A 26-year-old high school teacher in Japan is facing serious charges after police say he joined two of his students in an attempted home burglary — and even coached them on what to steal and how to sell it.
Ryosuke Kimura, a teacher at Tokyo Metropolitan Oshima High School, is accused of entering the home of a man in his 70s in Oshima Town around 8 p.m. on February 2, 2026, along with two teenage male students from the school. The trio allegedly slipped in through an unlocked sliding window, believing the single-story house was empty. They fled empty-handed after spotting signs that someone was home, including freshly purchased vegetables or noises from inside the residence.
Police charged Kimura with trespassing and attempted theft. The two juveniles are also expected to be referred to prosecutors on the same charges.
Investigators say Kimura went further than simply accompanying the students. He is accused of acting as a criminal mentor, advising them on targets and disposal methods. According to police, he told the teens that Buddhist altar bells (orin) “are made of pure gold and sell for a high price, so you should look for those.” He also allegedly taught them how to list stolen items on flea-market smartphone apps such as Mercari and warned them against selling large amounts at once to avoid attracting attention from tax authorities. In one reported exchange, after a student showed him a gold ring, Kimura allegedly remarked that it “looked real” and offered to have it appraised during a trip to Tokyo. Some accounts further claim he asked for a share of the proceeds.
Kimura has partially denied the allegations. In police questioning he stated that he only entered a garage-like area containing farm equipment and had “no memory of entering the house through the window.” He described his involvement as curiosity-driven: “I had heard beforehand that the students were breaking into abandoned houses and stealing things. I went along out of curiosity, like a test of courage.” One of the students, however, told investigators that Kimura was already waiting in the getaway car and showed no reluctance when invited to join a burglary.
The arrest stems from a wider investigation into a string of burglaries on the island. Between April 2025 and February 2026, at least eight theft or attempted-theft cases occurred in Oshima Town, many targeting unlocked or vacant homes. Police arrested six juveniles — including current or recent students from the same high school — between June and August 2026 in connection with six of those cases. Four of the juveniles received probation. The teacher’s role surfaced after one juvenile turned himself in in April and subsequent statements from the students implicated Kimura.
Kimura had been assigned to the island school about three years earlier. Students described him as approachable and friendly, often calling him “Kim,” and noted that he served as a soccer club assistant adviser and, from April 2026, as a first-year homeroom teacher. School officials said rumors of student burglaries reached them as early as April, with Kimura’s name surfacing by May; when confronted, he denied involvement.
Residents on the small island expressed shock and anger. Tokyo education authorities described a teacher joining students in theft as essentially unprecedented. Police continue to investigate whether Kimura was involved in other unsolved cases in the series.
Kimura was taken into custody around September 15 and transported from the island to a Tokyo police station. The investigation remains ongoing.
