Kathy - Didn't see your posts - sorry fur not replyin' sooner.
The advice in that article was pretty decent - when one is caught out in the open, by a riot that flares up - it's likely one does NOT have armaments with one, much less enuf ammo to take on a rioting mob.
I lived in Japan in the late 60's, early 70's - when ANTI-AMERICAN riots were breaking out pretty routinely. Never did feel 'threatened' or 'in danger', though. The advice in that article was pretty much what we were advised to do if we got caught in one. (The ZENGAKURAN were a pretty militant and nasty bunch of communist radicals at the center of most of the violence.) They managed to shut down the rail at times - and even tipped over a couple of trains. VERY aggressive bunch - and the Japanese police were not (and ARE not) nearly as restrained in handling the miscreants as the ptb in the States. (Water Cannons, shields, batons that get USED, heavily, riot gear protective suits.)
My favourite story of how an American caught downtown in the middle of one of these outbreaks avoided getting the bloody snot kicked out him was this:
He spoke fluent Russian - Put his arm around the rioters and said "Hello, Comrade". Best buds after that, and the guy was safe.
It wasn't possible to be exactly 'inconspicuous' over there - Americans kinda stood out - especially back then - white skin, usually much taller than the Japanese, and so on. *s*
Anyways, the article DOES have very good advice. *w*
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