Hour of hugs

Hugging someone can be trouble in Japan.

A 38-year-old elementary school teacher has been on forced leave since his arrest on 29 March for hugging a student at a school parking lot in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward.

Security camera footage that day showed Junji Ishida of Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture, waiting for the boy in the parking lot. The footage then showed Ishida approaching the schoolboy on the sidewalk and hugging him.

The boy reported the incident to his mother, who alerted police. Police arrested Ishida on suspicion of committing an indecent act with the young boy.

For environmental activist Abubakar Tahiru, 29, hugging was his ticket to fame. Tahiru gave so many hugs at the Tuskegee National Forest in Alabama, USA, to set a Guinness World Record (GWR).

Tahiru, originally from the African country of Guiana, hugged 1,123 trees at the park in one hour, averaging 19 hugs per minute to beat the previous GWR of 700 hugs.

He set a new record without drinking water and while fasting during the recent Muslim month of Ramadan.

The tree hugger, who is pursuing a master’s degree in forestry at Auburn University, said he wanted to inspire others to excel and to promote conservation.

“It’s a meaningful gesture to highlight the crucial role of trees in our ecosystem and the urgency of environmental conservation,” the New York Post quoted Tahiru as saying.