Watermelons Stolen From Japanese Farm

You know you live in a country with a very low crime rate when something like this makes the national news:

150 watermelons have been stolen from a field in Ibaraki prefecture! The total value of the watermelons was about 90,000 yen ($1,139). Police believe the melon heist may be related to a string of similar crop thefts that have occurred in the area recently.

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11 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - July 19, 2011 at 7:14 pm

Categories: Odd / Strange Tags:

Level3osaka

I’m sure life is going to be fun for all the local gaijin for the next few weeks.
How do you say, “Well, since you stopped me for “riding a bicycle while gaijin” in a “high crime” area,
not that you’re necessarily implying gaijin cause crimes *snort* and I clearly don’t have a watermelon visibly on me,
I suppose you’re gonna have to check for it UP MY ASS!”

Anonymous

That is just… offensive.

Andrew in Ezo

@Level3- What the hell does this incident have to do with foreigners? The snarky paranoid schtick is tired.

http://www.facebook.com/rallegretti Rob Allegretti

It would be paranoid and schtick if it weren’t true. People are constantly getting “stopped and questioned” for various things, apparently just because they are white or brown(non-Japanese brown, that is). A friend of mine was stopped and harassed last week “For riding her bike too fast”… even though she was waiting for traffic at an intersection.

Japan – specifically the government and authorities – love to pin things on foreigners so it looks like “The Japanese crime problem doesn’t come from Japan”.

Also, protip: There is a REPLY button on each post.

Apalaup

I won’t swear by Japanese police, but has your friend considered “too fast” could have been before she got to the intersection and the officers got a chance to catch up? I’ve seen many people stopped for their biking(and more should be, some are just crazy) in Japan, but all of them were Japanese.

Anonymous

600 yen per watermelon is about $7.60 each.

In California, the last time I bought watermelons you could get 4 for $10.

Comment

Certain food items in Japan are considerably more expensive than they are in the U.S. Based on my own shopping experiences, I can tell you fruit is most certainly one of those items.

I have often seen cantaloupe priced in the 4,000-5,000 yen range. Granted, these are perfect specimens and are meant to be given as gifts for special occasions, so they really aren’t representative of the average price of fruit in Japan. Nonetheless, even your average everyday fruit in Japan is usually 2-4 times more expensive than anything you would see in the U.S.

flowby

Actually I think it shows, after decades of a declining economy, how hungry people are.

Not watermelon again mum!!!

http://www.facebook.com/rallegretti Rob Allegretti

I don’t think I’ve ever been hungry enough to eat 150 watermelons.

bob

You must not know much about Japan. Watermelons are very special there. And 150 is a lot anywhere. Plus you shouldn’t really say it is the national news. Most people did not see that across the nation. For an organized heist like that it is worth putting on the news. Heck, I see stories in the US about cute puppies. Is that any reason to suggest the US is boring or that there isn’t more important news? No. Why mock this story?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_O33MKBDEH3L4SA6KLHPK5GE2EQ Kyoko

‘Watermelon has been nicked! Round up the usual suspects”!

Watermelons Stolen From Japanese Farm

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