The tax office of Otaru in Hokkaido has decided to hold an online auction, selling figures that belonged to a man who hadn’t paid his taxes:

The figures, which were put up for auction by the prefectural government’s Otaru tax office, included characters from a love simulation game marketed in the 1990s. The figures are no longer produced and are considered valuable collectors’ items.

“Our aim isn’t to sell them for a high price, but to deepen understanding about tax collection in Hokkaido. We want to draw people’s attention,” an official from the tax office said.

Nothing deepens understanding of the tax man’s power like seeing some poor otaku’s figures sold away!