A woman in her 20s was attacked by a man who stole her underwear while she was walking home in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, police said.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 9 p.m. Thursday. Fuji TV reported that the woman told police that a man came up behind her, grabbed her, put one hand up her skirt and pulled down her underwear and then ran away.
The woman was shaken but otherwise not injured, police said, adding there was no one else in the vicinity at the time.
The assailant, whom the woman said she did not know, is described as being in his 20s or early 30s, about 170 cms tall and chubby.
Police said they are examining street surveillance camera footage to try and identify the man.
© Japan Today
50 Comments
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Tahoochi
......I'm really at a loss for words........
since1981
Perfect name for that town Wa(c)ko, Saitama.
savethegaijin
Wasn't there a couple attacks broadly similar to this in Wako about a week or so ago? With the same description (although that fits a huge range of people tbh)?
mt9334
Seems to me, that an internet search for the video of the crime is almost sure to give results. Acts such as these, and most all acts nowadays....are always caught on camera for the world to see....either by bystanders, or allies of the perpetrator for later thrills.
fuzzylogic
"Police said they are examining street surveillance camera footage to try and identify the man. yep.... the reliable ubiquitous orwellian 84 surveillance systems, perhaps soon with audio...
bass4funk
Me too.
goldorak
Is that some sort of sharking revival, or in this case extreme sharking as stealing the girl's undies is a notch further up on the moral depravity scale?
Harry_Gatto
So what's your problem with that? If they catch this guy as a result then you would consider it a bad thing?
FizzBit
Odd information. Did this perve PULL down her underwear then kindly ask her to lift up her feet? I guess if he told her "I just want your underwear" she'd probably comply just to get away from this guy. I really feel sorry for the Japanese ladies. Seems they're gonna always have to be on guard for creeps on the streets. Is pepper spray illegal here?
bass4funk
Yes, my wife has and carries a bottle with her all the time. Nasty stuff, did a test once......jeeeez almighty talk about serious pain!!!
Mocheake
Freaking creep! Ladies, there are a few stun guns available on Amazon.com for about 25 to 40 dollars. They will give these fools the shock of their lives and leave them incapacitated for a good while as you call the police or allow you to make a quick getaway.
elephant200
With physical assaulting a person and taken the property from someone, this is no more a stealing but a robbery!
Pacech1967
Pepper Spray and Stun Guns, afaik, are not legal in Japan
Most commercial Pepper Spray is a mild form of what Cops, etc use and are trained to resist it.
Best are the ones combined with DayGlo paint that can't be washed of from skin for 3-5 days.
sensei258
In the States (I say that because I don't know the classification system in Japan) this could be classified as a sexual assault, because he did it to satisfy some demented sexual urge, or at least that's how the prosecution would play it.
sandiegoluv
WTF? How weird it must feel for women to think that they have to walk down the street and worry about being tackled for their underwear.
Message to those who do this.... You are a SPECIAL kind of strange and not in a good way. Get your head examined. You are sick!
Pacech1967
Big awareness rally yesterday outside my station yesterday about Chikan, Hitakuri, etc.
Lots of Universities here so many young ladies walking alone in the evenings.
ThePBot
If this wasn't so disturbing, it'd be quite funny. I'm sorry, it's such a bad thing to say, but it's just so freaking bizarre. Normally, you'd expect them to steal a purse or jewelry while she was walking alone......but to yank her underwear?!?!
Thunderbird
another AKB fan..
Andrew Crisp
Maybe he was embarrassed about buying his own womens underwear so he stole this lady's.
virgo
As for pepper spray and stun guns etc....most heeled ladies walking home on their cell phones pretty much have to have the weapon in their hand as they walk or a hit from behind...bam! It's useless. If we actually publicly flog and permanently chip and track sexual predators..it would be unjust to many but safer for our daughters and sisters and in some cases moms!
"Just grab em by the .....hmmm very trumpesque this criminal......
Pacech1967
Agree, most likely won't be handy but buried in their bag. Better change taking a pic of the perp using their keitai.
Also pepper-spray can backgire depending on distance and wind direction. Stun Guns also got their limitations as anyone trained in close combat can point out.
Sherman
It is called panty sharking. Japan is the worlds leader in this obscure fetish. I mean, who can get off on a dirty pair of pants? Seems like the perverts here do. Vending machines sell them, school girls sell their uniforms openly in Shibuya and guys get caught with hundreds of pairs stolen off washing lines.
Strangerland
Almost 20 years, and I've never seen one of these vending machines.
Hundreds of times in Shibuya (if not thousands), and I've never seen a girl selling her uniform here.
Pacech1967
Never seen such a vending machine, give me the location in Shibuya so I can check it out on my next trip there.
virgo
Those vending machines are long gone...you can buy new underwear, men or women though.
PTownsend
In the early 1990s there was one around the corner from my mansion in Chuo-ku Osaka. Next to it there was a machine that sold mini-kegs of beer and giant bottles of whisky.
Pacech1967
Only got to Tokyo in beginning of 1997.
MsDelicious
Was her skirt really short?
What a weird kinky story.
John-San
he might be a super hero in regent need of underwear?
bass4funk
What does this have to do with the topic? Remember, I supported a president had sex with his intern, so what's your point?
You're making a apples and kumquat comparison.
commanteer
Sure is odd that this obscure Japanese fetish has an English name, and that you know all the details. I guess it's not that obscure or uniquely Japanese after all.
Ah_so
They are largely a psychological support rather than a practical one. Unless you have an attacker who holds off while you ferret around in your handbag.
Ron Barnes
this sick
Noliving
Isn't it obvious? Too him one is consensual and one is not.
bass4funk
I always forget, liberals don't take assault all too seriously.
IloveCoffee
crime against women is still very common in Japan. Westerners should be aware.
sheik_yerbouti
Any ladies reading this would be well advised to do what my daughter did when some pervert creep molested her.Scream your head off and the bastard will run away.
smithinjapan
bass4funk: "I always forget, liberals don't take assault all too seriously."
Leave your baggage on the threads about politics, bass... unless you want people bringing up the fact that you support a man who literally brags about sexual assault and most certainly do not take it seriously then.
In any case, this is...what... the third Saitama crime case today alone?
goreme
How common is crime against women in your country?
Dre Hund
If the perp is wearing contacts, the pepper spray effects are much lower. My man friend was attacked by a woman twice as big as he was, and he only had the spray. Later he had the photos of his bruises taken by the cops. But that was later. They do like to kick.
Agoston Revesz
Well, why a man needs a female underwear from a 20 years of girl?? Doesnt make sense...
tomusnr
A pervert
Kichgai Fungoo
One sick limp dog, likely he can't get up.
sir_bentley28
So disgusting. Its not as bad as it is around where I live. The combini where I live warns women not to do something I can't begin to explain here due to its level of disgust.
Spanki
Probably the same guy who attacked 2 women in the same area late at night the other week and he's getting bolder.
okochat
HOOOOOOOW?
Is my question
Erik Larson
Yes, practically any useful weapon is illegal for private possession in Japan, I believe. What I want to know is whether a spray can of wasp killer is legal there? I hope they wouldn't indict a woman for interrupting a rape with a cloud of nicotine sulfate, but as we say here, better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.
Skeeter27
Why does this surprise so many people that this happened in Japan? I do hope that they do find as pervert and catch him and punish and to the fullest extent of law.
Hema Faure
It is not surprising to note this incident. Japan is not free to even a hold a hand of a girl/girl friend. Boys are frustrated so no wonder this man got into a fit and removed the under wear of the young girl ... anyway, he did not harm the girl, this a good point...you cannot help to have perverts in all societies .