Police say woman stole wallet of 81-year-old American tourist.

Located in the Asakusa neighborhood, Sensoji is Tokyo’s most famous Buddhist temple, and undoubtedly deserves a spot on the itinerary of any first-time visitor to the city. It’s particularly popular with visitors from overseas, but according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police a Mongolian woman who was at Sensoji this week wasn’t there to admire the beautiful architecture or soak up the festival-like atmosphere, but to rob tourists.

At around 1:30 in the afternoon on April 9, a police officer patrolling the grounds of Sensoji says that he saw the 36-year-old Mongolian woman approach an 81-year-old American woman from behind while she was washing her hands at the chozuya, the basin of water located at the entrance to temples and shrines in Japan where visitors are supposed to symbolically purify their hands before progressing further towards the main hall. The police say that the Mongolian woman was carrying a jacket so as to obscure her hands, and after getting close enough she reached into the American tourist’s shoulder bag and removed her wallet, which contained approximately 10,000 yen (US$67) in cash, while the older woman’s back was turned.

A separate incident of a foreign tourist being pickpocketed had been reported three days prior, and police officers had been instructed to be on the lookout for further incidents.

The Mongolian woman, who entered Japan one week ago on a short-term sightseeing visa, was arrested on-site on suspicion of theft. She is currently denying the charges and claims that the older woman’s wallet had gotten tangled up in the jacket she was carrying, and that she was only trying to keep the wallet from falling to the ground. How exactly a wallet inside a bag gets tangled up in a jacket that’s outside of it, though, and why one would keep both hands wrapped up in the jacket while addressing the situation, however, are unclear.

Regardless of how the criminal case plays out, the incident highlights two important things to remember. First, while Japan has very low crime rates, crimes do happen, and so it’s important to always keep an eye on your valuables, even when there are things as picturesque as Sensoji vying for your completely undivided attention. Second, if you notice someone’s wallet is about to fall, you’re a lot better off tapping them on the shoulder and letting them know, or at least gesturing to their wallet, since if you just reach in and grab it without saying anything it’s going to be hard to convince the authorities that you’re not a thief.

Source: FNN Prime Online, Jiji, Sankei Shimbun
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