Valentine’s Day in Japan is celebrated slightly differently to how it is conventionally celebrated in the West, with women giving men chocolates to show their affection. These chocolates can be broadly divided into two; ‘obligatory chocolates’ (‘giri-choco’) which are given to male co-workers, and ‘true love chocolates’ (‘honmei-choco’), which are given to the man a girl really likes. The affections are then returned (or sometimes not returned) on White Day a month later.
Popular guys can recieve mountains of chocolate, while others will be left in a sugarless void of sorrow. So this story, where one man’s Valentine chocolates were stolen by another man, has become one of the most ‘liked’ articles of the weekend. The thief was arrested by police, but many netizens are unconcerned by his crime, instead expressing their sympathy for the apparently lovelorn thief.
From Yomiuri.co.jp:
Man Who Stole Another Man’s Valentine’s Day Chocolates: ‘I Wanted Chocolates’
On Feburary 16, the Miyagi Prefectural police Sendai east branch arrested an unemployed man (44) from Sendai who was caught stealing.
According to the police announcement, at around 2:40am on February 16, the suspect allegedly stole a paper bag that contained Valentine’s chocolates (estimated value 550 yen ($6)) from the premises of a male government employee (31) in Miyagino ward that had been hanging on the handlebars of the man’s bike. The man chased after the suspect, and held him down. The suspect stated: ‘I wanted chocolates’.
Comments from Twitter:
ta-cyan:
Someone take some Black Thunder in jail.
ただのポリドッグ:
So sad…
おきしま:
This is me. There’s no doubt about it, this is me. RT @horikawad: I cried.
くぅ:
Chocolate that was worth so much he’d hung it on the handlebars of his bike…RT @cyaki1210: A society where he’d be accused for doing this RT @firelabi: 550 yen’s worth…^^;
猫’s Card:
Can’t believe it became an incident like this..(;´д｀)
TOMO A:
Sad news. And even so, they went to the trouble of calling the victim a ‘government employee’! Well, I mean, I guess he wasn’t just a general ‘company worker’ was he…
Jupiter:
Sad～ Just too sad～
aya:
I laughed at this! It’s just so cute!
Takashi Onozawa:
This reminded me of about ten years ago, when someone took a shopping bag that was hanging on the bars of my bike. It had deep fried tofu and vegetables in it, I recall.
あーゆみ*･ω･*:
Is this for real? www
ゆきべぇ・オペレーション:
So it wasn’t on Valentine’s Day itself, but in the early hours of February 16? And he stole the chocolates of a male government employee?
Comments from 2ch.net:
ボルネオウンピョウ(京都府)：
So you guys on here wanted chocolates that much, huh?
マレーヤマネコ(京都府)：
This is the saddest story of the month.
サーバル(韓国)：
An amazingly sad incident.
アムールヤマネコ(東京都)：
I guess he thought that if he ate them he too could become happy.
オリエンタル(愛知県)：
They should overlook this!
茶トラ(やわらか銀行)：
He was starved of love.
ヨーロッパオオヤマネコ(愛知県)：
If you fall this low, it’s better to die.
ジョフロイネコ(千葉県)：
They ought to forgive him.
マンチカン(家)：
31 year old government employee vs 44 year old unemployed man, huh? Now that’s an unequal society for you w
ボルネオヤマネコ(東京都)：
You lot must be stupid. It’s not such a sad story. This guy has some kind of complex where stealing chocolates and eating them makes him feel like he’s slept with another guy’s woman. This time he failed to get the guy’s woman, that’s all.
しぃ(千葉県)：
Chocolates are just a simple snack. Don’t think about it too deeply.
ギコ(WiMAX)：
Even if he steals them, it’s not the same as getting them from a girl.
