Toilet Rubber Theft in Japan Leaves Staff Puzzled

Public restrooms always come with a certain degree of unpredictability, even in Japan’s famously clean facilities. Still, nothing could have prepared a custodian at the OKB Fureai Kaikan event hall in Gifu for the bizarre discovery waiting inside one of the bathrooms: the rubber stoppers from several toilet seats had gone missing.

At first, it seemed like a minor issue. But a closer inspection revealed something much stranger. After checking the men’s and multi-purpose restrooms, staff discovered that 63 rubber pieces had disappeared from 20 different toilets. These small parts don’t fall off easily, and they certainly don’t vanish on their own. This quickly became a case of deliberate tampering — and, ultimately, theft.

The building, operated by the Gifu prefectural government, reported the incident to the police and increased security patrols around the restrooms. Meanwhile, the story spread online, and commenters had a field day trying to guess why anyone would steal dozens of toilet rubber stoppers.

“What could someone possibly use them for?”
“Is there a secret market for toilet rubber pieces?”
“Are they planning to resell them?”
“Who would buy used toilet parts?”

Unlike metal components such as copper wire or manhole covers, rubber isn’t something that typically fetches much value. Still, the building’s administration estimated the stolen parts to be worth around 60,000 yen, about 400 USD. But even with that number, it’s hard to imagine a buyer lining up for used rubber taken from public toilets.

The suspect remains unidentified and the investigation continues. But there is at least one silver lining: right next to the OKB Fureai Kaikan is a showroom belonging to Toto, Japan’s leading toilet manufacturer. That means replacing the stolen rubber parts should be far easier than uncovering the thief’s motive.

In the ever-unpredictable world of strange Japanese news, even a simple trip to the restroom can turn into a mystery.