A 36-year-old man was arrested for theft last week, after he allegedly stole two pairs of women's underwear from a coin laundry in the town of Kohoku in Saga Prefecture, on March 2, police said Tuesday.
Kenichi Ikeda, a truck driver and resident of Nagasaki City, was pulled over by Saga police on March 3 after a woman wrote down the license plate of his truck and called police the previous evening. The 32-year-old woman had noticed two pairs of her underwear were missing from a coin laundry washing machine on the evening of March 2, and saw a man behaving suspiciously nearby before getting into the truck.
Police found the two pairs of underwear, along with 263 other items of underwear, roughly 70% of which were bras, stuffed in three sports bags placed in the sleeping cabin behind the seats. Police said there was no apparent preference for size, color or brand name.
Ikeda has admitted to stealing the items on March 2, and the other items over a period of about 10 years. He said he couldn't store the items at home as he lived with his wife and child, and added he had thrown other items away due to a lack of space.
Ikeda told police that he stole the items mostly from coin laundries in Saga Prefecture, but police said they will not limit their investigation to Saga, as Ikeda routinely transported goods to the Kansai area and other regions.
© News reports
55 Comments
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Disillusioned
Um, is there supposed to be a preference? So, what will this loon be charged with? Just theft? I guess being a pathetic loser is not an offense in Japan. It's cultural. What is wrong with these people? Every month I see similar reports of twisted loons stealing underwear. Why?
thepro
lolz
DeepSpace
looks like he may have a future in the Police !
Stillwater
Do they arrange the findings by color, size and how much time did they spend for this?
bobbafett
I am wondering how they got all of them unstuck.
chotto
I'd be more concerned about the fact that they're now storing it all at a police station!
combinibento
I suppose this answers the question as to whether he is an a**-man or a t***-man.
skipbeat
I feel bad for the wife and child.
Was he stealing them to wear them or what? Does he have a fetish with women underwear and bras? If he liked them so much I am sure there are places he can buy them from. Why steal used undergarments?
LoveUSA
sick pervert idiot there are many more like him and police should take quick action
bokudayo
@Disillusioned - in what country is being a pathetic loser an offense??
Can't the cops just leave an artist alone? ;)
timorborder
This just proves how the economic downturn is impacting the average Japanese loony. Back in the days of the bubble economy, to even get into the newspapers somebody like this would have to steal at least 500 items, all with designer labels attached. I pity for the future of this country.
At the same time, it was good of the police to go through and determine as to whether each item used or not. It would also be interesting to know as to whether this count of items was taken before or after the police had conducted their investigations.
Gurukun
Ya' think!?!? LOL
gogogo
J cops... they line them all out everytime to take photos, check the sizes and the brands, they are just as bad as the guy that caught them. No way they can return them so I can imagine there is a Japanese police room with hundreds of thousands of undergarments.
Elbuda Mexicano
Dear moderator or moderators, the print on these articles is way too small! You need to change the size or at least have the option to enlarge the size of this print. Hentai stealing underwear? Great but too small!
HeyLars
Disillusioned, if he were not charged for just theft, what would you like him to be charged with? Is there some special crime with a title like "underwear harrassment" or would you like there to be one?
smithinjapan
Been a while since we heard about the last panty theif. At least it's not a police officer this time, although now he has the main credential for becoming one. :)
Disillusioned
How about something along the lines of, an insane public nuisance? These kinds of sick perverted individuals need to be weeded out of the society.
bentheredonthat
well he can always say that he was drunk and then get let off with just a warning. that seems to be the default excuse when anything pervy happens.
HeyLars
Disillusioned, was the public nuisanced? I think its funny. Its not like any women were left without underwear. I know it really bothers the women, but you know, if I had my Ferrari stolen it would probably bother me more than if some random guy had his Yugo stolen. Should my case get special treatment? What if I keep sex toys in my Ferrari? Does that change things?
And how do suggest we do this weeding? How much of a police state do you want? I am more worried about guys who take women's underwear after beating them senseless. Some of those guys are still running around loose you know? Just trying to put this in perspective.
ReformedBasher
Make him wear a "shame" banner for a day and/or do some weeding in a park (yes, some parks in Japan actually have vegetation), probably the scare of getting caught is enough to make him more careful (read that as you will) in future.
Anyway, his wife will make him suffer. Count on it.
dolphingirl
'Police said there was no apparent preference for size, color or brand name.'--LOL! Police being the experts on this sort of thong...I mean thing!
This woman sure was on the ball! I doubt I would have realized I was missing two pair of underwear until I got home.
kujiranikusuki
He could have sold these to AV stores and made a HUGE fortune!!!!
AzabuSamurai
What a humiliation for the wife and kid.
meloveulongtime
strange obsession...I doubt he could have stopped even if he tried...
Bartholomew Harte
Poor Fool,Shoulda stayed single Then He could "Collect" them from all the broads he would be doing!
Greapper1
I wonder how many pairs he tried on....
genjuro
LOL The moment I saw the headline I had a feeling that there'd be a 'drug bust' type photo with all the confiscated items carefully laid out for the cameras. Sure enough.
NuckinFutz
The items will now be distributed to needy police officers across the prefecture!
Kapuna
Looks like he is 100 shy of a years supply.
kyotovalentine
Its AMAZING that the police would put serious manpower behind this when SO much worse crimes seem to be let go with little fanfare.
masterkun05
All ways one in every village.
SiouxChef
The guy is clearly insane. What point is there in stealing clean underwear?
Gurukun
That was funny! Is there a point in stealing dirty underwear? I say make the guy wear only the underwear and make him pick trash up around the city. No tax money being wasted to feed him in jail, he'd provide a public service, and he'd be humiliated in public.
goddog
If you really want to punish him, make him wear a different bra and panties every day over his trucking uniform for a year. He would be cho kawaii
Junnama
Really, what happened to the good old days of stealing panties?? Bras - I just don't get it...
Midnightpromise
He should have simply painted "Victorias Secret" on the side of his truck ...what an idiot.
seaforte03
Shows Japanese woman's culture - a Japanese woman see a suspicious looking guy hanging around the laundromat - they immediately search for missing underwear. Americans are probably thinking robbery, rape, kidnap, murder. Love Japan (nyaah to all you people who dis the J-Police).
noborito
Are the police really going to investigate? The man said he did it. Don't waste any more time and money. They didn't even catch him. A woman did. I hope she gets a reward for stopping crime. The police are worthless. They didn't do anything. Why investigate? Case solved. Fine him and get on with the next looser.
Wakarimasen
Harmless but pretty pathetic.
misoshiro
You seldom hear about them arresting or fighting yakuza.
smithinjapan
Gurukun: "That was funny! Is there a point in stealing dirty underwear?"
Well, a fetish is a fetish, so for those who like and/or feel the need to steal underwear, well, I guess it's up to them whether to steal it dirty or clean. I think usually, though, the tendency would be more towards unwashed (let's say, as opposed to the word 'dirty') and worn underwear, instead of new or cleanly laundered underwear. Beats me, but that's just my guess -- makes some men/women feel 'closer' to an actual person would be my guess.
nemoflow
Standard Japanese behaviour.
Tahoochi
I always like the comic relief in my daily dose of news. I wonder if any women have ever been caught stealing men's underwear?
nemoflow at 06:32 PM JST - 10th March
Not really. It's called "hentai" and they're definitely in the minority.
5SpeedRacer5
"Was he stealing them to wear them or what? Does he have a fetish with women underwear and bras? If he liked them so much I am sure there are places he can buy them from. Why steal used undergarments?"
All I know is what I see in scary Jodie Foster movies, but I am guessing that he was either wanting to "have what women have" or "have women." Within obvious limits, that is what he got. If this is all the guy did, we can consider ourselves lucky that he did not take it to the next level, you know, with Fava beans and a nice Chianti.
KyokoSmile
chotto, there's a bunch of sickos like this one wandering around. It happened to me also. I was doing my laundry once and forgot about it, the following morning when I went outside to pick my clothes I noticed I was missing all my goddamn underwear, bras and panties..I was like "OMFG! Unbelievable!" Had to go and buy new undies again..damn.
Fadamor
Interesting that there are that many people who leave their clothes unattended in the laundromat. Perhaps I was overestimating the value of my clothes, but while my clothes were in the machines, I was always in the laundromat. You never know when there is some sicko with a fetish for Hooters t-shirts lurking in the laundromat! :-)
paulinusa
He was doing his annual harvest of underwear for "research".
PepinGalarga
why would the police put the underwear on display? perhaps there were tons of perverts willing to pay admission fee to watch the spectacle and inspect the goods.
paulinusa
The scene: Poker faced police counting and sorting bras. What they were thinking: "Wow, I can't believe I'm touching all these bras. That pinku one is sugoi. Maybe I could slip it in my pocket. No one would miss it."
JA_Cruise
Good luck in trying to find the rightful owner of these bras and underwear... might be a good chance for girls to stock up on their undergarment supplies but might be a bit embarrassing to apply for it at the police station...hehehe
the_sicilian
At least he had no preference.... Love all, steal all.
Synista
......Ahhh so now the J-cops don't have to bother stealing underwear ....bet this guy is their hero....no they can go in the "evidence room" and play dress up with all the underwear .....wonder what would happen if women came to claim their stolen underwear ???
Sarge
I like how the cops display all the underwear on a blue tarp, heh heh.
But they're going to have to get all that underwear off the tarp in another couple of weeks for ohanami, heh heh.
Grifter88
Classic.. Why would the J-cops required to further investigate this matter? I'm sure no women in right mind would want their underwear back after he took them.
Synista