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No crime too small in Tokyo

March 29th, 2007 by Notoriousruz

Correspondent Bruce Wallace holds his bike outside the koban. The thief had been drunk, and stole the bike left near a train station after missing his stop.

Here is an amusing column from the LA Times about a bicycle theft in Tokyo. For those of us who often confuse the police with those guys who wave the red sticks directing traffic in and out of carparks, the article is also a testimonial to the quality of the work done by the fine men and ladies who protect Japan from their unassuming little kobans.

From the article…

“In my experience, kobans appeared to be little more than glorified information booths where people stop in to ask for directions. The most common sight at a koban is a uniformed officer hunched over his desk map, tracing a route with his finger for a confused citizen.

But it was from his koban in Suginami Ward about three miles from my home that Yoshioka had spotted the bike thief. It was after midnight, and the cops were on the lookout for suspicious behavior. Suginami is a high break-and-enter neighborhood, Yoshioka tells me later (another blow to the stereotype), one of the worst in Tokyo.”

If you live in Suginami Ward lock your doors.



Related Posts:
 

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Japan’s rising crime rate

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Crime by foreigners in Japan down 16.2%

Is Mainichi Shinbun cleaning up its headlines in its English edition?


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4 Comments »

Comment by AC
2007-03-29 13:29:00

I think the article is more stupid than funny. Instead of catching real criminals and making the streets safer, two of these boobs are staking out a bike waiting for it to get stolen.

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Comment by Akoua Doffou
2007-03-29 13:40:46

Hey! I read this article today in the news!

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Comment by Roaf
2007-03-30 11:54:11

Oops, sorry, I re-posted this by mistake! (don’t worry- it’s been taken down now.) Do you think this LA Times guy gets paid by the Japanese tourist board? Seems uncanny that a day after a high-profile murder he’s talking about how “there’s no crime in Japan!”

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Comment by Notoriousruz
2007-03-30 12:59:37

Damn straight! It seems like the sort of fluff piece they would have lying around for a slow day. It would have been really suss if it had run in a UK paper. Come to think of it, I wonder where Akoua read this article….Akoua?

 
 
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