A 1.5-meter-long crocodile was seen in a river in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, police said Wednesday. According to police, a 37-year-old man spotted the crocodile in the Shobu River around 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday and reported it to police.
Police have searched the river but have so far failed to find the crocodile. Police said the crocodile might have been a pet abandoned by its owner once it grew too large.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
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Altria
I guess it caiman through a storm drain.
Or maybe the man is just making up alligations.
Or maybe it was just one of the Saitama locals taking a swim.
Altria
They should catch it and make it into handbags marketed under the KawaGucci brand.
lalakawa
Haha. I would love to know how one abandons a crocodile here. I can't even put out a wine bottle with half the cork still in to be collected until the obasans are onto me!!!!! It might be a kappa.........
hoserfella
Altria- well played, sir.
TokyoGas
Maybe there will be a naming competition just like that seal in the Tama River.
Sarge
"KawaGucci"
Har!
Spidey
What a great way to busy up the local j-police.
"Hey! I just saw a really big crocodile in the river. Send all available police to search for it." "Right away, sir."
Meanwhile...
S
flyingfish
just wait -they will be giving it a juuminhyou like tama chan in no time- foreigners will have to wait
sabinuki
How apt. Take the challenge. Would need a "that's not a knife, this is a knife" knife for this "shobu".
nandakandamanda
"Police have searched the river..."
What? Like, they've swum underwater looking for it?
Xeno23
How can they be sure it was a crocodile? Did the police see it? Was a keitai shashin taken? Maybe it was an alligator...
Omawarisan Ichiro: Hey, is that it?
Omawarisan Jiro: No, can't be, that's an alligator.
Omawarisan Saburo: Well, guess no crocodiles around here then.
Zen_Builder
Alligator/Crocodile = Wani in japanese.
WilliB
I think this story is crock.
serindipity
Gonna Have to get Brady Barr and his pretty assistant to catch this one. I'd be glad to give her a hand.
wilbur
thats alot of wallets
romulus3
never trust a crocodile. never get one as a pet. never.
Beelzebub
WilliB -- you're right, it's smells like those "kyogen" stories you hear about, where the guy is just bored and does something to get attention.
I'll believe it when I see it.
WMD
Oh no don't tell me. They're going to make this croc a citizen??
sabinuki
Exactly 1.5 meters? That's some good vision at 6.40pm.
I wonder if the crocodile became bigger with each Ozeki One Cup.
maryhinge
Saitama on the map again. I might even move there one day. It seems all the action is there. Imagine going to an African restaurant in Omiya and asking for a crocodile salad. Make it 'snappy'!
lipscombe
there was a 5 meter great white shark found in a Kawasaki canal a few years ago, this croc was small taters
Hawkeye
Tick tock Tick Tock, sounds like captain hook is in trouble again. It looks like someone's pet got too big and they released it which is stupid because it now poses a serious danger to the general public or maybe to itself as crocodile tail meat is really good grilled.
nandakandamanda
Well, large crocodilian fossils have been found here, so there was a time when they lived here, and maybe that time is coming again. All someone has to do is introduce a mate, and we're off again.
Funnily enough, the Japanese word Wani (which we associate with crocodile/alligator) has been used by fishing communities around Japan down the centuries to mean water creatures with many sharp teeth, ie sharks. (Besides the familiar words Same and Fuka). Maybe they even had salt-water crocs here many moons ago!