Photo/Illutration The “Shoplifting prevention: Experiment II” card introduced at the Tokoname outlet of the Beisia Food Center supermarket chain in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture (Toshi Yamazaki)

TOKONAME, Aichi Prefecture--Small and simple cards proved more effective than a high-tech surveillance system in reducing shoplifting at a supermarket here.

Two types of cards, each featuring messages “Security cam focus adjustment” and “Shoplifting prevention: Experiment II,” were placed all around the store.

Since it started using the cards in Shikakeology, the study of “triggers” that prompt people to change their behavior, the Tokoname outlet of the Beisia Food Center supermarket chain has slashed its losses from shoplifters.

The idea was pushed by a police officer who learned about Shikakeology through a TV show.

Toshiki Hanamura, 33, the store’s manager, had long been battling thieves.

He increased the number of surveillance cameras and stepped up patrols by security guards, but “it is difficult to keep an eye on every corner of the spacious store,” he said.

Motohiro Nakagawa, 46, chief of the community safety division at the Tokoname Police Station, had wondered why shoplifters were ignoring security cameras.

He thought that the “Security Cameras in Operation” signs posted at many stores had become too familiar for shoplifters and were no longer a deterrence.

In addition, police officers were visiting stores less often because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On the police inspector’s suggestion, Hanamura in October last year placed more than 1,000 enigmatic cards with “Shoplifting prevention: Experiment II” written in white letters on a black background on store shelves and other parts of the sales floor.

Each card is about the size of a price tag.

Shoppers had no idea what “experiment” the store was conducting, but they could sense some sort of anti-theft measures were in place.

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Motohiro Nakagawa, left, chief of the community safety division at the Tokoname Police Station, and Toshiki Hanamura, manager of Beisia Food Center’s Tokoname outlet, hold a card that reads “Security cam focus adjustment,” which is placed on the floor in front of cashiers. (Toshi Yamazaki)

The larger, white cards with the message “Security cam focus adjustment” were attached on the floor in front of cashiers. Some customers were seen looking up at the ceiling, trying to find a camera.

“(The messages are) aimed at making shoplifters notice the security cameras and other countermeasures and discouraging them,” Nakagawa said.

The tactics proved effective, and the total damage from shoplifting during the six months from September 2020 was reduced by 30.7 percent from the same period the previous year.

Other Beisia Food Center outlets are planning to use Shikakeology to thwart thieves, while Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department, Osaka prefectural police and other authorities are making inquiries, Nakagawa said.

“I hope each store comes up with their own gimmicks,” he added.

Nakagawa had contacted Osaka University professor Naohiro Matsumura, who has promoted Shikakeology, and read his book on the subject.

Some known examples of Shikakeology include a trash can equipped with a basketball hoop to get people to properly dispose of their litter, and a target sticker on a men’s urinal to prevent spillage and reduce cleanup costs.

According to Matsumura, Shikakeology makes use of the sense of being watched, prompting people to avoid embarrassing behavior even if they are not actually being watched.

“It’s not academically new, but it is interesting to see an example of Shikakeology applied in society,” he said.

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