Police in Urawa Ward, Saitama City, said Monday they have arrested a man who, wielding an umbrella, forced his way into a government office and demanded money.
According to police, Kazuhiro Kawabata, 43, who is unemployed and has no fixed address, entered the ward office at around 5:40 a.m. Sunday and brandished an umbrella at a 63-year-old man working the night shift, TBS reported. Kawabata demanded money and hit the ward employee with the umbrella, inflicting minor injuries, police said.
A security guard detained Kawabata until police arrived. Kawabata was quoted as saying he needed money.
© Japan Today
26 Comments
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bass4funk
You've got to be kidding me. Did the thing have an exploding tip or something?
Knox Harrington
Urawa just keeps the hits coming this year, don't they. Also, Saitama seems like a great place to live.
Mirai Hayashi
Poor guy was probably extremely desperate.
jerseyboy
Fraid not. Similar thing happened to me years back in the shops right above Roppongi station. Some guy tried to steal a gal's purse, and he thought his umbrella -- one of the cheap combini-store ones -- was going to impress me.
Jeff Huffman
It's not called Dasasitama for nuttin'.
This is beyond comical.
sillygirl
That's why they call it dasaitama.
serendipitous
The Penguin?
the_odeman
Wielding an umbrella?
Really? Wielding????
Disillusioned
Isn't that cute! He probably believed he would actually get some money too.
DudeDeuce
Um, go look at the stats, Saitama is not even in the Top 5 for crime rate. Didn't know reported crime in Japan Today means an entire Prefecture is a war zone.
Jack Stern
He was practicing for the next Batman movie role as the Penguin..
Fox Cloud Lelean
"I've got an umbrella, and a need of money. I can either try to win people's hearts with an astonishing rendition of Singin' in the Rain, or I can whack some poor guy with it and get arrested." Should have tried singing. But really though, an umbrella? Well, I hope he didn't open it indoors. That's supposed to be bad luck.
Magnus Roe
How exactly did this "happen to you"? Were you the girl he tried to impress?
Aaron Loki Brummett
At least now he has a place to stay. I hope he goes to a mental facility where he can get treatment.
Jeff Ogrisseg
Hold on. A ward office with a night shift? A ward office employee on the job at 05:40? The Umbrella Man is from Opposite World.
WilliB
Ban umbrellas!
smithinjapan
A lot of these old fellows who do this kind of thing know they're going to get caught and in fact just want a place to stay -- the klink meets the criteria. They get a bed, three squares a day, and don't have to do very much.
Dennis Bauer
Lethal Kasa cases on the rise!
SwissToni
Knox Harrington, Jeff Huffman, Sillygirl, don't knock it till you've tried it. Better a silly sod with an umbrella than a gang banger with a pistol. Saitama's not so bad.
wtfjapan
seriously how dangerous can an umbrella be. a few chairs, tape dispensers, even tables thrown at the guys head will make him think twice
Thunderbird2
"Gimme the money or I open the umbrella indoors... and you know what that means!"
If he hadn't whacked the poor old chap in the shop with the brolly I would have thought this was a joke. I suppose an umbrella handle can be just as bad as any other blunt instrument wielded by a nutter.
FightingViking
"Mary Poppins" springs to mind... although I'm in the same (financial) situation, I shall try to refrain from doing the same thing...
kaimycahl
Another nutter on the lose!
John Galt
I actually feel sorry for homeless guy. There are a lot of desperate folks in plain sight, but few or no charitable places.
HokkaidoKuma
Oh my gawds, he has an umbrella!
toshiko
Maybe they want to sleep under roof and eat food in a jail cell?