A Taiwanese woman was falsely accused of shoplifting at a novelty shop in Tokyo's Asakusa district.
Police officers, dispatched after receiving a report from a store employee, searched her bag and even conducted a body search, but found nothing but a single business card from the store.
Though cleared of suspicion, she missed her scheduled return flight. What exactly happened?
Three-Line Summary
1. A Taiwanese woman falsely accused of shoplifting in Tokyo was subjected to a police body search
2. All that was found on her body was a single business card from the store
3. Even after her name was cleared, her flight and an entire day were already gone
Police Waiting Outside the Store
According to reports from Weekly Wang CTWANT covered by Liberty Times (自由時報) and PChome Online News, a Taiwanese woman identified as Ms. A recently embarked on a solo trip to Tokyo. While she had visited Japan multiple times before, this was her first solo trip. Ms. A toured a handmade novelty storage shop called "Handmade BOX," a popular tourist destination in Tokyo's Asakusa (浅草) district that stores items left with them by customers, and then left the store. However, several police officers were already waiting outside the door. This was because a store employee had reported that she had stolen something.
What Came From Her Bag and Body Was Just a Single Business Card
Police searched Ms. A's bag and then proceeded to conduct a body search. However, upon inspection, all that was found in her possessions was a single business card she had received from the store—there were no stolen items anywhere. Ms. A said that the police apologized multiple times using an interpreter. In contrast, the store employee who had made the report only offered a casual "Sorry" (ごめんね). Liberty Times pointed out the problem that police had proceeded to conduct a body search based solely on the word of a store employee. Ms. A said that being accused of theft was a first for her in her life, and it was even more frightening because it happened in a foreign country.
Missed Flight, Added Day's Expenses
The problem was the time spent on the investigation. As the verification procedure dragged on, Ms. A missed her scheduled return flight. She had to spend an additional night in Nippori (日暮里), Tokyo, and had to rebook her flight and accommodation. She also had to take an additional day off from work. Ms. A expressed bitterness about the ordeal, saying the "tuition was expensive." Fortunately, after calming down, she was able to secure a new flight and accommodation, and she said she was able to receive help from an acquaintance just before her internet connection cut off.
Story Spreads, Review Section Closes
Ms. A's post on the social media platform Threads spread rapidly. Many netizens expressed sympathy and anger, with some saying that Asakusa was also close to them and offering to help if there was anything to dispute in Japanese. There were also calls for tourist-related organizations to be informed about the incident. Liberty Times reported that the store's Google review page had at one point been set to not accept comments. Before that, other Taiwanese travelers had already left reviews describing how staff had falsely accused them and reported them to police. TVBS News Network and ETtoday also covered the story through videos and posts, showing that online interest continues.
References
Tags #Police #TokyoTravel #Asakusa #TaiwaneseVisitors #FalseTheftAccusation #BodySearch #OverseasTravelCaution #SoloTravel #JapanTravel #TravelTrouble #SNSTrending #TravelerHarm #PoliceInvestigation