French Woman Arrested for Shoplifting Tarts From Souvenir Shop While Traveling in Hokkaido
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On May 26, 2026, the Sapporo Chuo Police Station arrested a 51-year-old French woman, who identified herself as an engineer, on suspicion of theft. The charge stems from an allegation that shortly before 4:00 p.m. that day, she stole two tarts, with a combined retail price of 1,728 yen, from a souvenir shop in Kita 5-jo Nishi 3-chome, Chuo Ward, Sapporo. She reportedly concealed the tarts inside her clothing and left the store, at which point an employee called out to her and detained her on the spot. The woman was said to be visiting Hokkaido on vacation, and under questioning she admitted to the allegations, stating, "It's true that I stole them."
Current status: The case is at the arrest stage; whether prosecutors will indict her had not been determined as of this writing.
Although the damages involved were minor, at under 2,000 yen, the case was reported as an incident involving a foreign national of Western origin. In contrast to organized, large-scale shoplifting cases (related coverage), this was a simple case of a lone offender and a small amount of damage, illustrating how shoplifting incidents involving foreign nationals occur across a wide range of nationalities and scales.