Why You Should Think Twice Before Posting a Photo of a Crab at a Japanese Station
You might have read this title and thought, “But why a crab? And why at a Japanese station?” Pay attention to the following situation: you are in Japan, either on vacation or living there, and you find yourself at a station when you see a cooked crab on the ground.
In this era of social media, what would you think of doing? Obviously, taking a photo of the strange encounter and then, as a consequence, posting it on your social media to go viral for a few minutes with your incredible find at the station, as the photos below show:
You are walking through the station and see this on the ground. Yes, it’s a cooked crab, so you decide to take a photo and post it on social media. Many people will comment on your profile, finding the situation strange.
The photo of the crab above was posted by someone in 2020 on Japanese Twitter, to which another person promptly warned: “This is a common method stalkers use to find their targets’ social media accounts. They drop unusual items on the street, and when posted online, the stalker can confirm their accounts.”
Despite the warning about the stalkers’ technique, many people reading the warning were skeptical about whether this is truly the reason:
“Come to think of it, it’s very strange for someone to drop such an expensive crab like that.”
“Hmm, I wonder. If the stalker already knows the person’s route so well, is the trap really necessary at this point?”
“This person seems to know a lot about the ‘world of stalking.’”
“It seems equally likely that the original poster planted it themselves.”
“It’s a good way to narrow down a single account from a group of possibles. It’s easy to understand if you read the manga Stalkers.”
“But you can’t see the person taking the photo. How can they confirm this?”
“Anyway, it’s a horrible waste of a 3,000 yen crab.”
Every precaution is necessary in Japan, where we had a case of a stalker identifying an idol’s house through the reflection of the scenery in her eye.
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