How Close Is the Movie to Reality???

The incident detailed in the movie is but an extreme example of "unfair justice" and while the police and Japanese judicial system does a fairly good job most of the time, there are certainly instances where innocent individuals have been convicted falsely of crimes.

Japan is still a fairly safe place to live and large cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo are relatively crime-free (although in recent years there have been an increase in murders, robberies and sexual assaults).

Riding the subway/transit system in Japan is no different from other large cities in the world. Trains get crowded and sometimes people get jammed into cramped cars. As long as one keeps their hands to themselves and doesn't blantantly brush up or unnecessarily touch strangers on the train, then things will be fine.

If one is still concerned about being mistaken for a "chikan" (molester), then stagger your schedule so that you only ride the trains after "peak hours" (after 9:00 AM in the morning and 7:00 PM at night) when the vast majority of students and office workers aren't on. The trains are alwasy crowded but it won't be to the point where one has to be packed into crowded cars.

Living in Japan is expensive (almost as bad as London or New York) especially now with the American dollar so low, so you'll want to get as much information before you make your trip (i.e food prices, apartment costs, availability of jobs, costs of living). Most Japanese jobs require residency, a local reference and passable Japanese language ability. Teaching positions aren't glamorous (highly competitive, long hours, low pay, strict guidelines, no choice of assignment location) and you'll be struggling the first couple of years.