S/ Reporter/ A car carrying Natori is coming out of the Osaka Prefectural Police Konohana station.
Natori Toshiyasu, a 21-year-old college student, and
S/ Reporter/ Aramaki is being transported to the prosecutor’s office.
Unemployed 21-year-old Aramaki Kento were arrested on August 13 on suspicion of theft.
The two allegedly stole merchandise from the official gift stores at the Osaka Expo venue in June.
Among the stolen items were collaboration plush toys of the expo’s official mascot and a popular Sanrio character for a total of nine items that amount to around 74,000 yen.
The pair have admitted to the allegations in police investigations.
According to the police, the two visited the expo with four other people and were all trainspotting friends.
Among the four others, three were also arrested on suspicion of stealing over 100 items and said they intended to sell the goods for money.
The remaining person is being pursued by police.
The five arrested are facing two other accusations.
The first is train fare evasion.
The five Tokyo residents are believed to have taken the high speed rail from Tokyo to Shin-Kobe Station, where they likely transferred to a local train to get to the expo venue.
The fare is estimated to range from 15,000 to 16,000 yen per person.
The suspects said that as trainspotters who travels around the country to see different trains, it’s a given among the friends to evade the fare. They said they got off at Shin-Kobe Station because the security is not as strict as Shin-Osaka Station.
It appears the fare for the entire route was unpaid.
We spoke to other train fans about the notion that fare evasion is the standard.
S/ High school student/ There’s no such thing. Definitely not. I can’t forgive that. It would be a nuisance if our reputation went down because of this. I want them to stop because this will affect all of our image.
S/ Company worker/ It’s a problem if they don’t follow the rules properly and ride the train. I can’t forgive that they would plan this and go such a long distance.
The second accusation that the group faces is…
S/ Reporter/ Some of the college students lied about their age and entered the expo venue.
Although all five of the arrested individuals are in their 20s, some of them used the 12-year-old to 17-year-old age restricted tickets to enter the venue.
The police intend to investigate the fare evasion and unauthorized entry.
AloJapan.com