A woman in Japan has been arrested on criminal damage accusations after allegedly squashing a cream cheese bun in a supermarket.
The 40-year-old was accused of being a serial bun-squasher by the store’s owner, who told police she had seen the woman do it before.
But the woman, who says she is unemployed, has refuted the allegation. She argued to police in Japan’s southern city of Fukuoka that only wanted to check the “firmness of [the bun] by pressing lightly with my hand”, according to the BBC.
Police accused her of touching a four-pack of black sesame and cream cheese buns. Although she did not breach the wrapping, one of the buns was damaged after she pressed down on it with her right thumb.
As a result, the store was not able to sell the entire bag, worth around 180 yen (£0.94).
The owner noticed the bun was damaged as the woman was leaving the shop on Monday, and asked the woman to pay for the bread, police said.
When the woman refused, the manager followed her for 1km (0.6m) before restraining her, before police were called to the scene and the woman was arrested.
Japanese police have cracked down on a social media trend known as “sushi terrorism”, in which individuals show themselves tampering with dishes at sushi conveyor belt restaurants.
One video viewed more than 40 million times on X shows an individual licking the top of a communal soy sauce bottle before closing the lid and returning it to his table.
A statement shared by Sushiro, the conveyor belt sushi restaurant company which owned the restaurant, expressed its regret over the incident and said it had been in contact with police.
