Endlessly abnormal Japan

MAEBASHI -- A 52-year-old man who lives in the eastern Japan city of Honjo, Saitama Prefecture, was arrested on Feb. 20 for allegedly licking a junior high school girl's sneaker. Gunma Prefectural Police's Takasaki Police Station arrested temporary worker Shinichi Sato on suspicion of assault. 

Sato is accused of licking the left shoe of the girl, who lives in Gunma Prefecture, at a commercial facility in the city of Takasaki in the same prefecture at around 5:05 p.m. on Jan. 30. According to the police station, the suspect has admitted to the allegations against him, and was quoted as saying that he did it "to gratify my sexual desire."