Japan: Controversy over the Gun-Shaped Lighter Incident

Blogger Kikko writes about the case of an off-duty officer in Yokohama ^[1] [Ja] who was arrested after hitting a high-school student supposedly because the boy had been brandishing a lighter in the shape of a gun. Kikko explains that the media have twisted the story: the boy and some friends were joking with the lighter and asked to stop by train station staff, which they did. The officer saw the boy laughing after the incident and thought: “He's laughing so he hasn't reflected on what he's done,” and then hit him. The 2000 emails and letters who have poured in supporting the officer Kikko describes as foolish and embarassing.