Convenience store chainsaw misdemenour

Customers treating their local convenience store as a library of sorts is far from uncommon, with many spending considerably more than a few minutes leafing through magazines and manga. That said, Ibaraki resident Yasumasa Matsuzaki managed to take such brazen browsing into previously uncharted territory — visiting the same Seven-Eleven store everyday and reading to his heart’s content.

However after an eye-straining 3-hour stint at the magazine rack last Wednesday, the manager of the store finally lost patience with the 70-year-old, telling him to either buy or bugger off. Perhaps predictably Matsuzaki opted for the latter, but his chainsaw-wielding return was somewhat less expected, the rabid reader revving the motor and shouting to the manager, “I’ll cut you to pieces!”

Thankfully Matsuzaki-san didn’t carry out his threat, instead opting to leave the (still running) chainsaw at the store’s front entrance and go back to his reading; the mystified manager explaining, “He was still reading magazines even after I called police.”

After the culprit was taken away, Seven-Eleven spokesperson Nobuyuki Miyaji explained that customers reading for long periods of time wasn’t unusual, but Matsuzaki was an extreme case. Also adding, “I’ve heard that he wouldn’t leave the store, coming every day and lying on the floor eating food.”

Sustenance purchased in the shop or brought from home in the form of a packed lunch wasn’t disclosed.