It was recently revealed on a Japanese public safety information site that an alert had been issued by the Aichi Prefectural Police for a man who had asked a high-school girl for directions to the station.

When the alert was reposted on 2ch.net, it soon caught the attention of netizens. Despite having only been posted yesterday, December 4, it has already attracted thousands of comments and thousands of tweets.This is the latest in a series of incidents where men have been reported to the police without having committed a specific offense.

The alert issued by the police is translated below with a selection of netizen comments. Do you think the man had an ulterior motive? Or is he actually the victim of the story?

Man Who Asked A Female Student ‘Which Way is the Station?’ Reported to Police

Patonetto Aichi Suspicious Individual Information

■ Time of Incident

7pm December 3 2012

■ Location of Incident

Komaki City, Horinouchi 3 choume

■ Situation

A man asked a female student on her way home from school ‘Which way is the station?’

■ Suspect(s)

A man, around 30 years of age, approximately 165cm tall, slim build, short black hair, wearing a black jumper with a hood, and trousers that appeared to be black jeans, riding a bicycle

■ Information Distribution

Komaki Police

Comments from 2ch.net

ジャガランディ(やわらか銀行):

※So nothing happened.

アジアゴールデンキャット(チベット自治区)：

It’s pretty audacious to ask someone a question knowing that it’s a crime to even greet someone.

ツシマヤマネコ(大阪府)：

It’s unusual for the guy to be of slim build and not a bit of a chunker.

ジャガランディ(やわらか銀行)[in response to comment above]：

He was wearing black though. That says it all.

ラガマフィン(関西・東海)：

How could anyone be so diabolical as to purposely target a school-girl to ask the way.

ツシマヤマネコ(大阪府)：

Well, if you’re asking the way, you have to ask a man or an old woman. And when you’re complacent about telling people the way, you could even end up getting kidnapped and bundled into a car.

キジトラ(大阪府)：

Alerts like this are the norm now.

ロシアンブルー(内モンゴル自治区)：

I don’t like living in suspicion of people like this＞＿＜

シャルトリュー(香川県)：

His face must have been life-threateningly disgusting.

シンガプーラ(愛知県)：

Damn girl, just employ a chauffeur to pick you up and take you home!

マレーヤマネコ(愛知県)：

With this kind of momentum before long there’ll be alerts about men breathing air from the same region as a girl…..

ヒマラヤン(神奈川県)：

Well, if you really want to know the way you wouldn’t ask a bloody girl. Look at a map or something. Anyway it seems like a place where there would have been a lot of other people around at 7pm.

キジ白(静岡県)：

So is this a crime in the first place?

キジ白(チベット自治区)：

Seems like even a father walking with his own daughter would get reported.

ピューマ(庭)：

Come on, it’s suicide to strike up a conversation with a high-school girl.

アメリカンショートヘア(埼玉県)：

So even the slim guys are getting done over, huh….

サーバル(家)：

You’re a suspicious individual if you don’t have a smart phone or GPS in your car, then..?

Comments from Itai News:

Posted by あ :

I think it’s crazy that a 30 year old man doesn’t know the way. Is he just a wandering fool?

Posted by :

There are pervs who pretend that they’re asking the way though. They usually ask the way to a place that you couldn’t really miss, and you answer politely even though you think it’s a bit strange. There are times when I’ve been pissed off when it turns out the guy is a weirdo, and he just says something obscene after I’ve told him the way. Once, someone asked me the way from inside their car, and I was almost dragged inside. Scum who abuse people’s goodwill can just die.

Posted by 名無しさんによるＳＴＦ :

Guess it depends on the person, but this guy that spoke to that girl must have been a fugly bastard. If he’d been hot there’s no way he would have been reported.

432. Posted by :

Get involved with a woman and your life’s over.

How can anyone find love in this kind of society? They say that in recent times men aren’t very forward, but these days there’s always the possibility that if you even speak to a girl you’ll get reported and arrested, so why the hell would you talk to one? The advantages do not outweigh the disadvantages. But women seem to think that they’re so great that men will be prepared to take the risk. They think they are worth more than the man’s life.

Posted by :

So high-school girls are not only untouchable but un-talkable to?

Posted by あ :

Everyone, let’s be careful! Get close to one of these precious women and you’ll get reported! If one of them comes within a 5m radius of you, run away!

Posted by あ :

The other day, I asked a Korean university student the way, and they answered be very kindly. That’s pretty rare in Japan.

Posted by あ :

It’s not so difficult to understand, is it? If it was usual for an adult male to ask a school-girl the way, then it wouldn’t have been reported, but the reality is that there are people who’ve been flirted with, been victims of crimes or whatever after that, so there’s nothing for it but to be suspicious of a man who asks Lolita the way. I’m sure she only told the police to be on the safe side.

Posted by あ :