No such laws for beach alcohol required in Japan. The Japanese donโt purposely go out in the sun to sit in the sun, but prefer pale milky white skin instead as you know. In fact some carry umbrellas, so not sure how many sunny days or drunken beach incidents might ever occur. I believe culturally, in the same situation a Japanese girl would have immediately complied, at least of my generation and done so to not be โlosing faceโ, among their peers so not be mouthing off to authority in the first place either.
30 years ago, you didn't see many Japanese in the sun. That's not the case today, and many are purposely tan. It's quite a different place from when I first came, and from when you visited I think. Many people like pale skin, but everybody is different.
I don't see the point of comparing Japan, as I think it should be obvious from video that the cops were way beyond any sense of decency. But if somebody can't see that, my words are not going to change their minds. Things will just have to get much worse.
But in Japan, since we are on the topic, peace comes from social context not from the police. The police in Japan are not very respected, and certainly nobody calls them "heroes." There are far too many police here, though you don't often see them. They are very lax in enforcing the laws, unless they want someone for a particular reason. Then they will look until they find a crime they can charge them with. Much the way the US is going, particularly for those involved in politics.
I am not convince that all Japanese would have been so kind to a policeman if they were approached as they relaxed at the beach in this manner. Most would, as most Americans would. But a few would protest. Police are not seen as authority figures, maybe that's why.
I have been stopped 3 times that I can remember for no good reason. Once was at a traffic checkpoint by a younger cop. He had no good reason at all for flagging me, and I was a bit short with him. His superior came over and told him to let me go. That was that. Neither were rude or threatening. A second time at the same spot I was pulled over because my seatbelt matched my sweater color, and the cop though I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He immediately apologized and explained why he stopped me. The cops in the video, after learning she hadn't been drinking, didn't apologize and only became more aggressive.
The third time bothers me most. I just left the Chinese embassy with my wife after we acquired visas. A cop was outside asking for the names of people leaving the Chinese embassy. I thought this was a gross violation of rights and didn't want to give my name. I am fairly certain the cop wouldn't have pressed the issue. My wife however gave our names. She just didn't want any trouble. So Japan is not immune to these global trends against basic freedoms, but at least they are still polite about it.
More importantly, the police only resort to violence when it is completely unavoidable. You could say they are too slow to react at times. Resisting arrest does not get you beaten up. Drunks resists arrest all the time, and they still get arrested without violence.
I understand much of this police violence in the US is because of general violence and social issues among the public. But punching a little girl in a bikini?? Somebody who does that is simply not a man.
If this happened in Japan, no matter how mouthy the girl was, there would be a national scandal. Fro examples in how to subdue aggressive people without violence see this picture of local cops trying to subdue a naked Brit tourist armed with a stick. They use these defensive forks to ward off attacks. Meanwhile I also noted another video of police questioning a very peaceful naked guy at a music festival. They told him to put his clothes on. He asked why. They tasered him. Welcome to America.