There's a small landing outside my apartment, and in the corner are propped up a few umbrellas. The apartment itself is small, and there's not much room for having the things in a stand just inside the door, so I keep them outside. We get a lot of rain, and I have to do a lot of walking to and from the school I teach at. Occasionally, the rain springs up unexpectedly and I'm caught outside without an umbrella, meaning I have to buy a new cheap one from the 7-11 near the school for 500 yen ($4.50 USD). All this goes to say that I have 3 cheap umbrellas propped in the corner of the landing. I also have a good, big $30 umbrella that I take with me everywhere when it is raining when I leave the apartment, but I keep that on the landing, too.
A couple days ago, someone stole the good umbrella. While it was outside on the landing, we haven't had any extremely strong winds, so it wouldn't have blown out. And, this is a secured building, so the only suspects are one of the neighbors on this floor, and the floor immediately below. I'm not on good terms with my neighbors, so I can't simply go door to door to ask them which one took it.
It's said that while Japan is a safe country, there are two things the Japanese will steal without compunction - bicycles and umbrellas. Good thing I don't have a bike.
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