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About two weeks ago, a man in Nagakuta City, Aichi Prefecture was arrested for stealing a pair of pumps that belonged to a music teacher. What made this theft even stranger was that when taking the shoes, he had replaced them with a nearly identical new pair.
The ensuing investigation found a further 20 pairs of women’s footwear in the suspects home, suggesting that he had done this several times. He had also admitted to police that he had exchanged the shoes because he enjoyed the scent of the used ones.
▼ A news report at the time of the arrest.
That’s how things stood as of April 10, but upon further investigation, new details have come to light about this thief’s modus operandi.
It turned out that the man would survey the shoe cubbies of his victims’ work place and take photos so that he could purchase a convincing pair of lookalikes. Then, after buying the shoes, he would break them in himself for a bit before making the switch, so that hopefully the victim wouldn’t notice.
It would seem this new information proved too much for the initial victim to handle, because the music teacher dropped the charges against him, saying that the details of the case were too “disgusting” for her.
She wasn’t alone either, after her story broke many other women came forward about their shoes feeling suddenly different and reported it to police. However, none of them were willing to pursue charges against the man for similar reasons.
As a result, on April 23, the suspect was set free and will not stand trial. The police have also determined that he was not stalking any of the women themselves, just their shoes, so they will not seek charges on those grounds either.
“Due to the nature of the case, it was difficult to get cooperation,” said an officer. “If that’s what the victims want, then there’s nothing we can do, but it’s a shame because we put a lot of work into the investigation.”
Meanwhile, netizens were amazed that this man will go unpunished, presumably because what he did was so repulsive and insignificant that no one wanted anything to do with it.
“So this guy is so perverted that even the law can’t touch him?”
“He fought the law and he won… by being totally gross.”
“He’s too icky to prosecute.”
“Maybe now that he’s free he’ll come give me some new shoes next.”
“This whole outcome makes me very uncomfortable.”
“That is one powerfully revolting guy.”
It’s easy to look at the facts of the case and dismiss it as not a big deal, especially since the shoes were replaced. However, it’s still a violation of people’s privacy that undoubtedly fills them with a general sense of unease and can stay with them throughout their day-to-day life.
That feeling is only amplified by having to dwell on it with repeated police reports and testimonies. Throw in the considerable attention the case has gotten in the media, and it’s not unimaginable that the victims would prefer to put it all behind them as soon as possible.
One bit of consolation is that the guy is fully on the local police’s radar now, so in the very likely event that he tries something like this again, his chances of getting caught have gone up considerably.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun, Hachima Kiko
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© SoraNews24
38 Comments
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Aly Rustom
The police determined that he was not stalking any of the women themselves, just their shoes?? Seriously?? How do you stalk shoes??!
LMAO!!
snowymountainhell
Sadly, this situation will be a great setback for future claimants to het the police to listen and follow-up, no matter how bizarre the initial complaint may seem.
snowymountainhell
Apparently, NO one wants to reclaim their original property, less the swabs taken for DNA matching. (These freaks, their fetishisms and obsessions with odors and body fluids. Gross)
Zaphod
LOL, what a surprise. The did not mind too much to have their old shoes replaced with new ones.
I wonder if he was able to get a permanent agreement with some of them.
Alan Harrison
Sadly, this situation will be a great setback for future claimants to het the police to listen and follow-up, no matter how bizarre the initial complaint may seem.
It seems that the victims have more brains than the law. None were out of pocket, and they have probably realised that the man is harmless and just needs a bit of psychiatric treatment.
He does not deserve to be incarcerated for 3 weeks, and probably screamed and shouted at by Japan's stupid prosecutor bureaucrats.
Toshihiro
Who would press charges if their shoes got replaced with a new pair? I might even thank the person by leaving a nastier pair for him. Kidding aside, at least he walked away free for a crime where nobody was hurt
Goodlucktoyou
Over two weeks in a Japanese prison for renewing people old shoes sounds like pretty dire for me.
if only he stole my car and replaced it with a brand new one...
Kazuaki Shimazaki
I'll say it's not a crime. If theft is the unlawful, uncompensated appropriation of other people's property, then this is more than fully compensated appropriation, since the new shoes are monetarily more valuable than the old ones, and there are no other factors that would make the old shoes objectively more valuable even in a non-monetary sense.
nandakandamanda
Burglars often go back to the same house in repeat visits. If this guy has photos of their lockers...
Zaphod
snowymountainhell
I dont see how. They did follow the initial complaint, even seeing how bizarre it was.
Pukey2
He's welcome to replace my shoes every two years. It'll save me some money.
lostrune2
Wonder if instead of shoes, it's something else - would the result be the same
Can imagine now.......... a copycat stealing panties and replacing them with "new" (broken in) ones, lol
Alan Harrison
This guy is rather like Robin Hood (riding through the glen).
The pathetic judge who ordered (rubber stamped) his detention must be the Sherrif of Nottingham.
Lucky that the Music teacher concerned is a Maid Marrion.
dan
This was never a crime worthy of punishment in the first place.
Mark
Smart choice for now,
better this way than pressing charges which will only aggravate the situation and cause this Lunatic to get retaliate when he gets out of jail.
Bill Adams
The women got new shoes for their old ones. If ever there was a victimless crime, this is it.
While this man would obviously benefit from psychiatric treatment, he does not sound dangerous. Alternatively, could he not simply offer women a free 'shoe exchange'? This seems like the best win:win solution.
Leo
They put a lot of time and resources into this crime. Japan can be really strange at times.
William Bjornson
Shoe huffing...o-o--kay... ... What is the Walden quote? "The mass of [people] lead lives of quiet desperation." What kind of 'desperation' would there be in a life decorated with this particular, apparently compulsive, but clearly thought out behavior? Poor guy... no word on whether he has a job in a shoe store? Or if he is prohibited from being within 300 meters of a shoe store or a getabako other than his own? People get misdirected by their own senses because they are not consciously aware of the chemical forces taking over their thinking, that is, pheromones.
*Pheromones occur in various anatomical structures or tissues of the secretory system. In mammals, they are mainly produced in:**
preputial glands,
perianal glands,
sebaceous glands, apocrine glands,
axillary glands,
submaxillary glands,
Harderian glands,
tear glands
liver,
mouth,
***feet,
WilliB
William Bjornsson
Surely true, but I think those produced in the feet do not affect most of us.
BackpackingNepal
Those women realized this unexpected bizarre fantasy crime is actually a benefit for them. They saved their time and money by dropping the charges, and of course with new pair of shoes.
irreconcilable
Only in Japan. Japanese ladies are such good sports.
William Bjornson
Not to argue, but usually the features we see in the Human corpus have undergone millions of years of testing by Natural Selection and, if they are there, they have significant effect of some sort. Reproductive pheromones have only one job, to facilitate and achieve fertilization in ANY WAY POSSIBLE. And these features come to us from the distant past such as the wrinkle reflex in our hands and feet (we used to have four hands...) for branch grabbing in the rain. Living in trees, we would encounter branches that, say, an ovulating female had just used... and along comes Mr. Hominin and, suddenly, he's in love. Nature is really 'not fair' in many ways but only cares about one thing, the next generation. This poor lad just got 'imprinted' in an unusual way and, my guess, he hasn't the foggiest idea of why he does it. And when those legacy behaviors appear in an individual, they do loo a bit strange to the untutored eye...
Michael Machida
Too funny.
Gaijinjland
Well, he did replace the shoes lol. If he is into some shoe fetish, why not just go online and find some weirdo woman who would sell him her used shoes? It probably wouldn’t be too hard to do
itsonlyrocknroll
It turned out that the man would survey the shoe cubbies of his victims’ work place and take photos so that he could purchase a convincing pair of lookalikes. Then, after buying the shoes, he would break them in himself for a bit before making the switch, so that hopefully the victim wouldn’t notice.
Every new disturbingly creepy detail of the shocking, swap out, shoe sniffing poacher, is more repulsive and disgusting.
Set free?
No boot, sandal, sneaker, heel, flat or mule will be safe.
This is a serious compulsion disorder, the flip flop fiend foot fetish demands he will strike again.
itsonlyrocknroll
Unconfirmed reports suggest, Aichi Prefecture police crime unit are privately referring the assailant as Jack the slipper
murabito
This is too bad to believe, I just hope this is not going to come back later with the guy becoming a dangerous stalker because he got a free pass this time. I understand the victims trying to let everything go away, but they also had a responsibility to help making society better from people like this.
sir_bentley28
Only in Japan where you can be a pervert, but find a way around getting arrested for being a disgusting pervert!
quercetum
It is very well a crime against a person. Why would it only be about shoes? Try and consider the victims and their mental stress and cumulative trauma and the damage to their piece of mind.
quercetum
Obviously you have never been tracked or followed and are unable to empathize.
itsonlyrocknroll
Then, after buying the shoes, he would break them in himself for a bit before making the switch, so that hopefully the victim wouldn’t notice.
The mind boggles!
Men and Women rarely share shoe sizes.
So how did the Boot Bandit break in his booty?
One has to wear the shoe to break it in.
He could have spent hours kneading/groping the footwear, intoxicated on the aroma of the originals.
A new low.
Kazuaki Shimazaki
@quercetumToday 12:37 pm JST
But none of these rise to the point of being a crime. Theft is a crime to protect property rights, and since the object was promptly more than completely replaced, it's no longer theft. Maybe another act like stalking will rise to becoming a crime, but at least the "theft" part is not a crime.
nandakandamanda
The whole point of this for him is it is not just random women's shoes. That could be done on the net. This reminds me of the book 'Perfume, the Story of a Murderer' by Patrick Suskind.
It's his way of conquering and possessing the one he loves. He smells her in passing, follows her, anonymously observes her movements within a school or an office, and replaces her shoes. She will be left wondering how and where and when he latched on to her, and whether she will ever be free of him. I bet some of these ladies will be considering changing jobs and addresses, especially if the police can do nothing.
quercetum
I see your view: if I steal a bicycle, it’s not theft if I return it or replace it. If you steal then it’s theft.
Making a hundred phone calls was also not a crime before the Anti-Stalking Law and sending a thousand emails a day was also not a crime before the law was updated.
snowymountainhell
The problem @Zaphod 7:50, is NOT with the victims initially coming forward to complain. The problem will be, once again, to get police to investigate.
"Due to the nature of the case, it was difficult to get cooperation,” said an officer. “If that’s what the victims want, then there’s nothing we can do, but it’s a shame because we put a lot of work into the investigation.” -Sadly, as a result, some falsely biased, "internal" word will get around the NPA that these types of crimes are "less worthy" of investigative assets since victims may not follow through to prosecution of the suspects. Of course, it will never be admitted to and there will be not written documentation or statistics.