Worry in Japan after a wave of bonsai thefts

In Japan, a series of theft of bonsai specimens is causing concern. The authorities are looking for it if it is a thief or a black market related organization.

One of the trees, with some 400 years and a value that can exceed $ 50,000, was stolen in January in Kawaguchi, northeast of Tokyo, in Saitama Prefecture.

Other copies were stolen in November in the capital Saitama. The newspaper Asahi he wonders if he is a case of a thief in series.

Seiji Iimura, who grows more than 3,000 bonsai in Kawaguchi, four copies were stolen January 13th. They were of the Shinpaku variety, a type of cypress, very popular both inside and outside the country.

"Someone with very good knowledge of bonsai must have been involved in the theft," said the producer. Asahi.

One of the plants could reach a value of around 6 million yen (47,810 euros or $ 54,587). Limura, 54, cared for him as he was one of his own children, he said.

In November 2018, another robbery had affected eight copies of a farm in the city of Saitama administered by Hiromi Hamano, 81 years old. he has already undergone another similar event six months earlier.

Copy like Shinpaku can end up on the Vietnamese and Chinese markets at prices much higher than in Japan.

Hamano has security cameras on his farm and, in a recording, he was able to see how the thief went straight to the point, after entering the scene shortly after midnight.

For the moment, producers are considering the possibility of creating surveillance patrols to prevent new thefts of bonsai.