Man robs Tokyo convenience store

The man is described as being around 20 years old, about 170 cms tall, of thin build and was wearing a gray sweat shirt with hoodie and gray sweat pants.

So, not a foreigner or foreign-looking, then.

Crystal ball time, a 22 yo unemployed man was quoted as say i needed money and have no imagination so robed a conveni, deja vous any1?

These are becoming weekly occurrences. This is what happens in a downturn!

These are becoming weekly occurrences.

Haven't they always been? Is there anywhere that they aren't?

I am surprised the unemployed pachinko addict comment hasn't appeared yet. Usually the same 1-2 posters copy and paste this every robbery article.

"There were no customers in the store at the time"

So why is the shop open at 01:40?

So why is the shop open at 01:40?

For the customers that came in at 1:35 and 1:45.

"the man entered the store at around 1:40 a.m... There were no customers in the store"

There is no legitimate reason for anyone to be out at that time...

It's interesting how people take my disagreement of their comments as bullying. If disagreement is bullying, then that pretty much eliminates the ability to debate or discuss a topic on which two people hold different opinions. As such, I disagree that it is bullying. And conversely, if one cannot handle disagreement with their opinions, they have no place putting them in a forum that is there for the opinions to be discussed.

There are any number of legitimate reasons for people to out at 1:40. My brother is a policeman - shifts. My sister is an emergency room nurse - shifts. Tokyo izakaya are typically open until 5am - shifts. Even places that close at midnight - staff go home after midnight. Twice last week I worked until last train so was home around 1am. Judging by the number of people on the train, this was far from unusual. Missed the last train once last week (izakaya, not work) so was out and about much later. Had a business trip last month, jetlag kept me awake so went out for a snack in the middle of the night. Karaoke is open all night, so are internet cafes, some spas and saunas. JR staff often work after last train/station closing. In some areas the window between last train and first train is just a couple of hours. Up to you which of these activities you think are "legitimate" but anyone can see that there are LOT of reasons why one might be out late at night.

there are any number of legitimate reasons for people to out at 1:40. My brother is a policeman - shifts. My sister is an emergency room nurse - shifts. Tokyo izakaya are typically open until 5am - shifts. Even places that close at midnight - staff go home after midnight. Twice last week I worked until last train so was home around 1am. Judging by the number of people on the train, this was far from unusual. Missed the last train once last week (izakaya, not work) so was out and about much later. Had a business trip last month, jetlag kept me awake so went out for a snack in the middle of the night. Karaoke is open all night, so are internet cafes, some spas and saunas. JR staff often work after last train/station closing. In some areas the window between last train and first train is just a couple of hours. Up to you which of these activities you think are "legitimate" but anyone can see that there are LOT of reasons why one might be out late at night.

Thank you. I'll add one more entirely legitimate reason why someone could be out at that time: because they want to be.

As alluded by ADK99 as well, plenty of people have plenty of reasons to be out and about any time of day or night. I used to go grocery shopping well past midnight when I was in college. The supermarket stays open 24 hours, so why not?

These are becoming weekly occurrences. This is what happens in a downturn!

That's what I was thinking. And its not Just Tokyo either. There's been a few in Saitama and some other places too. Its starting to look like the US without guns.

Maybe the cops should start stakeouts at the conbins? Give them some work to do.

"the man entered the store at around 1:40 a.m... THREATENED the... store employee WITH A KNIFE... NO CUSTOMERS in the store..."

There is no legitimate reason for anyone to be out at this time as alluded to by the fact that THERE WERE NO CUSTOMERS IN THE STORE!!

The truth hurts doesn't it!!! ;-)

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/legitimate

Moderator: Too many of your comments are having to be removed, like this one, which is absurd. Please lift the level of your contributions or you will be leaving us.

More and more of these. Pity the poor guy working there. Lucky it wasn't some cute young woman who could rather have been competing in Miss International.

@Burning Bush - "imagine if one convenience store robbery made national crime news"

And that was the subtlety around my previous post, obviously lost on some people. This is NOT NEWS. And a robbery at 01:40 with no customers in the shop hardly even counts as a crime.

It's more of a lesson to the BUSINESS OWNER that he should CLOSE THE STORE at a decent time...

Before an employee gets murdered... for the sake of 64,000 yen!!

This is NOT NEWS.

Sure it is.

a robbery at 01:40 with no customers in the shop hardly even counts as a crime.

Sure it does.

It's more of a lesson to the BUSINESS OWNER that he should CLOSE THE STORE at a decent time...

Before an employee gets murdered... for the sake of 64,000 yen!!

Thousands and thousands of combinis in this country operate every night without being robbed. Closing all these stores at night because of this robbery would be a hysteric overreaction. The statistical odds of being robbed at night are so low as to almost be zero.

"And that was the subtlety around my previous post, obviously lost on some people. This is NOT NEWS. And a robbery at 01:40 with no customers in the shop hardly even counts as a crime.

It's more of a lesson to the BUSINESS OWNER that he should CLOSE THE STORE at a decent time..."

What? Just because nobody was hurt, and no customer was startled, it's hardly a crime? Wow.

Which part of a "convenience" store do you not understand? As pointed out many times, people are out and about at all hours of the night, and they do appreciate the, wait for it, convenience of a store that stays open all hours.

@Burning Bush - "Man Robs convenience store...what a laugh"

Yes, it's JOKE NEWS for people who can't handle the REAL NEWS!! ;-)

The irony is I bet those who are saying they should close at a decent time have probably at some point in the past used a convenience store at an "indecent" time for some reason or other.