Simply Japan

Today we dropped in on the Department of Awesomely Good Deeds and learned about one of the world’s lesser-known superheroes. More about simply helping people out than fighting crime, this Japanese superhero has undertaken a very specific and localized duty.

Meet Tadahiro Kanemasu, seen here carrying a woman’s shopping cart for her while they walk down the stairs towards a Tokyo subway station. In his shiny green and silver Power Rangers suit and mask, Tadahiro positions himself at the stairs of this subway station waiting for travelers in need of help carrying packages, carts, and strollers up or down the stairs.

The slender 27-year-old has spent three months being a good Samaritan at the station on Tokyo’s western side. Like many in the city, it has neither elevators nor escalators and a long flight of dimly lit stairs.

"Japanese people find it hard to accept help, they feel obligated to the other person, so the mask really helps me out," said Tadahiro Kanemasu.

Since Kanemasu can set aside only a couple of hours each day for his good deeds, he hopes to recruit others in different colored suits. Already he has inquiries about pink and red.

Kanemasu admitted he got off to a bit of a rocky start. “When I first began, people basically said ‘Get away from me, you weirdo’,” he said. “Now they still think I’m weird but in a good way.”

Photo by Yuya Shino.

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