Arrested for dueling two girls… What exactly is the crime of “dueling”? | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Arrested for dueling two girls… What exactly is the crime of “dueling”?

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The most famous Japanese “duel” is the battle between Musashi Miyamoto and Kojiro Sasaki at Ganryujima Island…

If you guys are so angry, why don’t you just fight each other?

The man said this to two girls who were grappling with each other on the street. The girls obeyed the man’s words and engaged in a five-minute “tie-up” inside the man’s store, where one of the girls suffered a bruised face, a sprained neck, and other injuries that lasted 10 days.

On November 17, the Osaka Prefectural Police Tenma Police Station announced that they had arrested and sent the suspect, Eiichi Ueno, 30, a girls’ bar owner in Kitashinchi, Osaka. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of “dueling” two female employees (17) and a former employee (18) on a street in Kita-ku, Osaka City, and forcing them to fight each other inside his bar.

The girl employee apparently became angry that the former employee quit the store without notice, and got into trouble. The two men who fought the duel were also arbitrarily questioned on suspicion of dueling. It is also known that several people involved were watching the duel, and the police are investigating.

At a quick glance, this seems to be a common injury case, but the term “dueling crime” may be unfamiliar to many people. What is the crime of “dueling”? A legal expert explains as follows.

A person who challenges or agrees to a duel shall be imprisoned for not less than six months and not more than two years, and a person who commits a duel shall be imprisoned for not less than two years and not more than five years. Those who witness or provide a place for a duel are also punishable. The enactment of the law was triggered by an incident involving an application for a duel that occurred over an article written by Tsuyoshi Inuyo, a newspaper reporter at the time. Inuyo did not agree to the duel, but some people were excited by the idea of glorifying dueling, and it is said that this was one of the reasons for the frequent incidents of people challenging each other to duels.

In Europe at the end of the 19th century, dueling had already fallen into disuse, but it remained a custom, and in some countries, such as Germany, it was legal if certain requirements were met. It is surprising, however, that such an antiquated law still exists. One wonders how many of these laws have actually been applied in the past.

In 1974, the custom of dueling was considered for abolition on the premise that it was almost non-existent, but the draft of the revised penal code at that time was not approved, and so we are now at the present time. However, since the draft of the revised Penal Code was not passed at that time, the practice has become a relic of the past since the Showa period (1926-1989), but since the beginning of the Heisei period, “taiman” by juveniles has come to fall under this category. However, in the past few years, only a few people a year have been arrested for this crime, so it seems that just an arrest for this crime is enough to make the news.

The following cases were in fact charged with the crime of dueling.

In 2007, a first-year high school student in Arakawa Ward became angry when a first-year high school student in Adachi Ward slandered his girlfriend on a social networking service, and they dueled, saying, “Let’s fight each other. The two had never met and had agreed on SNS that they would continue the fight until one of them gave up.

In 2002, a group of six junior high school students living in Fukuoka prefecture was sent to the Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office for a one-on-one fight at Maizuru Park in Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City. The trouble started during a trial admission to a local high school. A boy from one group later found one of the boys from the other group on LINE and provoked him by saying, “Come out” and “Let’s do it at Ohori Park. They promised to duel. On the day of the duel, about 100 people gathered in Maizuru Park.

In 2008, a group of 40 boys consisting of junior high and high school classmates beat up a rival group of 10 boys with iron pipes, wooden swords, and Merikensacks at a port in Miyagino-ku, Sendai City, sending six of them to the hospital. Fifteen were arrested on charges of dueling and assault. The incident began when a boy in the victim group became angry at being called “annoying” and challenged them to a duel on a blog. It was the first time in 20 years that the crime of dueling was applied in Miyagi Prefecture.

After all, there are many cases of juvenile cases, and it seems that in many cases, the exchange of messages on social networking services and other media remains as conclusive evidence of a “duel. But does this mean that ordinary fights or martial arts competitions do not constitute a duel?

According to past judicial precedents, a duel is “an act of fighting by mutual violence that is harmful to the body or life of both parties by mutual agreement,” and a sudden fistfight is not considered a duel because there is no agreement. Also, entertainment and sports such as mixed martial arts and boxing do not constitute a duel, as they are “legitimate business acts. However, if an amateur duel takes place as an imitation, it may be considered a duel,” said a legal expert.

It seems certain that “duels” in the real world, unlike those in comic books, are not cool at all.

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