Bob
7th August 2009, 00:18
Police and residents of Okinawa have launched a campaign to discourage ‘Bosozuku’ bike gangs… by calling them names!
A competition was held to decide on what to call them. Entries included "yowamushizoku" (cowardly gangs) and "gokiburizoku" (cockroach gangs). But senior police officials and public representatives selected "dasaizoku" (uncool gangs) as the epithet to hurl at the gang members. Following the announcement of the winning insult, some 600 members of the public undertook a protest march, waving banners such as ‘Bosozuku are so dasaizoku!’
But there are doubts as to the effectiveness of the scheme. Professor Koji Namba of Kwansei Gakuin University - a specialist in youth culture – said "Bosozoku go out of their way to do what's uncool because they think that's what is cool."
A competition was held to decide on what to call them. Entries included "yowamushizoku" (cowardly gangs) and "gokiburizoku" (cockroach gangs). But senior police officials and public representatives selected "dasaizoku" (uncool gangs) as the epithet to hurl at the gang members. Following the announcement of the winning insult, some 600 members of the public undertook a protest march, waving banners such as ‘Bosozuku are so dasaizoku!’
But there are doubts as to the effectiveness of the scheme. Professor Koji Namba of Kwansei Gakuin University - a specialist in youth culture – said "Bosozoku go out of their way to do what's uncool because they think that's what is cool."