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The story
In the early hours of August 30, an incident occurred near the Shimoyamato public housing complex in Fukuoka City’s Nishi Ward, in which a man believed to be in his 50s approached a woman passing by and asked, “Could you show me your panties?” According to information released by the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, the location was a street in a residential area near Shimoyamato Station and several elementary and junior high schools. There have been no follow-up reports of an arrest — the release was strictly a crime-prevention advisory. On 5ch, discussion centered on whether the remark could actually be a legal problem, with some arguing “it’s a request, not coercion, so it wouldn’t count,” while others countered with the legal interpretation that “regardless of whether the other person consents, it qualifies as obscene conduct under the Nuisance Prevention Ordinance.” The thread also lit up over trivia about how “pantsu” (パンツ) originally referred to trousers.
According to the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, at around 12:44 AM on August 30, an incident of obscene solicitation targeting a woman occurred on a street near the Shimoyamato public housing complex in Fukuoka City’s Nishi Ward. (Description of the perpetrator: male, approximately in his 50s, wearing grayish clothing)
■ Details of the incident: He said something obscene to a woman passing by. · “Could you show me your panties?”
■ Facilities near the scene: Shimoyamato Station [JR], Fukuoka Municipal Shimoyamato Elementary School, Fukuoka Municipal Seiryo Elementary School, Fukuoka Municipal Shimoyamato Junior High School, Fukuoka Municipal Seiryo Junior High School
Source: news.jp / Original article here
What people said
Re: #10
Isn't it "underwear," not "pants"?
Which would be more fitting here, "could" or "would"?
If you secretly film someone you get busted for voyeurism, but now you get busted even after asking permission first?
So what am I even supposed to do
> The issue here isn't just that it's a rude remark — it's that it's "a solicitation clearly meant to cause sexual shame or discomfort."
Police classify "remarks that make someone feel sexually humiliated" as "obscene conduct," treating this kind of solicitation as a "threat offense" that could escalate into an actual sex crime.
It's not just about whether it's technically illegal — whether it "undermines the other person's dignity and sense of safety" matters too.
1. It violates the other person's sexual privacy and personhood
Demanding someone "show their underwear" treats their body and underwear as a sexual object.
Making that kind of demand without the other person's consent can, on its own, cause serious discomfort and shame.
2. It's a sexual demand made in public, disregarding the other person's will
The street is a public space used by countless strangers.
Even if "it was just a joke" or "nothing was actually shown," that doesn't erase the problem of making a sexual demand of someone.
In the Reiwa era, the standard is whether the victim feels comfortable or not — you'd better update your worldview already.
If you don't want to get shut out by society, the only option is to build up the imagination to consider how the other person feels.
Honestly, imagination might be the single most important skill for functioning as an adult.
Most people who never get ahead in their careers are the ones lacking imagination.
Then what do you call underwear?
Kind of like how "bike" means bicycle in English?
Whoo, wears… sho-sho (playful baby-talk stutter riffing on "shorts")
It's still alive and well in my heart.
It's a violation of the Nuisance Prevention Ordinance —
counts as obscene conduct.
Whether it's coercion or begging doesn't matter lol
If someone did show him without any fuss, he'd probably just demand more
You're pretty naive.
Some girls actually like showing off, and plenty genuinely enjoy that kind of thing.
Most of them just crave attention, and some get a thrill out of being looked at with sexual interest by the opposite sex.
Women have sex drives too, you know
otherwise humanity would've died out ages ago.
Like you said, there's a real risk it would escalate, so even an exhibitionist probably wouldn't show him.
Nah,
guys like this get off just from saying stuff like this straight to a woman's face in the first place,
and they get off on watching her reaction to it too.
But if even asking for consent is off-limits, what are you supposed to do?
Background and Key Points of This Story
This kind of “suspicious person alert” is a system in which prefectural police issue advance notices — giving the date, location, and description — for crime-prevention purposes, without waiting for an arrest or a formal case; Fukuoka Prefectural Police follows the same practice. This time, the remark itself — “show me your panties” — became the focal point, but legally speaking this doesn’t fall under the Penal Code’s provisions on sexual voyeurism/photography; the real question is whether it meets the definition of “obscene conduct” under the prefecture’s Nuisance Prevention Ordinance. On the thread, some pointed to the intent behind the ordinance — regulating, ahead of time, acts that cause sexual shame against a person’s will, treating them as acts that could escalate into more serious sex crimes. Opinions on the thread split between “it’s just a request, not coercion, so there’s no issue” and “an ordinance violation applies regardless of consent or how it’s phrased.” There was also a tangent about how “pantsu” originally meant trousers — a bit of trivia easy to miss from the article alone, since its now-common meaning of “underwear” is actually a relatively recent usage. Worth noting too: this is only a warning-stage advisory, with no report of an arrest.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread ““Could You Show Me Your Panties? 🙏” — Obscene Solicitation of a Passerby, Fukuoka.”
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