Theft in Japan 2: a police story

note: This is a short story and is longer than my usual blog entries.

Sypnosis: My bike got stolen, and then found, albeit in pieces. A rather unexpected ending follows.

About the same time last year, I wrote about theft in Japan. Since then, I have had the most peculiar experience. What I had thought would never happen to me, occured right before my very eyes. I woke up one fine Sunday morning, and having had breakfast with the kids, proceeded downstairs to clean my car. When I had finished, I packed up and was about to head back to my apartment when I noticed that my bike is no longer where I thought I had left it the night before. "What the, where's my bike!", I cursed.

Immediately, I went into denial mode. This can't be happening. OK, maybe I had left it at the school parking yesterday and my wife brought me home, I thought. This is fairly common as I stay quite near my work place and sometimes my wife comes over and pick me up for dinner. But on second thought, I remembered clearly how I had parked my bike there and walked up upstairs yesterday evening. I slowly began to visualize what happened. I remembered vividly how I removed the ignition key, removed it, took off my helmet and stored in under the seat. And now, the whole bike is gone. Frantically, I began to search the neighborhood parking spaces. No luck. I talked to my wife and decided to make a police report.

At the neighborhood koban (交番), I pressed the intercom button and waited for a couple of minutes before the police officers returned from their inspection round. There were 3 officers that day, including one very cute lady officer who took my statement. Having satisfied their queries, I left and went home.

I was still reeling about what had happened that day when I received a call from the police in the evening saying that they have found my bike. I was more than elated. The time it took to find my bike, surely it must be a candidate for the Guiness World of Records. When I finally saw my bike, I crashed back to earth. Well, the police brought back my bike alright. In a few pieces that is. On closer inspection, I finally concluded that it would take me more time and money to fix it.

Over the course of the next few days, I was contemplating on what to do. I mean, I needed my bike to get to work. Without it, I felt like one leg was missing. Finally after suffering for 2 weeks, I decided to get a new used-bike. Although a little expensive, the new ride sure felt great. I brought the kids for a spin around the neighborhood ever careful of the watchful eyes of the law. Don't want to break the law in Japan by riding like a rural Malaysian family on a kapchai.

I had more or less forgotten about my unfortunate experience in Japan when I received yet another call from the police. This time, I was told that the thieves were caught and identified. I was told that they were minors, junior high school students. When I related this incident to the lady living upstairs, she mentioned empathetically that it was the work of some pranksters. Hmmm, I wonder how she was so sure about that. Anyway, the police asked me if it was OK for them to let the parents of those misguided kids about my contact number. I said it was fine with me. So, the next few days, I talked to the parents of the kids. Mentioning to them about how I myself is a young parent and how this was a new experience for me. I finally met up with them one evening, and together with the two young boys, they came pouring out words of apologies for what must have been 2 minutes but felt like 2 hours. And you know what, they prepared to compensate me with a BIG box of cookies (which I still haven't open yet) and some cash.

This episode got me thinking. I was a victim of 2 bicycle thefts in Malaysia. When my very first and favorite BMX bike was stolen I made a police report about it and cried my eyeballs out. The police officer who took my statement was pretty casual about it. Let me put it this way he said, "Why don't you study harder and hope that your dad will give you another birthday present". When my second bicycle was stolen, I was cool about it, told my mom that I had outgrown the bicycle and was ready for manhood. Then, Dad said that I can start taking motorbike lessons. He then passed me the keys for his very first Honda C70.

If you ever have your vehicle stolen, I am sure you can empathize with my story. I bet that you, just like me are surprised with the efficiency of the local police here in Nara. I am so filled with admiration that I wrote them and told them about it. Below is an excerpt of my feedback at their website.

この間とんでもないことが起こりましたので、ここで書かせていただきます。

去年、私の通勤用の原付が盗まれました。なにも期待しない私は近くの交番にとどけを出しました。そして当日の夜その原付が見付かりましたたという連絡がありまして、ちょっと驚いた。迅速な対応していただいた警察官に感謝した後にこのことを忘れました。

数ヵ月後突然警察から犯人が見付かったという連絡がありました。それは、さらに驚いた。国で２回でも自転車が盗まれた私は、そんなことは全然想像できませんでした。しかしこれだけではとんでもないこととは言えません。２週間前、少年の泥棒達２人の保護者の方は私に連絡してお詫びしました。そして２人の少年と一緒に私と会って、深く反省を示しました。

私は日本に滞在する期間は長くもないですが、ニュースや新聞で聞いたことにより日本の警察官に関してあまりよい印象しか残りませんでた。しかし、今回の経験によってそのイメージが全て消えて、日本の警察はとても素晴らしいと思います。大感服しております。これは警察の手本になるのではないでしょうか。