TOKYO: An online video of a girl being shoved from behind at Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing has gone viral, sparking outrage among netizens.
A clip of the incident, uploaded to Instagram by the child’s mother, shows the girl stopping mid-crossing to pose for the camera moments before being knocked over from the back by a masked woman walking hurriedly.
The video did not show if the woman stopped after the incident to tend to the girl.
The Wednesday (Feb 25) post, which has since garnered more than 455,000 likes, said the incident happened on the Taiwanese family’s last night in Japan.
The clip has been shared on other social media platforms, drawing ire and criticism from netizens, with some calling for the authorities to take action.
A Reddit user said: “She’s bulldozing her way trying to get as many casualties as possible.”
Another said: “It can get annoying with tourists stopping like that at certain intersections. Having thoughts of doing something is one thing, but actually doing it to a little girl is crazy. That’s assault.”
A netizen said the woman’s action amounted to her acting like a butsukari otoko, referencing a Japanese epithet used to describe men who deliberately collide with others in crowded spaces, according to English-language magazine Tokyo Weekender.
According to the article, these collisions are intentional acts of aggression, usually by middle-aged men who single out individuals from the crowd to target.
In a separate post on Feb 25, the child’s mother thanked netizens for their concern, adding that her child is all right. She said her child fell on her knees first, which helped prevent more serious injuries.
In its caption, the woman wrote in Mandarin: “Originally, I saw many people on Instagram taking photos at Shibuya’s famous intersection. I’ve also learnt from experience to never do this again.” - The Straits Times/ANN
