Even the robbers are polite in Japan.
In Japan the type of language you’re expected to use can change drastically depending on the situation you find yourself in. When you talk to your friends, you typically use very casual and direct speech. When you’re at work and you’re talking to a customer, you’re supposed to use very exhaling speech. And, as a recent incident in Fukuoka shows, when you’re trying to hold up a convenience store, you should make sure to apologize and say please.
According to police in Fukuoka, at around 2:30 a.m. on February 14, two male employees at a Lawson convenience store in the Fukuoka city of Kama were behind the counter minding their own business when a somewhat plump man wearing black sweatpants, a black sweatshirt, a towel wrapped around his head and a surgical mask on his face walked up to store counter and pulled a knife on the two men. However, rather than saying “Hand over the money” or anything like what you’d expect a robber to say in a situation like this, the knife-wielding man reportedly said “Sumimasen. Okane o kudasai,” which roughly translates to “Excuse me. Please give me your money.”
After hearing the masked man’s very respectful request, the two employees decided that “please” was not the magic word in this case and instead ended up wrestling the knife out of the would-be robber’s hand. Seeing that neither his excellent manners nor his knife had been enough to get the job done, the would-be robber fled the scene empty handed.
Police are investigating the incident as a case of attempted robbery. Although the suspect was wearing a mask, police were able to get security footage of the man’s face due to his face becoming uncovered during the struggle with the convenience store employees. According to police, the suspect is about 30-years old and roughly 170 cm tall.
No word on whether the suspect was planning on effusively bowing if his heist had been successful. However, it seems very likely that once police catch the suspect, he will be doing a whole lot of very deep apologetic bowing.
Source: ANN News, Sankei News
Image: Wikipedia Commons
