A 32-year-old restaurant worker in Tokyo has been taken into custody by local law enforcement for allegedly disrupting the operations of the prominent anime publisher Shueisha. Authorities claim she placed and subsequently canceled a massive volume of Naruto and One Piece merchandise orders totaling over 4.3 billion yen (roughly $2.7 million).
According to Japanese media reports, the suspect targeted the Jump Characters Store, Shueisha’s official online shop, which features merchandise from major franchises like Demon Slayer, Bleach, and My Hero Academia. Investigators state that between 2024 and 2025, she used 238 different fraudulent accounts to place more than 2,000 purchases.
The scheme took advantage of cash-on-delivery, a popular payment method in Japan where customers pay the courier upon receiving their package rather than upfront. By exploiting this system, the woman ordered items without paying initially, only to cancel them or leave the shipments unclaimed.
While the face value of the canceled goods reached billions of yen, the fraudulent activity ultimately resulted in approximately 7.5 million yen ($47,500) in direct financial losses for Shueisha, primarily driven by unrecovered shipping and handling fees.
Reports indicate that the suspect has confessed to the allegations. Explaining her motives to investigators, she allegedly stated, "I love anime in general, so placing these orders satisfied that desire," adding that the fake shopping sprees served as a way to cope with everyday stress.