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Japanese Man Takes Lexus for Test Drive to Grandmother’s House, Arrested 180 km Away

Japanese Man Takes Lexus for Test Drive to Grandmother’s House, Arrested 180 km Away

A 25-year-old man was arrested for theft in Iwakuni City on 14 May after taking a new Lexus for a test drive from a dealership in Kurashiki City, two prefectures and 180 km (112 mi) away.

According to the police investigation, the suspect Shota Ishibashi wanted to visit his grandmother in Fukuoka, 422 km (262 mi) away. However, being unemployed he was unable to afford the trip. Then he got a brilliant idea and headed down to his local Toyota dealer.

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Posters of Underwear-Clad Man Disappearing from Osaka

Posters of Underwear-Clad Man Disappearing from Osaka

There’s just something about Japan and this strange obsession with stealing underwear. In the Naniwa District of Osaka, 20 types of posters are currently on display to promote a town renewal project for the area’s old shopping district, Shin Sekai Ichiba, or the “New Global Market.” Of those advertisements, one particular version has become the object of serial theft over the past 13 days. The poster contains the image of a man in a Japanese loincloth called a fundoshi. The Osaka Police Force’s Naniwa Station has released a damage report. Read More

Who’s Stealing our Flags? Osaka Prefectural Police Look for Clues

Who’s Stealing our Flags? Osaka Prefectural Police Look for Clues

Having ruled out Colonel Mustard with a candlestick in the dining room (thanks Hasbro), Osaka prefectural police at the city’s Taisho station are trying to figure out who made off with national flags from two of the district’s elementary schools on April 16.
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Theft of Toilet from Public Park in Kyoto Leaves Authorities Baffled

Theft of Toilet from Public Park in Kyoto Leaves Authorities Baffled

At around 10 a.m. on April 2, a man living in the town of Fukuchiyamashi, Kyoto called the police after he discovered that the light of a nearby parking lot had been vandalized with white spray-paint. Upon arriving at the scene, officers also discovered that an expensive, multi-function toilet had been stolen from a park located nearby.

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Good People Still Exist: Woman Offers Apology to Shop Owners Seven Years After Deceiving Them

Good People Still Exist: Woman Offers Apology to Shop Owners Seven Years After Deceiving Them

Now here’s a tale that will warm the cockles of your heart. A married couple in China had their faith in humankind restored earlier this month when a woman who intentionally used a counterfeit 100 Yuan note in their shop seven years ago returned to apologise and make amends.

Despite having long since forgotten the incident, the couple were overjoyed to receive a sudden visit from the woman, who had bourne feelings of guilt ever since the day she tricked the pair into accepting the fake cash.

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Japanese Man Recieved 1-Year Prison Sentence for Stealing 12 Cents

Japanese Man Recieved 1-Year Prison Sentence for Stealing 12 Cents

On 13 May, 2012, 66 year-old Osaka resident Masafumi Tsuruhara was visiting Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture.  While there, he thought he might help himself to a ten-yen coin (US$0.12), which was left at a statue as a religious offering.

For this, Tsuruhara was apprehended for stealing and brought before the Wakayama court, which sentenced him to one year and eight months in prison.

He later appealed to the Osaka High Court, which agreed that the sentence was too heavy for ten yen. The judge reversed the original sentence and imposed a new one of one year in prison.

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Vice Principal Picks Up Forgotten ATM Cash, Police Pick Up Vice Principal

Vice Principal Picks Up Forgotten ATM Cash, Police Pick Up Vice Principal

Let’s play a little game, shall we?

You’re walking down the street one day when you stumble across a watch on the ground. On closer inspection, you realise it’s a rather swanky gold Rolex, and it looks genuine. You look around for the owner, but no-one is in sight, and there are no residences or open stores nearby.

What do you do?

Pocket the watch to sell later or make your own, or hand it in at your nearest police station? Be honest now…

How about if, instead of finding a watch on the street, you discovered a small stack of cash, sitting unattended beside an ATM? And it’s no paltry sum either- about US$2,000. Would you take it or leave it behind?

A middle school vice principle in Kōchi prefecture, Shikoku, decided on the former… Read More

Japanese Couple Arrested for Stealing $300 in Hotel Amenities

Japanese Couple Arrested for Stealing $300 in Hotel Amenities

One of my favorite things about staying at a hotel is all the complimentary stuff they let you take home. From toiletries to beverages, bathrobes to coffee makers, each visit to a hotel is like a smorgasbord of free everyday items—the only limit is your suitcase!

Some people claim that not everything in the hotel is free. That aside the cheap toiletries  everything in the room is hotel property and taking it home is “stealing.”

Yeah, sure. Even if that is true, what are they going to do, call the Hotel Gestapo?

No, but they will call the police, as one Japanese couple found out after being arrested for stealing nearly $300 worth of hotel amenities.

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【Noodle Theft】 Petty Thief Shows Us Where the Line Between “Gutsy” and “Idiotic” Lies

【Noodle Theft】 Petty Thief Shows Us Where the Line Between “Gutsy” and “Idiotic” Lies

When I was a kid, there was a period of about a week in school when everyone became obsessed with making “jokes” using “What’s the definition of…?” set-ups.

As well as failing to make anyone laugh, they rarely made much sense and were always both immensely long-winded and contrived…

Allow me to share an example:

“What’s the definition of ’cheeky’? Throwing a brick through someone’s window, then knocking on the door and asking for it back!”

Oh my sides….

Thankfully, though, a 16-year-old in Wakayama prefecture, Japan has done us all a favour and made an example of himself, putting an end to the eternal mystery “what’s the definition of ‘stupidity’?”

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