Two sisters in their 20s were arrested Thursday for attempting to steal Hello Kitty goods from a supermarket in Hiroshima Prefecture.
About 700 items featuring Hello Kitty and other characters including Disney characters and another famous Japanese character, Anpanman, were later seized from the house of the suspects — Kana Horishita, 24, who works as an insurance saleswoman, and Yoshino Horishita, 22, who is unemployed, police said.
The sisters allegedly attempted to steal 109 Hello Kitty goods like makeup bags and pens worth some ¥76,000 on June 20 at a store in the city of Higashihiroshima.
They ran away after a security guard found them taking the items out of the store, but were later identified through security camera footage.
Both have admitted to attempted theft, police said, adding that four other supermarkets in the prefecture had reported similar thefts and the suspects had already allegedly resold some products over the Internet.