Eight bags containing 240 kilograms of Koshihikari rice, worth about 90,000 yen, have been stolen from outside a farmer's warehouse in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture.
The farmer notified police at around 7 a.m. on Monday, NTV reported. According to the police, the rice was stolen between 10 p.m. on Sunday and 6:30 a.m. on Monday.
At the time, 80 bags of Koshihikari rice were stored in the warehouse. The stolen bags were under a blue tarp outside the warehouse and were scheduled to be shipped out this week.
Haruo Kaneda, the farmer who grew the rice, told reporters: “It's not so much about the money; I'm angry that they took my rice."
Police said that last month, evidence of an attempt to break the lock on the door of a warehouse where rice was stored at another farm in Takashima City was found. Police believe the two incidents may be linked.
© Japan Today
9 Comments
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Mr Kipling
Usual suspects? Wait and see...
Data
While it's difficult to say for certain who's involved, the way things are playing out suggests a repeat of the same dynamics. For those who've observed these events before, certain elements tend to reappear. It wouldn’t be unexpected if the same forces are at work once again. While I won't claim to know exactly who's behind it, there's a sense of familiarity to how things are unfolding. If you've been following these kinds of events, you might notice certain elements seem to show up time and time again. It wouldn’t be surprising if it's the usual suspects involved here once more. It's hard to ignore the fact that the same forces always seem to be involved whenever something like this happens. I’m not saying for certain who’s responsible, but it definitely feels like a repeat of what we’ve seen before. If you've been paying attention, you know what I mean—it’s starting to look like the usual suspects are at it again.
Mie Fox
Stealing the fruits of other people's hard labour is the worst. Japan really should step up more to prevent these kinds of thefts and help farmers to protect their crop, financially to help them physically protect the harvest, and agressively checking supply routes to prevent illegal sales of the stolen goods for starters. And throw the book at the thieves when they are caught!
The Nomad
So 240 kilograms of rice is worth only 90.000 yen? So why does a 10 kg bag cost almost 8000 nowadays?
Data
I'm going out on a limb and guess because noone in the chain between the farmer and the supermarket cash register is working for free. I might be wrong though, I have been wrong before (once, in 1997).
DanteKH
I feel very sorry for the farmer. All his hard work stollen by some low life scum.
Yubaru
Whether they are in reality linked or not, the cops will do their best to connect the parallel lines and whomever they catch will be assumed to be guilty!
Speed
Hope it's not FOREIGNERS to blame again. (There. I said it since everyone else seems to be alluding to them.)
wallace
Shortage of rice and higher prices driving someone to crime.