Last month, security camera footage showed what appeared to be a woman with long hair and a skirt entering a building in Tokyo's Ueno in the middle of the night. An hour passed, and the figure emerged from a building, which was soon engulfed in flames. Today, that suspect was arrested: A 27-year-old man.
The suspect's name is Takayuki Mizobe, and he's worked as a maid at an "otoko no ko" cafe in Tokyo's gaming and anime district Akihabara. "Otoko no ko" is typically written at 男の子, meaning "boy," but here it's written as the slang "男の娘," which literally means "male daughter." At these cafes, men dress as women.
According to Nikkan Sports, Mizobe previously worked at the Ueno cafe, which is being described as a matchmaker cafe. Mizobe was an avid cosplayer (well, crossplayer), and after close analysis of the figure on the security camera, he was arrested for arson and attempted robbery.
[Photo: ninja250_x3x]
"I needed the money," he is quoted as saying, and has reportedly confessed. It's believed that after failing to find the cash he was looking for, the suspect burned down the establishment to destroy the evidence. Dressing as a woman, it seems, was supposed to be a way to throw off the police.
Obviously, people can wear what they want, but as one otoko no ko told Nikkan Sports, dressing like this while committing a crime causes trouble for other law-abiding folks.
放火犯は女装メイドの「男の娘」[Nikkan Sports]
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