Security cameras and a mobile phone help man track down mysterious house guest

Look, we're just as down on crazy Japanese stereotypes as the next guy. We watched Lost in Translation. We're with it. We know it's not all cosplay and weird game shows (but seriously, that human Tetris one? Awesome) and people dressing up as vending machines (pictured). That said, this story isn't doing Japan any favors. A homeless woman was recently arrested in Tokyo after living undetected in a man's closet for a year and sneaking food out of his kitchen. It was the missing food that tipped him off, so he installed some security cameras in his home to transmit images to his phone. Some motion was detected, so he called the police, and soon enough they spotted her in the closet -- where she had planted a mattress. Moral of the story? Move to Japan. Better cellphones and bigger closets. You can't lose.

[Via ixplora]

[techk8 @ Jun 1st 2008 10:35AM]

I also head that Japanese chicks dig white men.

[tom @ Jun 1st 2008 10:47AM]

should be rich white man

[David @ Jun 1st 2008 10:51AM]

yea, whites are like the blacks of Japan

[sinai @ Jun 1st 2008 2:22PM]

nobody loves an asian boy :(

[Onetruebill @ Jun 1st 2008 4:06PM]

if he is that geeky he may have missed out on his only chance for a date.

[Jeremy K. @ Jun 1st 2008 10:35AM]

When I saw the picture I thought, why are they posting a two year old article? Then I read the text. Now you know what I was thinking.

[sracer @ Jun 1st 2008 10:36AM]

Reminds me of an ABC Movie of the Week Made-for-TV movie back in the 70's... "BAD RONALD".

[Gregory Kimball @ Jun 1st 2008 10:36AM]

So the guy never looked into his closet for a whole year?

[Kizorblade @ Jun 1st 2008 10:38AM]

He's a hardcore gamer. He doesn't even know he has a shower.

[applefan @ Jun 1st 2008 10:45AM]

@Kizorblade

LOL!!!!

[Mike @ Jun 1st 2008 12:28PM]

He's obviously not R.Kelly or Tom Cruise.

[gad get @ Jun 1st 2008 1:20PM]

What's a shower?!

[TjOeNeR @ Jun 1st 2008 10:53AM]

They don't have bigger closets, just smaller people.

[whowhatme @ Jun 1st 2008 3:56PM]

actually, the people are normal-sized. the closets just look bigger because the actual bedrooms are so freaking small

[John @ Jun 1st 2008 11:01AM]

gay joke anyone?

[Raheem @ Jun 1st 2008 11:03AM]

No thank you, but you have one for me.

[Josh Rothman @ Jun 1st 2008 11:39AM]

it's like the Japanese R-Kelly.

[Joe @ Jun 1st 2008 11:45AM]

Talk about using space effectively

Reminds me of a group of people who decided to live in Providence Place Mall in a homebrew apartment

[Phil @ Jun 1st 2008 11:53AM]

Replace "homeless woman" with rat, and that could've been about me, security cameras, missing food, living in closet etc. I wonder if she ate the headphones that came with his ipod like rattie did.

[gad get @ Jun 1st 2008 1:23PM]

Ssssoooooooo... you're a rat that lives in someone's closet, avoiding the security cameras and stealing food? And you ate someone's headphones?

[Phil @ Jun 1st 2008 2:26PM]

Ha ha, no I'm obviously not the rat. He's not too good at avoiding the cameras either. I've got some great shots of him dragging my underwear across the room that I'm tempted to upload to you tube.

[gad get @ Jun 1st 2008 2:43PM]

Now that's a video I would like to see!

[sinjinn @ Jun 1st 2008 6:23PM]

i can relate , only i have a fat mouse. all it would take is to block the hole hes coming through to get in to the house , but its like 3 metres away from where i sit . i plan on doing something about it but just dont have the time.

[finnith @ Jun 1st 2008 12:04PM]

One year seems kind of long.

[Bobs @ Jun 1st 2008 12:21PM]

she must be a pain to play hide and seek with.

[snowenloe @ Jun 1st 2008 12:23PM]

I would love to have a spare chick for my closet.

[paul34 @ Jun 1st 2008 12:32PM]

Jesus. That means she saw everything CEILING CAT would have!

[michael @ Jun 1st 2008 12:45PM]

I'm getting tired of renting. . . think I'll try this myself.

[Jherez @ Jun 1st 2008 1:10PM]

I looked at the closet! I walked up to the closet! I opened the closet! Now oh my God she's eating in my closet! closet! closet! (echo)

[gad get @ Jun 1st 2008 1:25PM]

Alright then.

[sinai @ Jun 1st 2008 1:42PM]

brought to you by the country that brings you metal gear solid

[StreetStealth @ Jun 2nd 2008 1:24PM]

"!"

[Dr. Evil @ Jun 1st 2008 1:55PM]

I have this vending machine disguise at work. I use it to hide from Lumberg so he wont ask me to work on the weekend.

[computer.dude.28 @ Jun 1st 2008 2:12PM]

I bet that doesn't work very well if Lumberg is thirsty.

[FreeRange @ Jun 1st 2008 3:27PM]

He's a coffee man so I'm sure the vending machine disguise would work... You know, in theory. In practice it fools no one.

[sinjinn @ Jun 1st 2008 2:29PM]

it is heart warming stories like this , of human accomplishments and resilliance that remind us of what we as a species are capable of.

[Kizorblade @ Jun 1st 2008 2:53PM]

Living in closets... yep. Real achievement.

[gabe @ Jun 1st 2008 3:03PM]

REPOST Engadget!!!!!!!

[southbay_11 @ Jun 1st 2008 3:32PM]

Do you know they are bringing the human tetris game to the US, by guess who, FOX hahahaha

[sebastian @ Jun 1st 2008 5:53PM]

I don't really get the purpose of the picture.
if you're homeless, instead of living in someone's closet dress up as a vending machine and hope that people are stupid enough to throw money in?

[Qsat @ Jun 1st 2008 6:24PM]

''Mom! Dad!, Tom Cruise refuse to get out of the closet!

[reporter @ Jun 1st 2008 8:03PM]

i wasn't aware that someone could be arrested in FUKUOKA, and have it still registered as Tokyo. Fancy that. i mean, i know Tokyo is big... but its not quite that big yet.
lazy reporting engadget.
get better.

[Garst @ Jun 2nd 2008 3:36AM]

He must have had a messy and smelly apartment. Nowhere did the article said the woman ever showered, you'd think her smell would have tipped the guy off someone else lived there. Also, did she sneek to the bathroom to do her business, or did she do that in a corner of the closet?

[Idlemind @ Jun 2nd 2008 11:45AM]

She showered and used the facilities...

The owner said his only tip off was the food.. even that she was ,"neat and clean"


Hell I woulda gave her a job keeping the place up, since he wasn't doing it....

[Xepol @ Jun 2nd 2008 3:45AM]

a year together in the same bedroom under the same roof?

Doesn't that make them common law now?

[Harlo @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:21AM]

Are sneak-in houseguests a common occurrence in Asia? Reminds me of part of the plot of "Chungking Express."

[Big Al @ Jun 2nd 2008 12:31PM]

Um I'm pretty sure I would kick my wifes ass for not discovering this woman in my closet!

[blackfeather @ Jun 2nd 2008 1:35PM]

I think it's really odd that a 59 year old man had a 58 year old woman in his closet. Maybe they are married, and both went senile. Or, maybe he kept her as a slave, and made up the story to get rid of her. That'd make more sense.

[Alejandro @ Jun 2nd 2008 3:47PM]

The way things are going, this will start making a lot of sense in New York city! mark my words...

[spam_free @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:48AM]

Maybe this guy is a robot, like Bender, whose apartment is 3'x3' but the closet is 30'x20' but he never goes in there.