The $2.7 million figure was the order value, not the loss
Tokyo police arrested a 32-year-old woman on suspicion of obstructing Shueisha’s business through more than 2,000 allegedly bad-faith merchandise orders. As our sister site IGN Middle East reported, the unnamed restaurant employee allegedly used around 238 customer accounts to place the orders between 2024 and 2025.
The orders were made through Shueisha’s Jump Characters Store, an online shop carrying official merchandise from series including Naruto, One Piece, Demon Slayer, Bleach, and My Hero Academia. Their combined list value exceeded 4.3 billion yen, reported as approximately $2.7 million.
That eye-catching total does not represent the money Shueisha reportedly lost. Sankei Shimbun reported losses of around 7.5 million yen, or approximately $47,500, mainly covering shipping, handling, and the return of unclaimed parcels.
The difference is central to understanding the case: the merchandise was ordered at an enormous cumulative value, but reports focus on operational costs rather than millions of dollars in goods being taken.
Cash-on-delivery enabled orders without upfront payment
The alleged scheme used cash-on-delivery orders, allowing merchandise to be shipped without payment at checkout. Under that payment method, the recipient pays the delivery driver when the parcel arrives.
Police allege that the woman cancelled orders after shipment or failed to accept the parcels, leaving Shueisha to deal with unclaimed deliveries and their associated costs. Because no upfront payment was required, the orders could be placed without the buyer first paying their listed value.
Reports do not describe a large-scale theft or resale operation. The goods were allegedly cancelled or refused, while the disruption came from processing thousands of orders, dispatching parcels, and handling their return.
The arrest concerns obstruction of business, a charge used in Japan when conduct disrupts a company’s operations and causes economic harm. Here, the alleged harm came from repeated misuse of the ordering and delivery process.
The accused reportedly linked the orders to stress relief
The woman reportedly admitted to the charges and told police that repeatedly ordering anime merchandise gave her satisfaction and relieved daily stress. She was quoted as saying, “I love anime in general, so placing these orders satisfied that desire.”
Her reported statement offers a motive for the ordering pattern, but the criminal case centres on the effect on Shueisha. More than 2,000 shipments across hundreds of accounts created real logistics costs even though the merchandise itself was generally left unpaid for and unclaimed.
The case also separates fandom from the alleged offence. Naruto, One Piece, and the other series identify the merchandise involved; the charge concerns sustained disruption of an online shop through cancelled and refused orders.
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