Cop held after caressing woman's underwear on balcony in Gifu

Thursday 06th August, 11:00 AM JST

GIFU —

A 29-year-old police constable was arrested for trespassing and attempted theft on Wednesday, after he was spotted fondling a pair of women’s underwear that were hung out on the first-floor balcony of an apartment block in the town of Ginan.

Motoyuki Tamaki, a resident of Kakamigahara City in Gifu and a constable at Inazawa police station in neighboring Aichi Prefecture, is accused of trespassing at the 31-year-old woman’s apartment at around 3 p.m. Wednesday. The man living with the woman told police he saw Tamaki touching the underwear and called out to him from inside the apartment. Tamaki fled and the man ran after him, but lost sight of him and called police, who were able to locate Tamaki in the neighborhood shortly after.

Tamaki, who was not working on Wednesday, has admitted to entering the apartment grounds but said he did so to use the toilet on the first floor. He has denied intending to steal the underwear.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 41 Total Comments Show All

Bento at 06:12 PM JST - 6th August

However if all woman hung theirs inside then these deviants might be drawn indoors to fulfill their needs..and i am guessing that women would prefer the thief outside than inside,probably best to hang some decoy pants outside all properties. JT chooses is headlines with care..their intention is to titillate, emphasize the sexual angle of any story(especially when its deviant in nature),and by doing so attract readers..some of who appear absolutely addicted to such items.
Klein2 at 07:28 PM JST - 6th August

Smith Smith. Read the article. He did not break in. That is the point. As far as we know, he was walking by and had a NARUHODO inspiration from the pink silkies. I am halfway joking here, but, really... I am not a fan of the laundry hanging customs of Japanese to begin with, and I can just imagine a clothesline full of Iijima Ai's finest thongs waving in the breeze, just daring some perv to snatch one. As I said, I keep my dainty things inside and private.

And I do not want to go down that slippery slope and say that she was asking for it, but a 31 year old woman should know better. I hereby assign her 3% of the blame. If he gets a year in prison, she should get a day. A 13 year old won't understand and a 61 year old won't care. Let me put it this way. Is there a presumption of privacy if you are waving your panties on your front lawn? Well maybe in terms of caressing, but what if he wanted to take pictures? Is there harm in that? Probably happens every day. Well, you can probably see what I am getting at. She was trolling for sukebe. Simple modesty and common sense would prevent anyone I know from doing this.

And one more thing. The headline says HELD AFTER CARESSING, and the story says he was ACCUSED. Which is it then? The guy could be innocent. What boyfriend watches his girlfriend's underwear drying on the line anyway? Is this extortion maybe?
sharky1 at 08:20 PM JST - 6th August

He had no intention of stealing them, he was just checking them for holes. I guess the only charge that might stick is the trespassing charge. Nothing else will stick because the evidence had been washed.
womanforwomen at 08:20 PM JST - 6th August

"and people who say women are wearing too revealing clothes TO AVOID BLAMING THE CULPRIT".

A woman having dainty underwear and a woman wearing outerwear which reveals too much and invites too much unwanted attention are two different things.
Klein2 at 08:41 PM JST - 6th August

I would go 20 steps further womanforwomen. I would say that no woman deserves to be assaulted for any reason, no matter what she wears or DOES NOT WEAR. I would also say that someone playing with other people's panties without permission is not cool. I am glad that it does not happen a lot. What kind of crime is that though? If they had fallen on the ground and he just picked them up to put them back on the line, does he deserve to have his life ruined? I guess he denies everything, so the only real evidence is some boyfriend's story.

Hanging your underwear out where people can walk by and feel it is not smart. If a guy takes a dollar out of your pocket, that is one thing, but if you drop a dollar and walk away, and the guy picks it up, is it robbery?

I don't know. It all seems pretty gray to me. Truthfully it is all a tempest in a teapot. Sure glad I do not have to deal with this. I guess the headline sucked me in.

And sharky, I don't buy that "checking them for holes" hypothesis for a second. Everyone knows that underwear has holes. How else would you get your legs through them? Wait wait.. better punchline... How else would you be able to see through them when you put them over your head? LOL
medievaltimes at 09:44 PM JST - 6th August

It's regrettable. Im sure he's sorry from the bottom of his heart. He's sorry for causing a misunderstanding.
tamesu at 01:56 AM JST - 7th August

She should get a dryer if she can afford one.....but I also think a lot of J-copz are wierd and I have met some very racist ones too.
AdachikuMaster at 11:01 AM JST - 7th August

Too much spare time on his hands. Seems a lot of idiot cops have too much time to commit crimes. Such people shoulc be isolated and desinfected and then put in prison.

I will prefer a country where bad cop commit that kind of crimes that the usual bad cops you can find in the western countries.
intomioka at 01:36 PM JST - 7th August

You got it medievaltimes.
Den Den at 01:41 PM JST - 7th August

Everyone is entitled to a personal fetish, and he can go and buy some and use them in the privacy of his own home. But this is invasion of privacy and worse. Already leaving the scene of a crime, trespass, and sexual assault...3 years I would give him.
Klein2 at 03:56 PM JST - 7th August

sexual assault? leaving the scene of what crime? what trespass?

Apparently this guy was walking to an apartment complex to use a bathroom, picked up some underwear that had fallen on the ground, hung it back up, and started walking away.

Then somebody's boyfriend ran up to him waving his fists.

Whatever the truth REALLY is, we will never know, but this "truth" is as good as any other. I hope that the guy gets represented well. He could be totally innocent. Presuming that he is innocent is good citizenship.
telecasterplayer at 08:41 AM JST - 8th August

The fact that these Japanese Police officers are getting arrested for these screwy things (uninhabited panty fondling, shoe mirrors, up-skirts on the escalator, etc) shows their fellow police take a very dim view on bad cops. Other places, the offender would flash an ID, say "hey I'm on the job", and the investigating officers would let him go.
bones at 08:45 PM JST - 9th August

What is this obsession with some Japanese men and woman's underwear???
WMD at 01:01 PM JST - 10th August

What is this obsession with some Japanese men and woman's underwear??? Yes it's so dumb and lame. I only like to see ladies getting out of their underwear.
akunohana at 11:50 AM JST - 12th August

What is this obsession with some Japanese men and woman's underwear???

An aspect of wabi-sabi (侘寂) mayhaps that we hapless gaijin will never comprehend?