Tokyo Times

It would appear that it’s not just adults that crave money, as over the weekend four elementary school students were caught trying to spend counterfeit cash.

But this wasn’t some innocent and childish mistake, with the kids turning up at a store with some badly photocopied notes. No, the youngsters in question had used a computer and scanner in an attempt to achieve passable forgeries. And rather than using the lower denomination 1,000 yen (5 pound) notes, they went for the biggest (10,000 yen) bills.

Unfortunately it seems their computer skills weren’t quite up to scratch, as whilst trying to use one of the forgeries in a stationary store, an employee spotted the bogus bill and alerted the police.

Although they are too young to face prosecution, the police have reported the kids to a child consultation centre. A place where they may soon be joined by more classmates, as it turns out that before being caught, the four forgers had passed out some of the bills to their friends

In a phenomenally acute case of comical incompetency, a knife-wielding criminal was arrested in Fukushima on Monday after unsuccessfully trying to hold up a police office.

Yoshimasa Yamada charged into the building and demanded money, only to find himself surrounded by policemen. Resulting in his prompt and ignominious arrest.

Unsurprisingly the 26-year-old robber has admitted to the allegations, and made no attempt to disguise his stupidity by saying, “I didn’t really care where I could go, but never dreamed I’d end up where I did.”

But perhaps to save Yamada-san some embarrassment, one police officer generously suggested that he may have targeted the nearby Japan Railways office, as “our uniforms look pretty similar to those used by JR, so he probably got us mixed up.”