From: masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda)
Subject: Re: Yoshi Hattori
Organization: Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 23:59:50 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.215436.17141@ncsu.edu> hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E. Schaffer) writes:
>In article <BzH2J3.Ku@ncifcrf.gov> masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda) writes:
.....
>>   It's my impression that the situation is not so different in most areas
>>in Japan and some (or many?) areas in the US. A stranger is just a stranger
>>and not more than that. Neither a friend nor an enemy. However, wouldn't it
>>be possible that some people in some areas in the US regard a stranger as 
>>an enemy who deserves an unconditional expulsion from their property? 

>  In my experience this would be *very* uncommon - but yes, among the
>1/4 billion people in the U.S. I'm sure that there is someone who would
>do this.

>>What
>>some newscasts reported seemed to me to suggest that it was the case for 
>>Mrs. Peairs who encountered unexpected young visitors and who told her husband
>>to be prepared with a gun. Probably, a high crime rate in that area is
>>one reason for her reaction, but I wonder if there are any other cultural
>>backgrounds for this.

>  The reports I read said that she screamed and closed the front
>door.

   The report that was available to me said that after closing the door,
Mrs. Peairs had told her husband to be prepared with a gun. It didn't
say when she did this. Immediately after she closed the door without
knowing what they were nor what they were going to do? Or after
realizing that the visitors were "prowling"?

>The young visitors didn't leave, but instead continued around
>on the property towards another door (through the carport?) 

   I wonder what kind of message "screaming and closing the door" could
convey. I doubt that it unequivocally means, "go away" or "get out of
my property." The kids might have thought that it was a Halloween joke.
Although I have not found a report which clearly mentioned why they moved
to the side door, at least Haymaker's (Yoshi's host family) son who
accompanied Yoshi could tell why he himself did it. Of course, what Yoshi 
had in his mind could be different.

>>   There are, of course, some Japanese who regard a stranger as an enemy,
>>but they would not be prepared with a firearm. Therefore, even in the
>>worst case scenario, stepping into another's property should not be fatal.
>                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>  But this is not the entire description of what happened.

   Then, please read it as "what Yoshi did".

>>It might be true that this fact makes Japanese take it easier to enter
>>someone's property uninvitedly or by mistake.

>  As I said, this isn't the correct description

   After the correction above, would my statement be a little more valid?

> - however it might
>be true that this situation made it easier for a Japanese to 
>continue to try to enter a house even if someone tries to chase him
>away or to lock him out.

   If your "continue to try to enter" describes their going to the side
door, it is possible that THEY (not he) didn't realize that someone was trying
to chase THEM (not him) away at that time. As I understand it, only after
Mr. Peairs appeared with a gun, Haymaker's son realized that they were not
welcome and how serious the situation was while Yoshi (possibly) didn't. 
The reasoning that I tried in my previous posting was to explain this 
critical part of the story. When we consider why the American boy did the
same thing as Yoshi until a certain time point, the story might not be
explained only by the "Japanese mentality."

--Michiaki


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