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“Android” arrested for rice ball theft in Japan, Android Woman denies involvement

Casey Baseel Feb 3, 2023
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Android Woman says she wasn’t that android woman.

Instead of having a sit-down breakfast at home in the morning, a lot of young people in Japan just grab an onigiri (rice ball) at the convenience store. Of course, after grabbing the rice ball, you’re supposed to pay for it, but that’s not how things transpired at a convenience store in the town of Eniwa, in Hokkaido Prefecture, on January 25.

At about 8:30 a.m., a 29-year-old woman walked into the shop, grabbed a 213-yen (US$1.65) onigiri from the shelf, and walked out with it. A clerk called the police and told the, what happened, and when officers arrived on the scene and questioned the woman, she admitted to stealing the onigiri and was placed under arrest for shoplifting. When asked her name, however, she replied with “Android.”

To clarify, no, “Android” is not a Japanese name, but it is a relatively understood loanword in Japan with the same meaning it has in English: a humanoid robot. News of “Android’s” arrest quickly spread through online circles in Japan, prompting a response from yet another self-claimed android.

Android Woman (“Android no One-san” in Japanese) is a YouTuber and media personality who’s appeared in TV commercials and in-person/in-robot at events. Also known as Android Woman Saori, her hook is that she speaks and moves like an android, with a controlled, even measure to her voice and precise, controlled movements.

あまりにリアルで、うわあって言っちゃいました pic.twitter.com/0DI0ojjsi0

— Akiphic (@akiphic) September 22, 2017

Android Woman has never listed her age in an official profile, but since she has the appearance of a woman in her 20s. So when people began hearing about a 29-year-old woman calling herself “Android” who’d gotten in trouble with the law, some assumed it must be Android Woman who’d been caught shoplifting.

That’s not the case, though, Android Woman says. “Today I have an urgent announcement,” she beings in a video posted the day after the shoplifting incident. “On a certain Internet forum, I saw a thread with the title ‘Android Woman has been arrested,’ so I would like to clear things up. That android is not me…We are close in age, so even I was surprised, but I am not in Hokkaido now.”

▼ Android Woman’s self-introduction video

As dedicated to her performances as she is, Android Woman goes on to say that if she were ever the subject of a police questioning, she would drop the shtick and give her actual, legal name. Meanwhile, the identity of the “Android” who took the onigiri, as of this writing, has not yet been revealed.

Source: FNN via Otakmu, Sponichi Annex via Hachima Kiko
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