Cameras installed at Japan day care after shoe thefts uncover unexpected culprit

KOGA, Fukuoka — More than a dozen indoor shoes were stolen from a child care facility here in early November, and security cameras installed by police uncovered the culprit — apparently a weasel.

A series of thefts of children’s shoes occurred at Gosho Kodomo-en, a certified child care center in Koga, Fukuoka Prefecture.

The head of the facility called police on the morning of Nov. 6, reporting that children’s indoor shoes that had been kept in shoe cubbies were scattered about, and some of them were missing. Officers who arrived confirmed that a total of 15 shoes for 10 children were missing. The following morning, the shoes were once again scattered about, and those for three children were gone.

Fukuoka Prefectural Police’s Kasuya Police Station began investigating the incidents on suspicion of theft, and installed three security cameras at the day care the same day. After one shoe went missing on the night of Nov. 11, investigators checked the camera footage.

The cameras caught an animal believed to be a weasel appearing from behind a wall shortly after 7:30 p.m. that day, approaching a shoe cubby and running away with a white shoe in about 10 seconds.

A staffer at facility said, “We were very worried, but now that we know it was an animal, we are relieved.” Police officers were also surprised, commenting, “We’re relieved that the incident was not caused by a human, but this is the first case of its kind.”

According to the police station, the missing shoes have not been found. The child care center has begun putting nets over the shoe cubbies at night as a “crime prevention measure.”

(Japanese original by Yuki Kurisu, Kyushu News Department)