67-year-old Valentine’s shoplifter ‘never once received chocolates’

HYOGO (TR) – Valentine’s Day is a lonely affair for some in Japan.

A man in Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture, was arrested on Saturday for shoplifting. He had pocketed two bars of chocolate, worth about 157 yen, during a shopping trip in the morning, according to the Asahi Shimbun (Feb. 15).

“It was Valentine’s Day, and I have never once received chocolates on this day,” the man, 67, told police. “I just really wanted something sweet.”

During a trip to the store in the morning, the suspect had bought vegetables and other daily goods, but was caught by a 77-year-old staff member at the store pocketing two pieces of chocolate. The bars of chocolate were part of a special display for the romantic day, the Kobe Shimbun (Feb. 14) said.

The man, who is unemployed, was found to have several hundred yen in his pocket.

Later in the day, meanwhile, group Kakuhido marched in Shibuya, Tokyo to “Smash Valentine’s Day.” While the turnout was reportedly low for the march, the arrest of a lonely sixty-something suggests they may have a point about the costs of passion-based capitalism.