A very talked-about case in Japan is the theft of panties and underwear. Even many Brazilians who lived in Japan comment that their panties and underwear were stolen from the clothesline. In this article, we will understand the mystery behind why Japanese people steal panties.
In Japan, it’s like this: you can leave a branded shirt wherever you want, but if you leave a panty or bra on the external clothesline, they will go there and take it. To give you an idea, in 2017, more than 10,000 cases of panty theft were reported to the Japanese police, about 4,000 cases were solved.
In Japan, panty thieves are called shitage dorobou [下着泥棒], which means underwear thief.
Table of Contents
Why do Japanese people steal panties?
Men generally steal panties to smell and chew them because they have fetishes. But there have been reports of men who stole panties to wear them or simply to collect them.
The fetish for panties in Japan is so common that there are vending machines for used panties. We also recommend reading our article about panties to understand their culture.
Who steals the panties?
Many might imagine that panty thefts are mostly carried out by perverted men, but that’s not always the case; even women steal panties and items from the clothesline.
Women can also steal panties for personal use; the police state that usually when two pieces are stolen with a bra, there is a possibility it could be a woman.
What damages are caused by panty thieves?
A survey conducted on the InfoQ website presents some interesting data about panty thefts. The survey reveals that about 8% of respondents have had their panties and underwear stolen.
The survey reveals that about 25% had more than four pieces stolen. The most commonly stolen colors are white, black, and pink, and more than 70% of thefts occur on the balconies of houses.
How do Japanese people steal panties?
Generally, the thefts mostly happen on external clotheslines, but it can very well happen on the balcony of a high place if you leave your apartment window open.
Some also tend to steal from public laundries, but there have been several news reports of extreme cases where men approached women on the street and asked them to take off their panties, sometimes by force or offering money for them.
Some professional thieves even break into houses; there was a thief who was arrested for stealing 34 pairs of panties from one house. Imagine coming home and knowing you’ll need to buy panties again? At least they didn’t steal the TV and computer.
There have been cases of panty thefts where the thief had accomplices, even female ones. If you thought 34 panties were few, one person was already arrested with over 5,000 panties in their house.
Rules and Police against panty theft
The problem is recognized, so much so that police make efforts when pursuing a panty thief, something that usually doesn’t happen in the West, where the police prefer not to make much effort.
In Japan, there is a law to curb the specific theft of panties. Anyone caught doing this can be imprisoned for up to 10 years and also pays a fine of 500,000 yen, as the act is considered perversion and not just a simple theft of belongings.
Some laundries have rules regarding underwear, recommending not to leave your underwear in sight, even overnight in the laundry.
When using external drying racks, women are also warned not to leave underwear or lingerie overnight, because they simply disappear, regardless of whether they live in an apartment or a house.
When looking for a Koban to report panty theft, the police take the matter seriously, asking for the color and size. Some police may go to the crime scene and even make diagrams.
Do only Japanese people steal panties?
It seems very uncommon for Westerners that some men steal underwear, but in fact, this can also be somewhat frequent in other places.
By the way, perverted people exist everywhere. Probably what differentiates perverted Japanese from Westerners is the false morality that Japanese people are used to following, so instead of violating innocent people, some are content to steal panties.
In the midst of discussions about underwear in Japan, I came across various people who lived in the United States complaining that their underwear was stolen from a Coin Laundry. In fact, when searching on Google Images for panty thieves in English, I hardly found images of Japanese.
Perhaps the crime is not very frequent in Brazil, especially since here no one washes clothes in a public laundry and most houses tend to be surrounded by walls. But what about countries without walls?
I also came across comments from Brazilians who claimed that other Brazilians stole their panties from the clothesline in Japan, which shows it is not a fetish or something exclusive to Japanese people.
How to avoid having your panties stolen in Japan?
The obvious thing is not to leave them on the external clothesline; most Japanese women know this, some try to hide the clothes with a towel, but thieves already know this trick, so there are still risks.
Generally, panty thieves steal more from houses and apartments than from the Coin Laundry itself; this happens a lot because Japanese people, accustomed to the peace of the country, leave their doors unlocked.
Perhaps one of your neighbors is a panty thief, so be very careful. Any type of lingerie or bra is also subject to being stolen.
Even in an onsen, women need to be careful when leaving their panties in a basket. There have been many cases of men invading women’s changing rooms to steal panties or even hiring other women to do this job.
The video below is in English, but you can add translated subtitles; it shares some interesting data about panty thefts in Japan and other types of crimes:
Leave a Reply