
It should still be around somewhere, right?
Growing up, pretty much everyone has been in a classroom where a student gets caught with something they shouldn’t have brought to school, and then the teacher confiscates the item. That common scenario played out one day at a junior high school in the town of Mikasa, in Japan’s northern prefecture of Hokkaido, with a male student whose name hasn’t been released, whom we’ll call “Taro.”
It’s not clear what exactly was confiscated from Taro, but whatever it was, he wanted it back. So last week, while the school was closed for winter vacation, Taro, accompanied by his girlfriend, snuck into the school, with his eventual goal for the caper being to recover his contraband. The two managed to get inside one of the school’s staff rooms, but it wasn’t long until an employee who was on the premises heard them talking loudly and called the police to report the intruders. Oblivious to the approach of law enforcement, the couple was still in the school when officers arrived on the scene and arrested them for trespassing.
Getting the police involved, as opposed to calling the couple’s parents and telling them to come pick up their misbehaving children, might seem like overkill, as may arresting them instead of suspending them from school. The thing is, though, Taro is 63 years old, and his girlfriend is 58. Yes, both of them attended the middle school they broke into, but they also both graduated from it well over 40 years ago.
Life doesn’t seem to have taken the pair far from their childhood homes, as they both live in Iwamizawa, the city neighboring Mikasa to the east. The ire Taro felt from having whatever his teacher took taken from him also appears to still be something he holds close in his heart, considering the lengths he went to in his attempt to recover it. It’s unclear whether or not he expected the trading card, dirty magazine, Game Boy, or whatever the item was, to still be sitting in a storage closet after more than four decades, but he also said he was hoping to find his teacher’s contact information in the school’s files, perhaps in order to personally ask him to return it.
▼ Oh, wait, it couldn’t have been a Game Boy – those hadn’t been released yet when Taro was in middle school.
Still, considering his current age, it seems like the wiser thing for Taro to do would have been to simply call the school or walk in like a fully grown adult and politely ask for his stuff back. As for why he didn’t, both Taro and his girlfriend were intoxicated at the time of their arrest, so it seems like this may be a case of two people reminiscing about their student days while getting both liquored and worked up, then deciding “We should break into the school and get my stuff back!”, which is the sort of thing that really only ever sounds like a good idea to teenagers and drunk people.
Source: Hokkaido News UHB via Yahoo! Japan News via Hachima Kiko, STV
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image © SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!


Principal of Japanese school where student attacked teacher gets blasted for half-hearted apology
Middle school teacher moonlighting as host bar host arrested in Nagoya
Don’t like trigonometry? Then you’re just like Hitler, says Japanese high school English teacher
Japanese elementary school teacher under fire after selling students’ personal info online
Japanese teacher beats up student for making fun of his body by calling him anime character name
How to make curry in a rice cooker with zero prep work and no water[Recipe]
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Is Sapporio’s Snow Festival awesome enough to be worth visiting even if you hate the snow? [Pics]
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Poop is in full bloom at the Unko Museums for cherry blossom season
We tried six Japanese burger chains’ coffee to test the state of fast food coffee in Japan[Taste test]
Crazy-cheap Tokyo lunch: All-you-can-eat curry rice for 220 yen (US$1.40)!
Pocky x Street Fighter II collaboration comes with a special game for a limited time
The results are in! One Piece World Top 100 characters chosen in global poll
Mist descends upon Japan’s “Killing Stone” after ceremony to appease nine-tailed fox spirit
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamed
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Now is the time to visit one of Tokyo’s best off-the-beaten-path plum blossom gardens
Can you eat lunch in Tokyo for less than 500 yen?
Japan releases first official sakura cherry blossom forecast for 2026
Archfiend Hello Kitty appears as Sanrio launches new team-up with Yu-Gi-Oh【Pics】
China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning looks to be affecting tourist crowds on Miyajima
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
A look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuff
Japanese elementary school teacher gets drunk, visits student’s house and beats him with stick
Japanese elementary teacher busted for hiding students’ shoes, writing “die” on their belongings
Japanese junior high school student pranks teacher by lacing school lunch with laxative
“What the hell are you doing to my woman?” attacker asks man feeding stray cat in Tokyo park
Teacher beats student over flippant comment, only loses 1/10 of salary
Japanese teacher gives secret love letter to junior high schoolgirl, gets his heart broken
Japanese middle school teacher kisses her student at Tokyo Disneyland during date, gets fired
Board of education suspends Japanese teacher who stockpiled 750 pairs of panties at school
Student in Japan misses week of class after school won’t let him wear sweatshirt on snowy day
Teacher in Japan literally picks up truant kid, carries him out of house to make him go to class
“The taste of a liar!” Japanese teacher arrested for licking student’s ear
Japanese teacher apologizes for peeing on students’ futon during club retreat
Tokyo schoolboy assumes other boy’s identity for six months, attends classes at top high school