A Kobe man has been arrested for what Facebook users see as a unique and somewhat ingenious crime.

Hirai Yasuomi (26), was reported to police after someone discovered him lying face-up in a street gutter so that he was able to look up the skirts of women passing by.

While most people point out that what he did is certainly perverted and deserves punishment, netizens also praised his enthusiasm and ability to put his dastardly plans into action.

From MSN Sankei:

Look Up…Man Arrested For Lurking In Street Gutter And Looking Up Women’s Skirts, Kobe

Man Crawls Tens Of Metres As He Lurks In Street Gutter To Peep Up Women’s Skirts From His “Premium Seat”

On June 6 Hyogo Prefecture police arrested Hirai Yasuomi (26), a company employee from Fukaekitamachi, Higashinada ward, Kobe, on suspicion of violating the Prefectural Nuisance Prevention Bylaw (Groping), for having concealed himself in a street gutter to peep up women’s skirts. Hirai accepts the charge.

Put Your Efforts In Another Direction…Crawls Along For Tens Of Metres At A Depth Of 50cm

On June 5 at around 10:10am, the suspect crept into the street gutter on a road in Morikitamachi, also in Higashinada ward, and says he was peeping up the skirts of women passing by. The scene of the crime was on the road to Konan Women’s University, and the width of the street gutter there is around 35cm, with a depth of 50cm. Hirai broke in to the gutter from a sewer outlet that links with a nearby river, crawled along for tens of metres, lay on his back, and peeped through the holes in the metal drain cover.

A woman reported it after noticing that she could see someone’s eyes through the holes. When a member of the prefectural police force rushed to the scene, the man had already escaped; however, Hirai emerged as a suspect because police had previously received information that he had been acting suspiciously at a street gutter close to the scene of the crime.

Comments from Facebook:

大森 康弘:

This happened right by our house (^_^;)

Total perv (笑)

One month ago, I saw this guy get questioned by police at the same street gutter.

The young guy suddenly got up and was like “I dropped some money down there so I went to pick it up”. Reoffender (笑)

みやけ けんじ:

I know this is impudent but I so laughed (^^;;

It’s just amazing…

They’re so tenacious now, huh?

Still, I bet the person who found him had a fright..

I mean, at worst it might have been a ghost…( ﾟдﾟ)

Plus I was glad they added a picture.

Just seems like the journalist was going for laughs too (笑)

鈴木大志:

Like something from a Hayami Jun manga [Hayami Jun is an ero-guro manga artist].

下里 義之:

This guy is amazing.

Couldn’t he have put that enthusiasm into something else?

I laughed, but he might have had cigarette stubs thrown at him and stuff w

Tsuyoshi Uchida:

Jackass w

鶴貝 泰生:

Man… just amazing in so many ways.

He should have been a ninja or a guerrilla fighter.

倉田 昌彦:

The fact that you thought of that is just magnificent. What’s more, I guess I admire your ability to put it into practice?? Is it really so enjoyable to do something like that, I wonder???

山口 宗久:

“26 year-old Mr. Hirai, it’s just too painful…idiot!”

飯盛 崇:

The guy they arrested is definitely a wierdo, but isn’t the title of this article blasphemous to Sakamoto Kyu? And the illustration is just going too far. But still, the person who found him in there is amazing.

久恵 崇史:

His enthusiasm is just amazing w. Pretty misdirected enthusiasm, though w

Makoto Aoyama:

Bloody eager beaver (笑)

Michinori Kadokura:

Seems like this is something that happened really close to my house…It’s complicated, because I walk down this road every morning with my kids, and on the way to work. By the way, with a body like mine I definitely could not get into that gutter, so there’s no way I’ll be suspected as the criminal, right ～(笑)

大達 一賢:

I’ve seen characters do this kind of stuff in manga, but I never thought that these people actually existed in reality.

Couldn’t he have put his enthusiasm into something else…?

皆本 秀明:

This is an awful incident, but I did laugh. And for that, I am truly sorry.

Not all people from Kansai are like this, though.

内藤 徹:

Come on mate, put this labour and perseverance into something else! ( *・ω・)ノ

I hate closed spaces, so I could never do this!(つД`)ﾉｼ

山田 太朗:

I guess he liked looking at knickers?

But it’s pretty amazing that he’d go this far.

長島 裕樹:

There’s a lot of geniuses in this world. Look and learn, Mirrorman Uekusa.

林 剛正: