Macrolog

Invisible in Osaka

According to a report in today’s Guardian, the corpse of a homeless man lay rotting on a Japanese city street for two months: ==

For two months, the body of an elderly man was ignored by passersby as it lay rotting on a street corner in Osaka, a short walk from a department store and a big railway station.

[…]

“I guess the place where the body was found is kind of a blind spot for passersby,” a spokesman for Hankyu department store, Masaaki Takahashi, told Kyodo news agency. “We didn’t receive any inquiries or comments from our customers. There was no big stir among our employees either.”

== My first reaction to reading this piece was the typical ‘How shocking! People there are so ignorant!’ response. But after having a good think about it, it’s surprising that something similar hasn’t yet happened here. The way public attitudes are regressing, it’s only a matter of time.

Fri 19 Dec 2003 at 16:14   ·


Comments

Closed

Comments are closed or not available for this entry. If you still wish to make a comment you can , citing this entry in the subject line.

About

Portrait of MacDaraThis is the personal website of MacDara Conroy, a production journalist and mediavore in Dublin, Ireland. Read more »


Message

Keep the internet free

SOPA and PIPA may be shelved for now, but Ireland’s own ‘anti-piracy’ proposal is alive and well, and it’s bad news for everyone. Sign the petition at StopSopaIreland.com and make your voice heard. Learn more »


Details

You are reading Invisible in Osaka, a Macrolog entry by MacDara Conroy. It is filed under Arts & Culture, and was published in December 2003.

Tags

#culture #society


Context

This day in history: 19 December


Continuum

Fri 19 Dec 2003 at 17:40
Fri 19 Dec 2003 at 16:14
Mon 15 Dec 2003 at 21:51