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Police in Tokyo have arrested nine teenage boys for attacking a 40-year-old man and stealing his bag containing 13,000 yen in January.
According to police, the incident occurred as the man walked along a street in Minami-Naruse, Machida City, early on the morning of Jan 20. The nine boys, all aged 16 and employed as steelworkers, have admitted to the charge and said they had gone out oyaji-gari (hunting middle-aged or old men) because they wanted money “to have some fun.”
One of the boys was quoted by police as saying he contacted eight of his friends on the messaging app Line and ordered them to split up to find the perfect candidate to attack.
The victim told police he was accosted as he walked home just before dawn. He said one of the gang accused him of deliberately ignoring them. Others then demand he leave his cash and “beat it.” The boys then surrounded the man and began to kick and punch him.
After making off with their victim’s bag, the group of nine boys spent the stolen money at a family restaurant.
Police said the man sustained minor injuries.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
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Chico3
If that were me, they would get there **s kicked “East LA” style. No mercy, even if they said “Yamete!”
Chico3
I meant “their,” not “there.”
nandakandamanda
Too much of this kind of things goes on, as if it some kind of light-hearted fun game.
Parents and the police need to come down hard on this, to get the message out that some actions are just plain wrong.
Joe Blow
Not if it's 9 of them. Especially considering some teenagers are barely above feral.
yuriyuri
I'm so sad that I saw this news. Considering the man's feeling, it's terrible. A boy who is 16 must attain almost full growth. The man might have had a more serious injury because of these boys. I hope these crime will have been eliminated, so as that everyone can live free from worry.
Disillusioned
Shine than light on 'Safety Japan'!
sensei258
And the fact that these boys are 16 and working as steelworkers means they're social reject Yakuza Wannabes.
smithinjapan
Charge them as adults. They're not in school, they are working, and most importantly this was premeditated and even called "Oyaji-gari". Name them, shame them, and lock them up.
kurisupisu
@zichi
The legendary Liverpool kiss?
Even more deadly with an adapted flat cap, so I heard.
Alex Einz
basically low level yankee you can see doing nothing at construction sites for low pay wearing those wide pants and drinking cheap drinks
quercetum
These animals...like a bunch of hyenas.
Ex_Res
What has happened to the Japan I once knew many years ago?
doel jusino
Does days are long gone - Never to return. Sad to say but Japan's crime rate is catching up with the rest of the western world. Just to much western world influence now a days in Japan .......
oldman_13
Even more signs of a country in decline morally.
jiji Xx
the signal-to-noise ratio of this article is (like so many others) pretty low.... I'd be interested to know how these boys were found.... this happened in January, so I guess the police have been tracking, with security-cams as the starting point? are they being kept in custody? what are the 'available' punishments? in any case, good job, catching them.
baroque1888
Hopefully the victim will be all right.
It is extremely shocking that something like this could ever occur in Japan. Japan is known as being one of the safest countries in the world. My understanding is that someone can even walk around the Kabukicho area of Shinjuku (apparently the most dangerous area in Japan by Japanese standards) late at night without being bothered/harassed. To hear of something like this occurring in the Far East (China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan) is extremely shocking. My understanding is that the Far East is deemed safer than the Middle East, The America's, Oceania, Australia and Europe. This is extremely shocking. Hopefully the criminals are going to be subject to maximum penalty.
Chico3
Not if it's 9 of them. Especially considering some teenagers are barely above feral.
Apparently, you’v never been to East LA, especially just under the bridge from Downtown LA to East LA. If you had been there, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. Let’s just say people from “the barrio” eat people like those kids for breakfast.
Jalapeno
There's actually a name for that kind of predatory behavior?