Story of suspected women’s underwear thief who soiled some himself

TOKYO (TR) – Of the capital’s legions of women’s underwear thieves, he might be the most selective.

At least, that is the assessment of evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai (Mar. 8), which chronicles the plight of Hideo Kuribayashi, a 51-year-old employee in the real estate industry who was arrested on suspicion of trespassing earlier this month.

At around 8:20 p.m. on March 3, a male resident of a first-floor apartment in Adachi Ward spotted Kuribayashi in possession of a women’s garment that had been hanging out to dry on a line and with his fly open.

“Hey, what are you doing?” yelled the resident. “I thought I’d take a leak,” Kuribayashi responded before high-tailing it on out.

The resident then gave chase, yelling at Kuribayashi to stop while dialing Tokyo Metropolitan Police on his mobile phone. He apprehended the trespasser on the street about 30 meters away and handed him over to the Nishi Arai Police Station.

Officers found him to be in possession of two pairs of T-back thong underwear. “Over the past six months, I’ve done this about 10 times,” Kuribayashi said during questioning. “I have an interest in women’s underwear.”

The latter claim might be the understatement of the year.

“Smelled of ammonia”

The man who apprehended Kuribayashi lives with his wife — they are both aged in their 20s — and their two children in the residence. In July of last year, the couple started noticing that her T-back thong underwear was being stolen — and that’s not all.

“His wife tried to take in what she thought was dry underwear but noticed they were wet and smelled of ammonia,” an investigator tells the tabloid. “In February, the husband started staking out the area in his car during times when underwear was hanging out to dry.”

Eventually, he spotted Kuribayashi riding up by bicycle.

“He loves the T-backs,” adds the investigator. “Hanging on the line, they are like his trophies — so much so that he urinated on the other garments.”

“Departing by bicycle”

Kuribayashi also lives in Adachi. A neighbor tells Gendai that he lived with his daughters and mother. In the fall of last year, the two girls moved out last fall. “His mother has a leg problem and struggles with walking,” says the neighbor. “Her existence basically consists of sleeping, standing up and going back to sleep.”

The residence in question is located about 10 minutes away on foot, according to the neighbor.

“I often saw him departing by bicycle,” continues the neighbor, after being told about the allegations against Kuribayashi. “But by no means did I think…”