A 24-year-old woman walking home alone was knocked down and had her underwear stolen by a man in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, early Wednesday morning.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 1 a.m. near Tsukuba Station. NTV reported that the woman told police she was walking along when a man grabbed her from behind and demanded she give him her panties. The man knocked her down, removed her underwear and then fled, police said.
The assailant is described as being in his 20s or early 30s, about 170 cms tall and was wearing a black sweater.
Police said they are studying street surveillance camera footage to try and identify the man.
The woman was shaken but not injured, police said.
© Japan Today
44 Comments
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daemon58
It has been happening for at-least 20 years, there is the problem of chikan (groping) males would start rubbing against a female with the back of his hand as if it was accidental (with crowded trains/buses etc.), it happens. Not long until he is groping/grabbing her bottom, he would get more grabby, soon other males would join in ( seems that no other passengers will stop it). There are those that will run up on a female and pull her top down/up/open and pull bra up to expose her to another with a video recorder (there are countless videos of all these) or pull up her dress/skirt and pull down underwear (several females will not wear underwear;during the summer). This guy must have seen young Japanese females get their underwear pulled off and thrown up in a tree/high on a pole,the guy with video will slip in to get shots up their skirts, this is where he came up with trying it.
Serrano
Yet another nutter.
tom_traubert
The assailant is described as being in his 20s or early 30s, about 170 cms tall and was wearing a black sweater and now woman's panties.
sighclops
Only in Japan...
Ah_so
The women do not fight back because they are actresses. It is possible that some assaults are real, but committing assaults in public and in daylight is not in the perpetrators' interest - there would be witnesses and they would be quickly caught.
triumph
This is a serious assault, and the poor girl should receive counselling.
nath
Women need to take self defense training as much as they spend time shopping for new bags and panties
shallots
I find the headline and wording of the story offensive. This is a violent assault. A little more seriousness is in order.
Tessa
My cousin was assaulted by a weirdo on the subway when she came to visit me in Osaka. We decided against going to the police when her description of him was "about 5.5, skinny, black hair, brown eyes, cheap suit." Congratulations, you've just described virtually every working man in Japan!
eye
I can't agree with all the fighting back comments. The article has mentioned that the nutjob was asking for panties. I would think giving it to him would be better than aggravate an already crazy guy, What's the loss of a panty compared to your safety or life? Better to just try to get as much info/description of the nut to give later to the police.
skinnee
Do they?
nath
Not if he didn't attempt to rape her (and nothing from the article indicates that he did). It's just sexual assault.
Gaijin Desi
Is this not a Rape attempt ?
Wc626
What a loser for that suspect to commit such an act. Can women buy pepper spray here? Chimpira causing trouble again.
presto345
What an unbelievable piece of work. Now try to imagine it happened to someone close to you. No 'clever' remarks would be forthcoming.
smithinjapan
Thunderbird2: "I think this perv needs a good kicking by a gang of angry office ladies - seriously, this would be sexual assault in the UK and he would be put on the Sex Offenders List."
I'm quite sure this is considered sexual assault here as well, and hence it is news, and particularly with the fact that the man robbed her by knife-point. A bunch of angry office ladies just going out and kicking the crap out of this guy, though, would also be nothing short of assault. If the woman in question had kicked the crap out of him while the guy tried it, on the other hand, would be justice -- but my guess is she was confused and scared and it was just easier to let the guy take the panties and flee. Nothing to poke fun at her for at all. Some people just aren't built for defending themselves. Another woman might have fought back.
bjohnson23
hmmm. what the....I don't even want to try to guess on this one.
Monozuki
@jcapan
Is this a Cockney rhyming slang or something?
Thanks in advance.
khulifi
Glad that she was unharmed ...
nath
I don't think it's ever been 'usual'. It used to happen more, but about 15 years ago a bunch of new laws were enacted, preventing school age girls from selling their panties. I'm sure it still happens, but it's underground now, and nowhere near 'usual'.
jcapan
Monozuki--thank Dave Doyle further upthread.
WilliB
Hentai gone berserk! I find the typical underwear fetishist who steal from laundry lines rather funny (remember the guy with the fly-fishing gear?), but this sounds like serious physical assault. I hope they catch him and throw the book at him.
SenseNotSoCommon
CGB Spender,
It's a serious sexual and physical assault. Heaven forbid it happens to anyone close to you.
Monozuki
@jcapan
It's a big help!
I have just checked it out in the Urban Dictionary which is a very popular crowdsourced online dictionary of slang words and phrases. As you guessed, I'm Japanese and English is a 2nd language for me.
Thanks for the heads-up!
Thunderbird2
Darknet... you're probably right.
Darknet
I think he'd just get off on it.
kurisupisu
Isn't it usual to buy used underwear in Japan? This is exceedingly strange behavior..........
jhagen
@whiskeysour
for some specific reasons no one have any doubts about it.
Thunderbird2
I think this perv needs a good kicking by a gang of angry office ladies - seriously, this would be sexual assault in the UK and he would be put on the Sex Offenders List.
Come on Japanese ladies - fight back! Carry a spray perfume or hairspray in your bag and aim at their eyes. Blind the buggers, kick them in the goolies and then get to a cop shop pronto.
jcapan
"This stealing or pulling down of women's underwear is called Sharking"
In my world it's called sexual assault and one wishes women here could mace the wanker in the face then kick the snot out of him while he writhed. I know, that would jolt the wa of male-female relations here but....
whiskeysour
Was he Japanese ?
StormR
The thrill of it must push these guys over the edge.
Monozuki
I often hear lingerie thefts stealing a woman's underwear stealthily from a washing line. But I rarely hear taking it off by such a predatory attack. He seem to be a "NIKUSYOKU-KEI-DANSHI" or "CHEETAH" if you will.
Darknet
Why didn't he just get some used panties from a vending machine?
Aaron Lloyd Brummett
Same thing happened to me at a gym. I left my dirties in the locked for two hours while I worked out. This was at Indiana University. Within two hours someone had broken the lock and taken my drawers. I really didn't know that it was news worthy at the time. The security footage showed no one coming in or out except for members of the Football team... whom I took classes with because I knew those would be easy A's. So, I just wrote it off and bought some new drawers.
Tessa
It's nothing new, and has been going on for as long as I remember. When I first arrived in Japan, I was warned about a man who was robbing women at knifepoint ... of their panties. On a bicycle, no less!
incognito12
Radical fetishism.
lationz
Classic!
Feel sorry for the woman but seriously, what is it with perverts and panties in Japan.
I recall an article a year or two ago, about an older guy who got caught red-handed trying to 'fish' the panties that were hanging on the balcony of the apartment below him, literally using a fishing rod with a custom-made hook to do so.
Dave Doyle
This stealing or pulling down of women's underwear is called Sharking, and is videoed as it is happening. The videos are then posted on porn sites. It is also done in Europe, but women there fight back, Japanese women just seem to give in without a fight.
Pukey2
Was there a struggle? I'm recalling the scene in Carry on Doctor when Frankie Howerd is lying in bed. Matron puts her hand underneath the blankets and whips out his underwear in less than one second.
Vernie Jefferies
I remember a guy stealing a school girl's skirt in Tsukuba last year. I wonder if it's the same guy.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/man-attacks-student-steals-her-skirt-in-ibaraki
sensei258
@ CGB LOL
CGB Spender
That's just rude! He could have asked her politely if she would be willing to exchange her panties with his. Doubtful it would have worked out but that is the Gentlemen pantie snatcher's way.
nath
HAPPOSAI!