Chikan
Chikan is a Japanese fetish for groping on crowded public transport. Chikan (ちかん) is a Japanese word for men who molest. The equivalent Japanese word for women who molest is chijo (痴女).
The Chikan (groper) is traditionally a middle-aged businessman who, either by luck or cunning, finds himself next to an attractive girl on a subway train. The train is crowded, meaning that the Chikan can touch her without anyone else seeing and without the girl necessarily being able to tell who is doing it. She may also be reluctant to call for help in a public place.
Chikan in animé are portrayed as comical (e.g. Colourful), sinister (e.g. Love Hina), or 'aspirational' (e.g. Chikan Junin Tai). Chikan and Chijo can be easily found in Japanese pornographic magazines and videos.
Non-consensual chikan is a widespread problem and familiar in the media. There have been major public information campaigns to combat chikan, which have focussed on persuading women to call out if they are being sexually harrassed. Women-only subway cars were introduced in Tokyo in 2005.
The difference between Chikan or Chijo and 'non-consensual frotteurism' is (arguably) that the setting and context are important as well as the touching: the Chikan is acting out a specific fantasy and Image Clubs (brothels) in Japanese cities often provide train rooms for this purpose.
See also
External links
- Train Groping - Japanese culture from a bemused foreign perspective.
- Advice on how to deal with Chikan for train passengers
- Video of Chijo in action on a train]
- “Chijo!” - Molested On A Train! - a man's account.
- Reference to an 'image club'/brothel fitted out with a train room
- A comedy brothel for cats with a train room - "What makes it even MORE like a brothel, is the cats are even displayed in a fake subway car."
| This page uses content from the Informed Consent dictionary which is no longer available online. See Informed Consent (website). |
