Police in Tahara, Aichi Prefecture, are investigating the theft of about 800 cabbages from a field earlier this month.
According to police, the grower noticed the cabbages missing on the morning of Feb 5. The farmer said he had been on guard this year because cabbages had been stolen from his field last year, but added it was difficult to come up with effective countermeasures, NHK reported.
Due to last year’s extreme heatwave and a lack of rain, the price of cabbages has been rising, and was 2.5 times higher than average in mid-January. It is expected to remain higher than average for the rest of this month as well.
Aichi Prefecture is a major producer of vegetables, and in 2023, the production value of cabbages was 18.9 billion yen, the second highest in the country. Tahara City is the main production area.
Police have urged growers of fruit and vegetables across Japan to install surveillance cameras and sensors to try and prevent thefts.
© Japan Today
21 Comments
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Guy_Gin_and_Tonic
Right, let’s all keep an eye out for guys in vans trying to sell them in car parks of supermarkets. You should be able to detect them nasally before you see them. Seriously though, what will they be doing? Making midnight backdoor deals with tonkatsu and yakisoba restaurants?
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
That's a lotta lettuce man.
garypen
800 cabbages oughta fetch a lotta cabbage.
GuruMick
Sensor lights not too expensive.
Add rabid attack dogs as extra measure.
If there's one thing I cannot abide...its cabbage theft.
grc
Perhaps if they were less expensive to buy?
Mie Fox
Farming is hard work and for someone to just come in and then steal the fruits of the farmer's labour is unforgivable. Hopefully Karma will get them, if the police fail.
Speed
Well, they are a bit expensive. But really, stealing 800 cabbages suck.
TokyoLiving
Catch them, send them to jail..
And deport if it applies..
WoodyLee
""but added it was difficult to come up with effective countermeasures, NHK reported.""
One or Two German shepherd or Doberman problem solved.
WoodyLee
As always Someone is Buying this stolen products from the thieves or they would not be stealing it. Or the whole sellers are doing it doubling their profits.
obladi
Are these "produce thefts" real? It just seems to happen an awful lot in a place where it should be possible to solve such an obvious crime.
owzer
cabbage
Abe234
Get real. Sometimes the weather damages crops, and the farmers have a business to run and a family to feed. Not just you.
Peter14
What is with food being stolen in Japan? It happens quite regularly but it is by no means limited to Japan. Recently in Australia 600 dozen Oysters were stolen just prior to harvesting. I guess there will be a special on black market oysters this Valentines day here in Oz, and Japan gets cabbages this Valentines day.
Bret T
Do a search for butter theft in Canada. People will steal anything!
toolonggone
Just had to get that in there, right?
Wesley
Police should trace the calls made by the "workers" in the farm.
Who did they call? And did they inform them of when the farm was left unattended?
I sometimes wonder how some foreign eateries in Japan can give large portions of food & charge less than their Japanese counterparts.
Gee, I wonder who their "suppliers" are... and where they got their "supplies" from.
justasking
Real. Until you realized who actually benefits from these "thefts". The truth won't shock you.
P_C
oh the current price of cabbages! looks like cabbages are the new "nashi 梨" in the world of midnight shopping.
masterblaster
It sucks the cabbage were stolen, but one must protect their own property. There's not a lot of violent crime in Japan. But theft is rampant.