Police in Hakodate, Hokkaido, have arrested a 71-year-old man on suspicion of shoplifting items from a convenience store for three straight days.
The man was quoted by police as saying he shoplifted because he wanted to be arrested, broadcaster NTV reported.
Police said the man has admitted stealing items from the store on July 24, 25 and 26. At around 8 p.m. on July 26, a police officer was in the store to check security cameras when the man came in and pocketed items worth 1,266 yen. When he tried to leave the store without paying, the officer detained him.
© Japan Today
16 Comments
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sakurasuki
And living from taxpayer money.
tigerjane
Sakura, have some empathy for this man. My elderly friends in Japan in their late 60's and early 70's with health conditions are still having work and life financially is very fragile for them. The government takes away from their pension as they get older by charging more for their monthly healthcare payments around 40, 000 yen. The government does very little for the elderly and leaves it up to them to cope with their lives.
Albert
@sakurasiki
And you are also living on tax payer money like everyone else. What is your point?
Bobo Chan
The Japanese government needs to seriously overhaul all its social programs instead of bandaids that fall off.
sakurasuki
@Bobo Chan
Exactly, this year many nursing care facility went bankrupt. Place that usually those elderly go, now who will take care those people? What JGovt has been done about it? Let those elders taking care themselves?
https://japantoday.com/category/business/japan-nursing-care-bankruptcies-hit-record-high-for-jan.-june-period
Alongfortheride
Kishida will do nothing to help is own people who need it. Its more important he buys new weapons Japan does not need.
Desert Tortoise
There is a balance every government has to find. Japan spent very little on defense until the Chinese started making noises about their claimed ownership of the Senkaku Islands, started calling Okinawa "Japanese occupied" while publishing papers saying the Ryukyus are not really part of Japan, and China started pushing around smaller weaker nations like Philippines and Vietnam.
I can tell you from the experience of my mother in law in Shanghai that China doesn't do much for their seniors either. But if you don't defend yourselves from China you all might end up like my late mother in law and our family there. Think hard because the Chinese really really do not like Japan and burn for revenge. Like it or not that is reality. What you spend on defense is orders of magnitude cheaper than what happens if deterrence fails. Ask the Czechs and the Poles how cheaping out on defense in the 1930s worked out for them in 1938/39. Don't end up like the Czechs and Poles.
starpunk
He got it! Say 'cheese' for the camera.
Brian Wheway
It's really sad that a senior has to steal goods just to survive, he, like others need financial support, but on the other hand shops are not a charity
quercetum
Maybe he’s like soapy and wants to live on Riker’s Island with warm food and shelter.
Pukey2
Cost of living crisis. Not just in the UK and USA.
KeepIn ItReal
The problem here is that many elderly in Japan have not done proper planning for their retirement. They believed when they are younger that either their family or the government will be there to support them. There are some quite sad YouTube documentaries of elderly living pension payment to pension payment with absolutely zero savings.
KyotoToday
And living from taxpayer money.
Everyone is standing on the shoulders of giants.
njca4
This is actually not that uncommon. It happens more in the winter when people are cold and hungry. They know they are getting a roof over their heads and food if they go to prison.
It's a good thing he only shoplifted and didn't try to do anything violent
saffron
The government pension plan is not generous, I paid in for over 25 years but only get 33,000 yen a month.($220 about)
ExtraPat
@Saffron, Yes, it’s pitiful, and going to get worse