Foreign reporter arrested for violent asault on a signboard
Japan Times reporter arrested for attacking bar owner
FUJISAWA, Kanagawa, Japan —A Japan Times reporter has been arrested for attacking a bar owner in a drunken spree early Wednesday, police said….Ben Stubbings, a 30-year-old British national, was refused entry to the bar near JR Fujisawa Station and kicked the bar’s signboard at about 4 a.m…
I haven’t met Ben Stubbings even though I used to work near his home in Fujizawa and used to hang out at all the toxic Shonan beaches that he does. I cannot how many countless times I done the same “crime” as his—kicking an illegal sign obstructing a walkway and then abusing the the shop’s owner while being a bit tipsy: Countless.
If a moron bar owner tried to prevent me from entering a bar because I was a foreigner, most likely I’d just walk away. However, I can understand Ben’s kicking the bar sign in anger and yelling at the bar owner.
They should pin a medal on Ben, not arrest him.
Read some more of Ben’s news reporting for the Japan Times here.
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November 3rd, 2005 at 8:30 am
I’m guessing it’s this very behavior that has bar owners refusing service and entry… unless of course, they’re just plain bigots.
November 5th, 2005 at 11:26 am
Well ” Segata San” nobody will ever know the “truth.”
The gaijin kicked the illegally-blocking-the-walkway signboard saying “No Aliens” and then got into a shouting match with the owner. Somebody pushed somebody, and that’s the big “crime.”
The racist bar owner had it coming, but this all happened at 4am so the gaijin must have been drunk and abusive by then.
November 18th, 2005 at 12:32 am
I know Ben … he’s a good bloke but he drinks too much sometimes!
December 21st, 2005 at 10:33 am
Ben is my brother and I can safely say that he has never hit anyone in his life. Unless you take into account the fact that when he was 6 he pushed my other brother into a wall and split his head open (6 stitches no less). He was simply eager to hold his 2 year old sisters hand, my other brother simply got into an innocent mans way. The same goes for that racist numpty who put my bro in the clink for 10 days. Nuff said.
December 21st, 2005 at 8:53 pm
Dear Rachel,
It’s gr-r-reat to hear from you. There was no follow-up in the press about this but your “bro in the clink for 10 days” sounds harsh for treatment (but typical to what happens to a foreigner here). The Japanese police are allowed to torture “suspects” for 21 days (if not longer) before officially charging them a crime. I’m glad your brother finally got out, hopefully in one piece. What happened to your brother afterwards?
Taro