Comments

Posts

Cowardly Japanese Soldier Steals Truck & Drives Away From Fukushima

A Japanese soldier has been arrested in Tokyo after abandoning his post near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant:

The 32-year-old man was a Self-Defense Forces NCO in charge of coordinating communications between units carrying out radioactive decontamination work in Fukushima. Instead of fulfilling his duties, he stole a GSDF truck and fled. At some point, he ditched the truck and switched to a stolen civilian vehicle.

When questioned by military police, the man said he ran away because he was afraid of radiation.

—

Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

29 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - April 21, 2011 at 2:11 pm

Categories: General Japan Tags:

Craig

There was another jieitai guy arrested yesterday too for flashing his privates in a store. He said he did it cause he was scared to go to his posting up north in a tsunami damaged area. Hope these wimps never have to actually go to war.
http://tepido.org/ LB

Then there is this guy.

*sigh*

He wasn’t even going to Fukushima, and so was in no danger of being exposed to anything.

Apparently folks in Yokohama, though were!

*ba-da-dum*

Thank you, thank you… I’ll be here all week!
steve

He is human and did what some humans will do. Labeling him a coward is not fair.

http://tepido.org/ LB

He’s a soldier. By choice. He wasn’t drafted, he chose his profession and, therefore, chose to accept the risks associated with it. A higher standard is applied than the one for your average Joe Blow.

Calling him a coward, deserter and thief is entirely appropriate and fair.
andrew

yes it is
Simon

He is human and did what some humans will do. Labeling him a murderer is not fair.

How’s that work for you, steve? (Never mind, I know you won’t respond to this)
http://www.japanprobe.com James

I don’t really see any problem with my headline. As a non-commissioned officer, he had likely spent years in the military and should have known that anyone in such a job would be expected to face danger. He wasn’t just some fresh recruit that had no idea what he was getting into.

He admits he abandoned his duties because he was gripped by fear and panic. Even worse, stole a military truck that was being used in the relief efforts.
jcpb

Except the difference between a civilian and a soldier:

As a civilian, you can run like a sissy and the most you get is people sneering at you.

As a soldier, you MUST obey and carry out orders as directed by your superiors except for extremely rare cases. Failure to do so will get you court-martialed in a military tribunal and the threat of being thrown out of military service.

It’s not a simple matter of being human. This is called being a traitor, and fellow soldiers – nevermind the nation itself – have little tolerance of treachery.

supercub

I think when you voluntarily join the armed forces, you are committing yourself to possibly risking your life during a national crisis. Perhaps soldiers should be forgiven for fleeing danger, but I don’t think it is inappropriate to label them cowardly.
mashu

Soldiers fleeing danger is pretty much the definition of cowardly.
Skeletor

Blue Falcon, pretty much sums it up…
Joe

“Deserter” and “thief” (and “murderer”) are objective terms, and no one can argue against the first two in this case. But “cowardly” means different things to different people: One man’s “coward” is another man’s “sensible guy”, one man’s “hero” is another man’s “reckless idiot”.
Without direct knowledge of what was going on in the guy’s head, I think “cowardly” is unwarranted.

http://tepido.org/ LB

But even with such direct knowledge, by your own argument it comes down to a judgement call now doesn’t it? I mean, even if the guy says “I committed myself to running away in a cowardly fashion”, if “cowardly” means different things to different people as you say then it would be possible to say “him calling his own actions cowardly is unwarranted”, now wouldn’t it?

Heck, if we wanted to we could make “deserter” and “thief” subjective, now couldn’t we? A taliban who ran away to join NATO forces would be a deserter to the taliban, a sensible guy to everyone else on the planet, right? Someone who takes baby formula from a store without paying to give to a starving child is either a “thief” or a “caring human”.

But at that point words all become meaningless.

flowby

But the pertinent point is,

“Is it appropriate to call a person who is fearful a coward?”, not whether one man’s coward is another man’s hero.

Is fear (rational or irrational / realized or unrealized) the basis of determining the state of cowardice?

If so there must be millions and millions of cowards out there. You know spineless, yellow-bellies.

Hardly.

ponta

Is fear (rational or irrational / realized or unrealized) the basis of determining the state of cowardice?
No.
(I’m not sure who you are replying to, though)

Some definitions of “coward” on the Internet.

○a person who lacks courage, esp. one who is shamefully unable to control fear and so shrinks from danger or trouble

○someone who is not brave enough to fight or do something difficult or dangerous that they should do

○a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.

○One who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain.

○a person who is too eager to avoid danger, difficulty or pain

○Aristotle says that we can describe virtues as things which are destroyed by deficiency or excess. Someone who runs away becomes a coward, while someone who fears nothing is rash. In this way the virtue “bravery” can be seen as depending upon a “mean” between two extremes.

Do you think he didn’t lack courage in facing danger?
Do you think he was able to control of fear and didn’t shrinks from danger or trouble
Do you think he was brave enough to fight or do something dangerous that he should do?

Whether you agree or not, I think James’ use of the word here is appropriate.
He was unable to control fear in the face of danger a soldier is expected to deal with unless it is obvious that the duty unreasonably make light of the protection of him, which justifies his use of the word, methinks.
flowby

Thank you Ponta.

Basically I agree with your learned dictionary definitions.

However, as I hinted at earlier if one applies such dictionary definitions to our daily lives we certainly would be awash with cowards.

But there is an aside to all of this – that is the term “coward” in colloquial english has gathered considerable baggage over the years, so much that it’s use denotes one as almost as a low-life, despicable being – you know one who’d leave his best friend to die.

Whether the man in the article fits the bill or not I don’t know, but I do believe the term is subject to over-use in the same way as for example “hero” is (in a postive light of course)

ini

He was a *professional* soldier, right? Then he’s actually expected do die when requested to, am I wrong?
It’s not like he did chose this profession against his own will.

HKer

Hear, hear! Some people think they’re going the Boy Scouts.
http://tepido.org LB

Sorry, that gave me a chuckle. A soldier is expected to “face death” when ordered to. No commander worth a damn would order his troops to die – although he may give orders with the knowledge that some of his troops will die in following those orders. The goal is supposed to be to make the other side’s guys die as a result of your orders.

And troops are not “requested” to do anything. I can’t picture Gunny Hartman saying “Listen up, Frances, I would like you to charge that pillbox, would that be alright with you?”

OK, I can picture it, but I shudder to think what the private hearing that would be in for if he even paused to answer. It would probably make charging a pillbox armed only with his K-Bar look like fun…

Natem

Definitely on board with the unforgiving here.

I’m reminded of the joke about the man sitting in the bar:

“You see that church over there? I built it with my bare hands but do they call me O’Reilly the church builder? Nooo!
You see that school over there? I taught there for 30 years but do they call me O’Reilly the educator? Nooo!
But you fuck one goat….”
JL

The penalty for desertion (AND this guy is a thief!) used to be flogging. Desertion can incur the Death Penalty in the US. This NCO needs to be stripped of his rank, then flogged. Or shot tomorrow at dawn.

http://tepido.org LB

Japan’s not at war, so a firing squad is a bit extreme. Brig time while making big rocks out of little rocks, and then a Big Chicken Dinner – that’s appropriate.

hoihoi

Japan should make the military prosecutor
http://www.yokosukasailor.com/ Yokosukasailor

JMSDF personnel are not military personnel since Japan does not have Armed Forces. JMSDF personnel are considered civil servants. So fire him. He would of course have to answer for criminal issue of stealing the vehicles.

http://tepido.org/ LB

JMSDF personnel are not military personnel since Japan does not have Armed Forces.

Um, yeah – try telling them that.

Yes, under the law they are “civil servants”. But they have military ranks, a military command structure, a Ministry of Defense, operate military equipment etc.

They are members of the Japanese military. Loosen up that white doggie-bowl on your head, I think it is cutting off circulation.
Simon

Is that some kind of “I’m a military man but they’re not reaaaaaaaaalllllly military men” snipe?
Yokosuka Sailor

The main distinction being that for instance, U. S. Miliitary personal are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice which has consequences for such offenses as “Desertion”. There is no similar code for Japanese Ground Self Defense Force personnel. They are not Soldiers. They are civilians albeit members of the of the GSDF. He will no doubt be dismissed. A member of the U.S. Military would be courtmartialed and be sent to the slammer ( US jargon for prison). This is a legal distinction and does not reflect on the relative professionalism of the the JSDF which is top notch.

DougW

Fear affects any sane individual. What mitigates fear is knowledge and trust.
http://alt-nagasaki-japan.blogspot.com/ Archernar

Yeah, kinda sucks he took off in stolen vehicles and all.
It does make you thankful for those serving in the vicinity though. It isn’t an easy job, but to help your people should give you honor.

Cowardly Japanese Soldier Steals Truck & Drives Away From Fukushima

Recent Comments

Further Reading

Bikini Atoll: Lessons For Fukushima?

Complaints From Loony Parents Cancel Event: Okinawan Children Not Allowed to Play With “Radioactive” Aomori Snow

Remembering the International Media’s Post-Fukushima Hysteria: Radiation Scare Stories Ignored Real Victims of 3/11

A Look Inside Osaka Prison

Dead Shark Found in Yoyogi Park

Japanese Fart Battle Scroll

Dinosaurs Wear Traditional Japanese Clothing

Canada Rejects Refugee Application From Japanese Who Feared Radiation

Ishinomaki: Then & Now

Radioactive Seafood? Miyagi Fishing Industry Works to Prove Safety of Their Fish

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Japan Blogs

Korea Blogs

Linkroll

Other Asia Blogs