Crime City

Saturday 15th January 2011 - Kuji, Iwate


I had been back home and back at work for a week after a short stint around the more southern parts of Japan with Erica.

The snow piles up in Iwate if you don't keep an eye on it.

I remember driving back home from Kuji High School on the Friday and listening to "Maps and Atlases" on my iPod via the car CD player. It was snowing very heavily as I parked the car. Kuji can be a beautiful place in the snow but on this occasion it was a bit of a nightmare.

Friday night I spent in my house playing games and maybe recording stuff, I can't remember.

Saturday morning and the snow had built up so much around my car that I had to dig my way to the door.

I looked inside and my iPod wasn't there.

I checked all around the inside and outside of the car but to no avail.

The crime scene (minus snow)

I can't remember if my car door was open or locked the night before so I'm still not sure whether my iPod was stolen or just fell out into the snow drift.


A bit miffed, I decided to go to the police station to report it missing just in case. It was a Korean iPod so it would have stood out if it was found.

Bringing along Erica for translation help (and general moral support in this troublesome time) we drove to the police station. Inside, a mild mannered, middle-aged police clerk asked us standard questions about the incident:

"What's your name?"

"What kind of iPod is it?"

"Please show me on this map where the car park is."

"What country are you from?"

Ok, mostly standard questions.

A few more questions later we were asked to sit down whilst he finished some paperwork.
After about five minutes of waiting, four policemen walked through the entrance and into the same office as the guy who gave us the questions. They carried briefcases and all wore large winter coats and warm smiles. Each one greeted us separately as they passed.

When they left the office these men - all four of them - came up to us and said that they were here for the investigation and would like us to take them to the crime scene.

With us in front in my little car and them following in a car of similar size (four fully grown men don't fit comfortably in a car like that unless they're training to be in the circus) we went to my house.

The victim

In my house, I was asked the same questions as before but by a younger, more embarrassed policeman. I remember vividly having to write down my home address in Kanji for their paperwork (Erica wasn't allowed to do it). This took much, much longer than expected.

After my second questionnaire we went down to the car park where two of the police officers had opened their briefcases. One produced a camera and the other a measuring tape.

They individually began performing various tasks like a habit. Measuring the length and width of the car park and the car itself, inspecting the drainpipes and gates, taking photos of the landscape, the car and the other cars around, it was wonderful to witness.

When the investigation was nearing it's end, they had one final task for me. Positioning me next to the open door of the driver's seat, they asked me to point to where the iPod was the last time I saw it,a photo was then taken of me -quite confused- pointing at the floor of my car, trying not to smile. They even showed it to me after to check that I looked OK.

Once this had been done they all bid adieu and left the way they came in their tiny car.




My iPod was never found.