It does hurt to ask sometimes.

It’s been said many times before that Japanese convenience stores are amazing both in the quality of food they sell and wide range of services they offer. During a simple trip to the corner store here, you can pay your bills, send a package, buy concert tickets, make high-quality copies, print out photos and government documents, do some banking, and even get some reading in.

Some chains even offer money lending services. But taking advantage of those requires registering your ID and bank info with their official app in advance. You’re not supposed to just waltz in and ask the clerk to hit you up with some cash, as illustrated by an incident involving a 33-year-old man in Asahikawa, Hokkaido.

On 4 March, the man entered a Seicomart in Asahikawa at about 10:30 in the morning and asked the part-time clerk if he could borrow some money. The clerk then notified the manager, who called the police.

▼ Car 616, we have a mooching in progress…

Officers quickly arrived at the scene and arrested the man on suspicion of a crime known in Japanese as kenzobutsu shinyu, which translates directly to “building intrusion” and is similar to crimes like criminal trespassing or unlawful entry in other countries. No injuries or damage were caused by the man, but entering a store without a legitimate purpose and then refusing to leave if asked can lead to a kenzobutsu shinyu charge.

The man did not know the store employees, had no money or weapons on him, and was not intoxicated when arrested. He admitted that he had entered the store with the sole purpose of asking for money, and police are currently investigating his motive in more detail.

I’m no master detective, but I’m guessing his motive was that he needed money. Meanwhile, readers of the news were left wondering why this incident resulted in an arrest when a simple “no” would have sufficed.

“There’s a labor shortage going on and we got guys doing this.”
“Was he just too persistent?”
“Why wouldn’t they just lend him money?”
“I remember a police box in Osaka with a big sign saying they don’t lend train fare.”
“Is this a good reason to arrest someone? Why don’t they do this to all those harassing customers too?”

The details of how the man asked for money weren’t released, but it would seem that if the man was still in the store for the time it took to call and wait for the police, he was not taking “no” for an answer and likely acting belligerent to some degree.

If convicted of kenzobutsu shinyu, the man will face up to three years in prison or a fine. If anything, hopefully, he won’t get the latter because that guy clearly has enough money trouble as it is.

Source: STV, Itai News
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