Japanese actor Izumi Pinko, 79, was commissioned as a one-day chief of Yamagata Police Station in Gifu Prefecture and urged residents to take crime prevention seriously during a talk in Gifu City. She is known for the television drama “渡る世間は鬼ばかり” (“Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari”).
At a police-sponsored crime-prevention fair in a local shopping centre, Pinko received her appointment letter from station chief Koji Katsuragawa. She joked that she had risen “from a ramen shop to police station chief”, referring to her role in the drama.
Speaking about a rise in fraud by callers impersonating police officers, Pinko said people should remember that the police do not simply phone them. Her warning came as part of the event's public-safety message.
She also described a burglary at her home in March, when branded goods and jewellery were stolen. Since then, she said, she had installed storm shutters and added a second lock, sharing the measures as ways to protect a home.