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Police in Osaka have arrested a 58-year-old man on suspicion of stealing a woman’s underwear from a coin laundry in January.
According to police, the theft occurred between 8:40 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. on Jan 25 at the laundry in Higashiyodogawa Ward, Kyodo News reported. Kazuo Yabunouchi, a security guard from Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, is accused of stealing three items of underwear belonging to a 26-year-old woman.
Police said Yabunouchi, who was arrested on Friday, has admitted to the theft and quoted him as saying he had stolen underwear from laundries five or six times while on his way home from work. Police found about 50 items of women’s underwear at his residence.
Police said Yabunouchi was identified after an analysis of laundry surveillance camera footage. His name and company was written on a helmet he was wearing.
© Japan Today
33 Comments
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Daninthepan
I'm guessing it was a dunce cap with village Idiot written on it.
purple_depressed_bacon
Not the sharpest tool in the shed then huh?
If he was so desperate for knickers, he could have gone to the shops or tried his luck at one of those adult capsule toy machines.
garypen
This particular crime, which seems to be quite popular here, never ceases to confound me.
Rodney
Time for japan today to have a separate category for these stories.
WA4TKG
This is a lot more common than you may think.
My ex told me hers disappeared from the clothes line before...as a School Kid
snowymountainhell
More of Japan’s dirty laundry on the front page so it’s understandable that crimes like this get many people bound up. Seems better for Japan to air them out on the front page rather than just toss them in the corner.
Michael Machida
Police said Yabunouchi was identified after an analysis of laundry surveillance camera footage. His name and company was written on a helmet he was wearing.
Smart guy.
NOMINATION
We are hearing about this story today but I am sure it happens daily in the land of stolen drawls.
garypen
I'm pretty sure most readers of JT already think it's pretty common.
diagonalslip
if he was caught on security-cam, how come no more accurate time available I wonder....
ebisen
The ultimate guide on this topic. Bottom line, there is a huge industry behind it:
https://sofiagray.com/blog/the-truth-behind-japans-used-panty-vending-machines/
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
Omg not again !
This is happening alot in Japan.
Too wierd !
He was working for the knikker bokker glory company
Sanjinosebleed
Where was the owner of said knickers??
Had she just left her clothes unattended? Weird…
garypen
Maybe she went to the conbini or a vending machine to get a drink or snack.
Maybe she stepped outside for a smoke or to answer her phone.
There are numerous reasons why someone isn't glued to their seat every second their stuff is in the machine.
She may have even been in there the entire time, but her attention was elsewhere, such as with a phone game or a book.
snowymountainhell
Because it appears the accused doesn’t have a simple grab, snatch & dash type M.O. @diagonalslip 4:45pm. - Perhaps he took some time with his selections, also giving police time to uncover his details: “His name & company was written [his] helmet.”
snowymountainhell
Nothing to sniff at either, @Sanjinosebleed 6:18pm. Appears this was just good, old fashioned J police work.
Thankfully in this case, they’ve learned they didn’t need to subject a victim to additional embarrassment or ever having to confront the accused.
bobcatfish
As a community service I often buy women's underwear and leave them at laundries and on clotheslines. Of course I wear them first. What they don't know won't hurt them...
Rodney
It’s not rocket science, don’t leave you keys in the car, and don’t leave your panties to dry.
justasking
Eww
kaimycahl
He should have said he was using them as a life line in his line of work. For example if someone was trapped in a rise fire he could use bloomers for a parachute and if some one needed a tourniquet he could use a thong. Safety first by all means lol
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
I think that Japanese ladies should consider drying their underwear in a laundry washing bag to .
Perhaps its the viewing of the panties in the drying machine window going round and round that drive these men to theft.
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
An underwear hypnosis problem.
starpunk
In my hometown, there was this freak who came up to boys and demanded their socks. Sometimes he grabbed them off. He always did this at the same location. When the police busted into his apartment, he had a Christmas tree decorated with boys' socks.
Also, this underwear stealing brings 'Arnold Layne' by Pink Floyd to mind.
nothisrealname
Slow news day? Why are we reading about this?
Desert Tortoise
Why not just order what one wants on line and have it delivered? Discreet, no crime involved.
Desert Tortoise
I think being caught in the act with your hands in the dryer by the owner of said underwear would be worse than any sentence the criminal justice system could devise.
starpunk
58 years old. Isn't he a bit old to be playing these shenanigans??