Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2185097/japanese-shoe-sniffer-admits-stealing-used-footwear-sexual East Asia
Japanese shoe sniffer admits stealing used footwear for ‘sexual pleasure’
- Makoto Endo, 40, is suspected of stealing 70 pairs of shoes worth nearly US$3,000 over a 13-month period
A pair of dirty hiking boots. Photo: Alamy
A man on trial in Japan for the theft of a large number of shoes has admitted he committed the crimes because he gets his sexual kicks from sniffing people’s used footwear, police said on Tuesday.
Makoto Endo is suspected of stealing 70 pairs of shoes worth about 300,000 yen (US$2,700) in Saitama and Tochigi prefectures between June 2017 and August last year.
“I did it to get sexual pleasure by sniffing the smell of well-worn shoes, regardless of their owners being men or women,” the 40-year-old was quoted as telling police.
Endo was arrested in September because officers suspected him of involvement in a spate of shoe thefts. While searching his house in Tochigi they found a large number of shoes in boxes.