Regarding the Feb. 24 article "Miura held again over '81 hit on wife in L.A.": How many Japanese readers will be happy to see that Kazuyoshi Miura (now 60) has been charged with murder by U.S. authorities? Japan, a land of overwhelming beauty, a rich culture, and people whom I find are generally quite sensitive, has been horrendously lacking in its protection of women against male violence. I would like to see the Japanese government support the arrest and prosecution of men who physically abuse their wives -- and not just to please international observers.
I have personal experience in this area, having called police to my Tokyo home four different times after my Dutch husband, who told me he had a black belt in karate, threw punches at me (what a man!). The police did nothing but talk to him, after which he just laughed. The last time I called police -- after he had knocked me out and convinced me he was trying to kill me -- they informed me that they could not arrest him BECAUSE he was my husband! They said if he hit the maid or the neighbor, they could. My children and I left him for good the next day.
That this abusive man and I were both non-Japanese should not have made any difference. Lawyer friends later told me of their advice to female clients, Japanese and foreigner alike: If your husband is beating you, carry the fight into the street. When neighbors call the police, tell the police you don't know the man, and they WILL arrest him!
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