77-year-old woman scares off would-be robber in Osaka

Friday 09th October, 11:01 AM JST

OSAKA —

A 77-year-old woman was threatened with a knife in the store she runs in Osaka City on Thursday morning, but the armed assailant fled on his scooter after the woman told him she didn’t have any money and called out to her son in the back of the store.

Police said Mitsuko Kajiwara, owner of Food Shop Kajiwara in Higashi Sumiyoshi Ward, was threatened by a man with a knife just after 10 a.m. The man demanded she hand over some money, but she nonchalantly told him they didn’t have any, and yelled to her 50-year-old son working in the back of the store that there was a robber in the store. She went to the back and when she returned to the front with her son, the man had already left without taking anything, and was leaving the scene on his scooter.

Kajiwara’s son chased after him and was able to get his license plate, which he gave to police. Tomoyuki Fukuda, an unemployed 56-year-old man, was arrested Thursday night at his home in Abeno Ward for attempted robbery. He has denied the allegations, police said.

Police commended Kajiwara’s bravery, saying she had “nerves of steel.”

News reports

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Latest 15 of 21 Total Comments Show All

kirakira25 at 01:51 PM JST - 9th October

Go Granny Go!
TokyoLurker at 01:57 PM JST - 9th October

Granny power 笑
gogogo at 02:07 PM JST - 9th October

“nerves of steel.”

Good on her! But seriously the robber had nerves of jelly I think.
asianyetgaijin at 02:58 PM JST - 9th October

Well done Obaachan! and as for the thief, what a looser...
trustee at 04:16 PM JST - 9th October

This happens only in Japan :) ..could not help laughing .. well done grand ma
bgaudry at 04:34 PM JST - 9th October

Poor guy, the son and the old lady have obviously set him up as revenge for something.
kinniku at 04:39 PM JST - 9th October

She certainly did have nerves of steel. There is no doubt about that. However, it a good thing the would-be robber was a weak-kneed punk. If he had been more of a nut, she could have been seriously hurt.
thomyorke at 04:39 PM JST - 9th October

Lol only in Japan. The most pathetic, weak and dumb criminals in the world. And thats a good thing, actually!
kokorocloud at 04:54 PM JST - 9th October

I wonder if in most of these cases they turn tail because the woman looks/reminds them of their own obaa-san and they can't go through with it, haha. These stories always make me smile. I'm glad no one was hurt.
JA_Cruise at 05:36 PM JST - 9th October

the Obasan is darn lucky she wasn't carved up by some desperate dude.. i am glad of the outcome but curious if the son was prepared to do some swift kung fu and take the knife away... becuz unless you are prepared to put your life on the line, then you better give the money. Is it worth guessing wrong?
Farmboy at 10:18 PM JST - 9th October

Nice headline, but it sounds like the son was the one who scared the robber.
mnemosyne23 at 11:29 PM JST - 9th October

I love reading stories about "seasoned" citizens giving these whippersnappers their comeuppance. Good on you, oba-san!
ca1ic0cat at 01:22 AM JST - 10th October

Yeah, this one ended well. Good news for once. They ought to give her a medal.
Icewind007 at 02:28 AM JST - 10th October

Maybe. Probably more like a lot of gutless thieves who wimp-out at the first sign of resistance by their potential victim.

You make that sound like a bad thing. You'd prefer thieves with guts that slash at their victims for resisting?

But, really, because she was honest and then yelled for help, does that make her courageous? Honest and smart, yeah, courageous, no not really.
The758 at 08:07 AM JST - 13th October

The man was a fool in the first place for trying to rob an Osaka obasan