Osaka's female 'Cat's Eye' crime trio more porcine than feline

The Mainichi Shimbun
March 7, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080307p2g00m0dm004000c.html

When a trio of young Osaka women were arrested for burglary last month, the media were quick to name them "Cat's Eye", after a sexy trio of female robbers in a manga of the same name -- but according to Shukan Post (3/14), "Fat's Eye" may have been a more appropriate choice.

While the characters in "Cat's Eye" are all beautiful, sleek and svelte cat burglars who pull off seemingly impossible robberies with ease, the truth is the three Osaka women named after them apparently couldn't be further apart.

In fact, far from being the lean and keen thieves of the manga, all three of the Osaka "Cat's Eye" stout suspects are apparently built to a size better befitting jumbo than jumpsuit.

Accused of about 50 burglaries allegedly committed from February to October last year are Yoshimi Takeda, 26, Akiko Sakai, 27, and Michiko Shinohara, 29, all welfare mothers with a child apiece living in Osaka. Takeda and Sakai had once worked together as insurance sales agents, while Shinohara had once attended the same hairdressing school as Sakai. All three shared a love of pachinko and much of their welfare money was purportedly spent playing the gambling game.

Police say that when they ran out of money, they'd drop their kids off at a daycare center then go around and steal cash and valuables during daytime hours, netting an estimated 10 million yen worth of booty over their criminal careers. Like the comic characters, Osaka's "Cat's Eye" crew also had clearly defined roles, with Takeda going in to do the dirty work while Sakai served as lookout and Shinohara drove the getaway vehicle.

But those who know the three suspects laugh at the way they've been likened to the sexy sinners of the manga.

"That lot? 'Cat's Eye?' Don't make me laugh," a former classmate of Takeda's tells Shukan Post. "Takeda is 150 centimeters tall and must weigh something like 70 to 80 kilograms. She's as fat as. She'd be lucky to make it up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing. I remember when she used to ride around on the back of her boyfriend's bicycle and it looked like the tire had gone flat. Everyone who knows her is more amazed that she could pull off their robberies than at her being arrested."

Sakai, too, is apparently built on similar lines, standing just 155 centimeters tall, but apparently with an attitude as large as her waist size.

"Last summer her kid dropped some washing, so I picked it up and hung it out on our balcony. But she got furious, screaming at me for touching stuff that didn't belong to me. It was frightening," a man living in the same housing estate as Sakai says. "What a hide, though. Here she was telling me off for touching someone else's belongings at the same time she'd been going round stealing things off loads of people."

Shinohara, meanwhile, was so fat she'd developed a hernia in her back because of having had to carry all that excess weight around.

"She's reasonably tall at 165 centimeters, but has to weigh at least 80kg," a friend says. "She always wore really low-cut jeans and you could always see her panties. Tell her about it and she'd snap back that it was fashion or that she deliberately wanted to show off her underwear."

Shinohara's mother, meanwhile, is disconsolate at the situation.

"I don't know whether she's having a hard time of it or what, but since my daughter's been in custody she's dropped about 10kg. Her hair has thinned out, too. She's depressed and it's a really sad situation. The cops said my daughter's cut of the booty was the smallest of the lot and yet she's the most apologetic of the three of them," the mother says. "I'm ashamed. I gave my everything to raise that kid and she turns around and repays me by doing this. But I'll welcome her with open arms when she comes back. I'm looking after her kid now, but I'll get her to do it then. I want us all to live together. I'll send my daughter out to get a job and make sure she's a good mom."

The elder Shinohara finds the "Cat's Eye" analogy both annoying and inaccurate.

"It's disgraceful the way the incident has been reported like that to deliberately attract people's attention," the suspect's mother tells Shukan Post. "There's nothing 'Cat's Eye' about those three at all. They're all fatties. It's embarrassing. Have you got any idea how much my life would be easier if I could move away from here?" (By Ryann Connell)

（Mainichi Japan） March 7, 2008

WaiWai stories are transcriptions of articles that originally appeared in Japanese language publications. The Mainichi Daily News cannot be held responsible for the contents of the original articles, nor does it guarantee their accuracy. Views expressed in the WaiWai column are not necessarily those held by the Mainichi Daily News or the Mainichi Newspapers Co. WaiWai © Mainichi Newspapers Co. 1989-2007.

'Cat's Eye' burglar band of women collared in Osaka

The Mainichi Shimbun
February 26, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080226p2a00m0na001000c.html

OSAKA -- A group of three women burglars who investigators called "Cat's Eye" after a famous manga about robbers have been arrested and now face further charges, police said.

Yoshimi Takeda, Akiko Sakai and Michiko Shinohara have been sent to the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office accused of trespassing with intent to steal.

The three single mothers who met each other through school or work are suspected of burglarizing at least 50 homes, netting about 10 million yen worth of booty in a spree across the Osaka and Kobe areas that went from February to October last year.

Takeda, 26, Sakai, 27, and Shinohara, 29, all of Osaka's Yodogawa-ku, have already been charged with three counts of theft. Police said that on the afternoon of Oct. 9, they broke into a home in Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture. On March 16 last year, police said the three also broke in to a Nishi Yodogawa-ku home, stealing about 160,000 yen in cash and bags and other valuables worth around 550,000 yen.

Each of the three women is divorced and the mother of one child. They would leave their children at a daycare center and then go around searching for houses to sneak into in the hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., police said. Each of the women also had a specific role on heists, with Sakai serving as lookout, Shinohara the driver of their getaway car and Takeda going into the homes.

Each of the women are on welfare, but allegedly took to stealing to get money for entertainment and other lifestyle needs.

（Mainichi Japan） February 26, 2008