Japanese man breaks into his old school to retrieve items his teacher confiscated over 40 years ago

63-year-old breaks into his old school in Japan to retrieve items that were confiscated by his teacher more than 40 years ago

  • The former student snuck into the northern Japanese school with his girlfriend 
  • He was hoping to find his teacher’s contact information in the school’s records
  • Police arrested the two after a staff member heard them talking loudly 


A 63-year-old former student has broken into his old school in northern Japan to retrieve items confiscated by his teacher more than 40 years ago. 

The former student snuck into the school, which was closed for winter vacation, alongside his 58-year-old girlfriend.

He was hoping to find his teacher’s contact information in the school’s records. 

Childhood memories: The couple seemed to have thought the school would be empty for the winter vacation, but a staff member was inside (stock image)

Both of them attended the middle school they broke into, with the pair deciding to recover the contraband decades later. 

The couple managed to enter the staff-room, but an employee on the premises heard the pair talking loudly and called the police to report the intruders.

Officers arrived on the scene and arrested them for trespassing, according to SoraNews24.

The two former pupils were reportedly intoxicated at the time of their arrest.

The school was in Mikasa, west of the neighboring city of Iwamizawa, where the couple live.

Mikasa is located in the Hokkaido region of Japan, a short drive away from where the couple were staying

Mikasa is located in the Hokkaido region of Japan, a short drive away from where the couple were staying

Social media users commenting on Japan Today’s story reminisced about their own childhood memories.  

‘When I was a kid, a middle aged man broke into our school at night because he wanted to sit at his old desk,’ said one user. ‘I don’t know if he was drunk.’

‘My school only ever had one proper reunion,’ said another. ‘More than three decades after I left, I went back and sat in a chair in exactly the same place, in the same room that I used to for [English literature class].’

‘I am shocked that they confiscate things in a free society,’ exclaimed a third user, who added they grew up behind the iron curtain where teachers often confiscated candy, model toy cars, or printed material.