In his Nov. 29 letter, "Gender separation is common sense," Francisco Menendez was kind enough to offer an answer to my Nov. 25 question: Why do non-Japanese men who believe that the fingerprinting regime equates to being treated like a terrorist do not also feel that their exclusion from women-only train carriages equates to being considered a groper?
According to Menendez, "the comparison is irrelevant" as gender separation during activities that involve physical contact is "common sense." The point that Menendez misses is that the publicized rationale for women-only carriages is as a countermeasure to the chikan (groping) scourge. This was made clear by the rail companies when they introduced women-only carriages during morning commutes in 2005.
The rationale behind fingerprinting and women-only trains is exactly the same. In each case, a criminal element exists that is difficult to counter (al-Qaida and gropers), and the group from which that criminal element is drawn (non-Japanese and men) is being called upon to accept a measure of "group accountability" to counteract that criminal element. My question still stands.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.