News On Japan

Saitama police chief resigns after drunken theft of 5 rolls of toilet paper

Jun 04, 2021 (tokyoreporter.com) - SAITAMA (TR) – The chief of the Fukaya Police Station has resigned after an investigation revealed his alleged theft of toilet paper last month, police said on Thursday, reports TBS News

At around 8:00 p.m. on May 29, Takashi Tanaka, 60, allegedly stole five rolls of toilet paper — valued at around 170 yen — from a toilet inside a shopping mall near JR Konosu Station.

On Thursday, Tanaka was handed a one-month pay cut. However, he resigned from his post the same day.

The incident occurred while Tanaka was returning to his official residence in Konosu City after drinking at his private home and a convenience store parking lot, police said.

“I have a chronic illness,” Tanaka told police. “So after drinking I became worried about when I would return home and stole [the paper] for my own use.”

Investigators searched Tanaka’s residence and found 13 rolls of toilet paper from the shopping mall toilet.

“I am sorry for the betrayal of trust,” Tanaka also said.

Police are planning to send Tanaka to prosecutors.

Source: ANNnewsCH

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Typhoon No. 31 (In-fa) has intensified into a very strong storm over the western Pacific, with the Japan Meteorological Agency reporting at 3:45 a.m. on October 27 that the typhoon was nearly stationary near the Marshall Islands, carrying maximum sustained winds of 45 meters per second and gusts reaching 60 meters per second, as forecasts point to a possible approach toward Japan's Ogasawara Islands on October 31.

Travel disruption continued into Tuesday, October 27, as Japan began recovering from heavy rain and rough seas caused by the remnants of Typhoon No. 30, with ferry cancellations confirmed in Nagasaki Prefecture and railway operators monitoring the effects of overnight rainfall in central and eastern Japan.

A controversial penalty shootout decision during the Tokyo qualifiers for Japan's National High School Soccer Championship on October 24 has sparked debate after a team that believed it had secured victory was forced to continue playing and eventually lost, raising questions about whether a hole in the goal net contributed to an incorrect ruling.

The underground platform of the planned Kanagawa Prefecture Station on Japan's Chuo Shinkansen maglev line was opened to the public for the first time on October 24, offering visitors a rare glimpse of the high-speed railway project under construction in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, with demand for the tour exceeding available places by approximately 12 times.

Japanese drone manufacturer Terra Drone has delivered interceptor drones to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense for the first time, prompting Russia to threaten retaliatory measures on October 21, as Japan considers expanding domestic drone production and strengthening its coastal defenses through thousands of unmanned aircraft.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A Halloween pumpkin displayed at a nursery school in Esashi, Hokkaido, was found smashed and partially eaten on October 25, in what police believe was a bear attack, with similar damage reported at a nearby home.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is stepping up efforts to help single residents find marriage partners, allocating approximately 700 million yen to matchmaking programs in fiscal 2026, more than double the previous year's budget, as Japan's capital seeks to address its declining birthrate through organized social events and artificial intelligence.

Japan's growing number of abandoned homes is creating serious safety hazards for residents and leaving local governments struggling to respond, with some properties having dozens of legal owners and authorities reluctant to spend public money on demolitions when recovering the costs may prove impossible.

A commemorative ceremony was held in Kobe on October 24 to mark the approaching 100th anniversary of the "Kobe Wall," a historic structure that survived both the devastating 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the firebombing of Kobe during World War II.

A fire broke out at a warehouse believed to belong to Kurosawa Film Studio in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, shortly after midnight on October 23, prompting the dispatch of 40 emergency vehicles after a report that a battery was burning, with witnesses describing explosion-like sounds and vibrations strong enough to shake nearby windows.

Four dead fawns with missing body parts have been discovered around Kofukuji and Todaiji temples in Nara between August and October, prompting Nara Prefecture to hold an emergency press conference on October 23 after experts determined that wild animals were unlikely to have caused the injuries, raising suspicions that humans may have deliberately harmed the young deer.

A wave of copper thefts has struck public facilities across Japan, with thieves stripping metal from bridges, park shelters and shrines, including a park known as a popular anime pilgrimage site, while police in Nagano Prefecture have made arrests following a series of similar incidents.

Police in Kochi Prefecture have released footage of a group of teenagers riding motorcycles recklessly through Kochi City on January 1st, 2026, in a New Year's Day incident known as a "first sunrise motorcycle rampage," with 18 people aged between 15 and 19 arrested or referred to prosecutors for suspected violations of the Road Traffic Act.