TOKYO: A 32-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of obstructing Shueisha Inc.’s business operations by repeatedly placing and canceling large orders for merchandise featuring the publisher’s animation characters.
According to police, the woman is suspected of repeatedly placing large cash-on-delivery orders via Shueisha’s Jump Character Store website between July 2024 and May 2025.
However, she allegedly cancelled the orders through such means as not accepting the merchandise when it was delivered.
Police believe that from 2023 on, the woman did not pay for items worth a total of ¥4.3 billion that she had ordered and that were supposed to be delivered after she had paid for them through a convenience store.
She is also suspected of cancelling about 2,000 cash-on-delivery orders.
Shueisha reported these cancellations to the police in June last year.
The woman is an employee of a restaurant in Osaka and was arrested on Tuesday.
She has admitted to the allegations, saying, “I was extremely stressed in my daily life,” according to the police. - The Yomiuri Shimbun
