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French teens arrested for stealing video games from electronics store in Akihabara

March 4th, 2009 by James

Three 16-year-old French boys have been arrested for stealing video games from an electronics store in Tokyo’s Akihabara district:


The boys stole products on over 18 occasions, hauling in 92 games and seven consoles from the Sofmap store. Nobody tried to stop them as they walked out of the store with the stolen goods, which they then immediately sold to a game buying counter next door (also operated by Sofmap). It is estimated that the boys made around 1 million yen (over 10,000 USD) from their crime.

The boys have admitted their guilt, telling police that Japanese people should not be so trusting of others.

Update with additional info: The kids, who were students at an international school, said that they stole the games so that they could have as much spending money as their rich classmates.

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62 Comments »

Comment by feitclub
2009-03-04 16:22:56

Way to go, assholes. Now I’m going to be watched like a hawk in Softmap stores for the rest of my life.

Also, how the hell did they steal CONSOLES? Does Softmap really stock PS3s in boxes on the shelf?

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Comment by BBLOK SHIBUYA GANG.
2009-03-09 14:29:48

Thez guys are messin with the BB gang…

We know where you live
We know where your school is.

we are gonna find you guys,and we are gonna Fuck you up!!!

Faire honte a la france, dir que les Japonais ne devrait pas être si confiant des autre.

Vous etes des gar morts !!! DEAD GUY! i PROMISS YOU GUYS WILL BE DEAD SOON AS POSSIBLE!

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Comment by morphine
2009-03-04 16:37:55

loling at feitclub… the only stores you are going to get followed and watched like a hawk in are in any of the gyaru/gyaru-o type shops with the guys shouting これ結構に会ってますね〜えっと・モデルさんですか?違う?あぁマジっすか?・これは安いっすね…

these were just some french kids having some fun (though they had to be pretty serious to have fake IDs saying they were born in 1987) and i’m interested to see the follow up on this. sounds like a story for the ages, as far as i’m concerned.

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Comment by Bruce Smith
2009-03-04 19:29:12

“just some french kids having some fun ”

Nope. They are just some criminals breaking the law.

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Comment by Ken Y-N
2009-03-04 16:39:16

How did they make a million off 18 games and two consoles? Or is this just what they were caught with on this occasion?

Monster Gaijins indeed!

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Comment by James
2009-03-04 16:47:58

Just corrected the total after finding this article:
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090304-00000061-jij-soci

 
 
Comment by Bad Wolf
2009-03-04 16:52:35

Japanese shouldn’t be so trusting? What, should they be more like the French?

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Comment by Ben
2009-03-04 16:58:46

I live with this kind of people everyday, and I’m ashamed (even if I don’t feel French) that they come to pollute Japan.

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Comment by leitmotiv
2009-03-04 17:34:35

Health tip: Four out of five doctors say that Japan Probe threads contain up to 110% of your recommended daily intake of self-loathing.

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Comment by LB
2009-03-04 17:18:59

Possible solution: German guards at the entrances of all Sofmap stores.

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Comment by kurishe
2009-03-04 18:01:07

is that some kind of sixty years old joke ?

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Comment by Haf
2009-03-04 22:02:18

So I’m to young to get it?

Or maybe German guards are good at guarding…

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Comment by kurishe
2009-03-04 23:46:20

:) No, i was just saying in Europe we’ve been hearing those jokes for decades. A little update wouldn’t do any harm.

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Comment by zqqze
2009-03-05 00:07:47

If the guards were german, all the customers who were not blond with blue eyes would have been deported, starved to death, killed with zyklon b, been a guinea-pig for mad scientif experiments.

I love this kind of humor :) )

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Comment by The Overthinker
2009-03-05 03:46:41

The first rule of humour is that it must actually be *funny* – this is just shock value stuff. If you want funny humour about the Germans and the war, then watch Fawlty Towers. In fact watch it anyway.

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Comment by PTSnake
2009-03-06 09:49:10

unlike americans who are still moaning about 911, we get over stuff quickly.

Life sucks, get over it. Remember those train explosions in madrid? So, two nuns get on a train, and…

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Comment by Haf
2009-03-14 08:35:22

Oh yes, I also recommend watching Fawlty Towers if you want to receive a lesson about how to make fun of the Germans. And don’t mention the war! ;)

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Comment by bossyman15
2009-03-04 17:23:29

steal from sofmap and sell it back to sofmap? lol classic! so in the end they never stole from sofmap, they gave it back to them!

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Comment by Muk
2009-03-04 17:35:30

They are so stupid, couldn’t they stay in France !
btw I am french and really dislike those kind of act & reflexion.

If they get banned for life, I would be happy!

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Comment by Mark
2009-03-05 23:08:42

Don’t be so hard on those “poor” kids. A good opportunity to do some good ol’ French bashing. And everybody loves doing that :>)

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Comment by _rem
2009-03-04 17:56:28

I’m an azn born and living in France.
One of the things it shows is: don’t trust the French. For your own sake.

And i’m not saying this in an anti-french mood: you have to keep your distance.

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Comment by leitmotiv
2009-03-04 18:28:32

And i’m not saying this in an anti-french mood

No no….of course not. Who would suggest such a thing? Please continue with your stringent and thoroughly-referenced analysis.

Wow – someone got bullied in school, methinks.

Btw – what exactly does “azn” mean? Other than high liklihood of significant Myspace activity, I mean.

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Comment by sliders_alpha
2009-03-04 22:31:42

azn : gaijun – japanese child

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Comment by _rem
2009-03-05 19:00:31

bullied at school? that’s nice from you sharing your personal experience.

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Comment by Date
2009-03-05 00:05:49

I live in France too, and I agree with your statement, the french are greedy, selfish and have absolutely no morals, that’s why they have a lot of hatred against religious people who put them to shame.

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Comment by sliders_alpha
2009-03-05 04:56:14

it’s depending a lot from were you are, i’m french, i’ve lived in the 93(14 years),97(3 years),77(4 years).

and i can assure you, people from thos 3 departement were really different, for exemple people in 77 tend to be racist and dislike foreigner and 90% of them are religious

if you live in paris, i can undurstand you^^

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Comment by The Overthinker
2009-03-05 11:14:32

“that’s why they have a lot of hatred against religious people”

Or it could be because they have seen first-hand the effects of religious extremism and do not want that ever again. Religious people are just as greedy, selfish, and amoral as the French – check out the televangelist scandals, for example.

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Comment by binbiru
2009-03-04 18:28:03

Its the store`s fault for not having anti theft devices like the electronic sticker and gate system.

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Comment by RMilner
2009-03-04 22:58:49

By that logic, if someone stabbed you to death with a knife, it’s your fault for not wearing armour.

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Comment by Date
2009-03-05 00:06:31

I assume it was sarcasm >_>

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Comment by binbiru
2009-03-05 00:13:49

theres a difference between a person and a fricken store straw man.

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Comment by Mark
2009-03-05 23:05:35

So stealing from a store is legit unless they protect them? Remarkable!

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Comment by sliders_alpha
2009-03-05 05:59:05

“theres a difference between a person and a fricken store straw man.”

indeed, but not in the logic

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Comment by Marton
2009-03-04 19:07:04

They not that easy in Bic camera. :) My workplace doorcard activated the sensorgate, and two employees came for me in a sec, but they apologized like ten times, after it came out that the card was the “pilferage”. :D

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Comment by Bruce Smith
2009-03-04 19:27:21

Parade them and their parents on TV and then deport the lot of them.

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Comment by Pumpi
2009-03-04 20:00:01

Take things from a store, sell it back to them-> sounds like a good deal, and a good way to ruin a store by selling it his own contents over and over again XD.

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Comment by Roger
2009-03-04 21:27:29

If they are 16 year-old French then they are probably some spoiled rich expat kid who go to some expensive international school.

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Comment by Mark
2009-03-04 23:07:04

Yeah, like ‘The Expensive International School for Retards’.

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Comment by Buster
2009-03-04 21:50:54

Oh noez, Japan is ruined for us good white foreigners, ACH the pain!!!

Ooooh these FRENCH, one can’t trust them, I spit on there bones!

Some people here should really get a reality check, or two maybe.

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Comment by Level3
2009-03-04 21:51:13

Yup, how else would 16-year -olds be living in Japan except the spoiled rich kids type?

But still,CONSOLES? Wow.

Although, being French, I’m sure they surrendered without a fight.

Another part of the problem is tracable to the shift to part-time workers who don’t get bonuses.. A part-timer getting 750 yen an hour doesn’t give a shit if thieves are walking out the door with stolen goods, not worth thte stress or possible danger from a confrontation, not even worth the effort to pick up a phone and dial the police, or even tell your manager..for 750 yen an hour. Heck the part-time employees probably steal shit, too.

A full time worker whose bonus depends on the company profits DOES care when the company loses money through theft. Management only has themselves to blame, but will they be fired, or can they use “those damn gaijin” as an excuse for their incompetence?

Well, expect more staff than usual to take sudden interest in aligning already-organized products on the shelves immeidately next to you.

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Comment by Haf
2009-03-04 22:05:44

Although, being French, I’m sure they surrendered without a fight.

That was mean. But still great. :D

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Comment by zqqze
2009-03-05 00:20:47

lol funny, may I keep on, maybe something about german and dead jews :)

It is sad for a german to stoop to doing this kind of jokes that american are proud to do.
That’s what Bush’s propaganda for the irak war did, now I can read stupid french bashing all around the internet.

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Comment by Ryry
2009-03-04 21:57:27

This is just one GIANT gaijin-smash.

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Comment by nescire
2009-03-04 23:59:43

16 year old international school students in Tokyo. Pretty much says it all; retarded rich kids.

But don’t worry French haters, I can confirm we’ve got quite a few similar idiots over here, minus the rich part – so they’re still representative to some extent.

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Comment by djsick
2009-03-06 02:30:17

F@*king A, nice post!

although they were definitely rich retarded french kids, We all have done some silly things around 16.

Cheers

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Comment by what
2009-03-05 02:25:49

Japanese people should not be so trusting of others?

Newsflash. Japan is one of the few places remaining in the world where people can actually trust others in situations like this.

These teenage idiots have no concept of long term consequences.

All they did was contribute to making japanese people not trust others in a society which provides a unique experience where things aren’t as messed up as they are in other places of the world.

I imagine some day japan will never trust anyone with idiots like these trying to “prove a point” to japan because japan doesn’t “conform” to their idea of how the world should be.

Humanity, what a waste.

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Comment by hangi
2009-03-05 11:38:42

Probably they go to a french school in Asakusabashi or Iidabashi. Often see a few French kids passing through Akiba on the Sobu line.

BTW the video shows aluminum foil…either they were using it to shield the anti-theft devices or they share a fondness for baking.

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Comment by Tommy
2009-03-05 19:45:46

Lupin was french right ?

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Comment by satoshi
2009-03-06 12:49:17

Does anyone know what is the fate of the french thieves? Probably a bunch of “jeunes puceaux”.

I hope they get banned from Japan for at least 5 years and get waved off by those cute cute cute akihabara maid girls at the airport. I could die laughing. And so would most Japanese too…

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Comment by G4tsu
2009-03-06 18:30:54

I’m french and I just have one thing to say, idiots like them should just taste one month of japanese jail before getting banned from Japan for at least 10 years…
“shouldn’t be so trusty of others” Fuck you! I can’t stand all the control in France anymore because of idiots like them. Get them a real punition.

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Comment by G4tsu
2009-03-06 18:34:09

“I live with this kind of people everyday, and I’m ashamed (even if I don’t feel French) that they come to pollute Japan.”

I can’t find better word Ben.

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Comment by Thomas
2009-03-07 02:16:17

Great, you 16-yr old dumbasses. You just fucked up whatever vestiges of hospitality that the Japanese may have had for French customers for the next ten years.

This is seriously how shit like racial profiling begins, because of a couple of idiots trying to rook the system.

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Comment by Alexandre
2009-03-08 05:10:56

I’m French and I find their behavior really lamentable. I hope they will go in jail in order to have a reflection concerning their childish facts. I have the bad impression that the French begin to have a bad behavior in foreign countries (the kidnapper in Mexico, the evil father in Italy etc…)

Do they know their names ?

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Comment by buy wow gold
2009-03-16 15:37:36

“The boys have admitted their guilt, telling police that Japanese people should not be so trusting of others.” – So it’s Japanese fault, huh?

I’ve been there in Japan once and I could proudly say that they’re so honest. You can leave your belongings anywhere and you’ll be surprised that no one will dare get it.

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Comment by nicolas
2009-05-03 15:32:33

Are those people french indeed or do they just happen to have french citizenship, but are actually foreign-bound people ?

Anyway, those people should be shameful and punished.
And doubly so if they are giving japanese police a lesson…

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