Japanese Anime Fan Arrested After Canceling Naruto and One Piece Merchandise Orders Worth $2.7 Million
Tokyo police have arrested a woman for obstructing the business of anime company Shueisha, after she allegedly ordered — then canceled — more than 4.3 billion yen's worth of Naruto and One Piece merchandise.
Tokyo police have apprehended a 32-year-old woman for obstructing the business of Shueisha, the company behind popular anime series such as Naruto and One Piece. The arrest came after the woman, who worked as a restaurant employee, allegedly placed over 2,000 orders for merchandise worth more than 4.3 billion yen ($2.7 million) on Shueisha's Jump Characters Store online shop.
The woman reportedly used 238 different fake accounts to place these orders between 2024 and 2025. She utilized the cash-on-delivery payment method, which is common in Japan, allowing customers to pay nothing when placing an order but pay the delivery driver upon receipt of the items. Unfortunately, the woman is accused of canceling these orders after they were shipped but not paying for them, leading Shueisha to suffer losses of approximately 7.5 million yen ($47,500) including shipping costs.
The woman has reportedly admitted to the charges, stating that her love for anime led her to place these orders and that they provided relief from daily stress. Shueisha's Jump Characters Store offers merchandise from various popular series, including Demon Slayer, Bleach, and My Hero Academia.
Written by urgent.news from IGN's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
