Japanese are ‘pickpocket targets’ in Paris: …… Local warning against ‘good-natured personalities’ and ‘group mentality

Paris, the city of flowers where the Olympics are held, has a dark side. It is the “city of pickpockets.

Paris is one of the most pickpocketed cities in Europe, especially in France. In my first year in Paris, I had my phone snatched from me. I was asked to sign a petition, and while I was filling it out, only my wallet was carefully removed from my bag. Another well-known method is to surround tourists in groups in subway cars and remove their valuables in the confusion of the crowd. In any case, Paris is a pickpocket paradise with a wide variety of cases and methods. That is Paris.

The number of victims increases especially during international events such as the World Cup and Tour de France. It is not hard to imagine that the Olympics, the world’s largest sporting event, is targeted.

The government has stationed at least 10 police officers and volunteer staff at each train station during the Olympics to prevent this, but it is next to impossible to prevent all of them.

I think we have pickpockets from all over France. They are criminals but they are professionals, so they don’t target local residents who know how to behave. They focus on tourists and always look for an opening.

When asked by a reporter, “Are there many Japanese who are victimized? When asked by the reporter, “Are there many Japanese victims?

I honestly can’t tell the difference between Asians and Japanese, and I don’t have any detailed figures, but I think that Japanese-looking people who come alone are always on the lookout for others, and they tend to keep their luggage with them, so I don’t think they are likely to get anything stolen.

However, he says, such Japanese vigilance is quickly eroded when conditions change.

When I meet another Japanese, I am instantly caught off guard. People who were quietly looking around earlier will take their eyes off their valuables as soon as they are in a group, and to top it off, they will leave their luggage on the seat next to an empty one and get chatting with each other. That’s like saying, ‘Please steal from me’ over here. And even if there is someone suspicious, they are too good-natured to leave the scene, so the number of victims increases even more.

When I told him of my analysis, the policeman replied with a laugh, “If you make a fuss and leave your luggage unattended, it will be more likely to be damaged.

If you leave your luggage unattended while making a fuss, you will certainly be a target. I met a group of people who turned to me with a grin when I warned them that it was dangerous, and then continued chatting as if nothing had happened.

In fact, a reporter for a sports newspaper who visited Paris to cover the Olympics at the same time as the reporter had his company cell phone snatched on a subway train headed for the judo venue, while a photographer for a magazine lost his passport on a streetcar. Both were in the midst of discussing with their colleagues about the next competition they were going to cover.

Although it is the pickpockets who are at fault for the crimes, there is no doubt that Japanese people are taken advantage of and targeted.