalation in the number of middle-aged men involved in crimes. Why has this happened? I think it's because Japanese men are faced with a crisis," Usui tells Shukan Tokuho. "And it's not just crimes, either. The number of suicides among middle-aged men is also skyrocketing. It all comes from them feeling the heat in tough times."
Usui argues that a need to escape from reality has prompted less savory members of the gray brigade to start preying on teenage girls and women in their early 20s.
"It's normal for mature men to be attracted by mature women. This attraction can come in the form of finding a woman sexy, or a good conversationalist, or whatever. But, to maintain a decent relationship with these women, who have built up wealth and maturity, these men have to expend a considerable amount of thought and energy to display a similar degree of development. Guys who're already pushed to the limit worrying about work, families and debts don't have the ease of heart to be able to do this. So they start looking for younger women with less experience who're going to require less mental effort to keep up with," Usui says. "What they look for in these younger women, especially girls in their teens, is something pure and unadulterated. Troubled guys have this image of young girls being like angels. That's what has probably had an influence on why pedophilia has become almost an accepted practice in this country."
The academic continues: "Criminals conducting a major robbery are motivated by greed. They know that if they can pull of their heist, they stand to get money out of it. For the middle-aged sex criminal, it's not a matter of gain or loss. They do wrong because they're living in a fantasy world. They see a young girl, think she may help him deal with his problems and see only this image of a little angel that penetrates deeper and deeper into the recesses of their minds. Some men stop at videos or books, both of which are illegal, but others can't end it there. They're so caught up in this fantasy, they're driven by it and they can't slam on the brakes that would bring them back to reality. That leads to sex crimes and helps explain why so many middle-aged sex criminals don't care about money or status when they prey on young women."
Usui says he is not surprised to see the so-called elite of society being embroiled in high profile sex crime cases.
"Those referred to as being the elite have worked hard to get where they are. They're usually aiming for somewhere higher still, so work two or three times harder than the average person. They feel if they don't put in that much, somebody else will swoop in and overtake them, so they're often anxious.
"Most middle-aged members of the elite are still only halfway to where they want to go. They're only midway to the top of the pile. They're often worried about when they're going to fall, while at the same time consider their rise through the ranks to be almost a birthright. This conflict eats away at their nerves. If they can find a way to relax, then fine, but those who can't do so often turn to such things as alcohol or sex crime to relieve their stress," Usui tells Shukan Tokuho. "Still, middle-aged men's sex crimes are not just something that affects the elite. It's a fine line that prevents most people from heading in that direction. Who knows when ordinary guys could break through that line? Everybody is in danger."
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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.
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