- Japanese woman arrested for damaging convenience store buns
- Woman claimed she was just checking firmness of bun
- Incident sparks memories of "sushi terrorism" crackdown
A 40-year-old woman has been arrested in Fukuoka, Japan, for allegedly damaging a packet of buns at a convenience store. Authorities confirmed the arrest, which took place on Monday, and charged the woman with “criminal damage.”
According to police, the woman, who identified herself as unemployed, claimed that she had only checked the firmness of the bun by pressing it lightly with her hand. The incident occurred at a Lawson convenience store in southern Japan.
The woman was accused of squashing a bag containing four black sesame and cream cheese buns. Despite the bag’s wrapper being intact, one of the buns was reportedly damaged after the woman pressed it with her right thumb. Authorities said that the bag was deemed unsellable after the damage, resulting in a loss for the store.
The store owner had reportedly seen the woman squashing buns at the shop on several occasions in the past. On Monday, as the woman was leaving the store, the owner noticed the damaged bun and asked her to pay for it. The bag of buns was priced at approximately 180 yen (£0.95; $1.20).
According to police, the woman refused to pay, prompting the store owner to follow her for about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles). The owner then restrained her, and the police were called to the scene, where the woman was arrested.
In recent years, Japanese authorities have been cracking down on what has been dubbed “sushi terrorism,” where pranksters have engaged in disruptive behavior at sushi conveyor belt restaurants, such as licking communal soy sauce bottles or damaging sushi meant for other customers.
