There's a wonderful Korean film called 3-Iron, or to give it its Korean title, Bin-jip, meaning Empty Houses. At the beginning of the film, a young man is wandering around an expensive neighbourhood taping take-away menus to front doors; when he later returns, those that haven't been removed will indicate to him that the house is likely empty. This is how he lives, staying in these empty homes; fixing things, doing laundry and other useful chores as a way of saying thank you to his inadvertent hosts, before moving on. The story really begins, though, when he finds a businessman's wife hiding in her own closet.

I was reminded of this film by a recent news story - not from Korea, but from Japan.

Having noticed that food kept disappearing from his fridge, and suspecting some kind of bizarre break-ins, a 57-year-old man was moved to install a security camera in hope of solving the mystery. The camera was set up to send photos to his mobile phone. Sure enough, while at work, he received evidence of an unknown woman in his house.

Here things got strange.

Upon arrival, police were surprised to find that not only was everything securely locked, but there also wasn't even the slightest sign of a break-in.

Nonetheless, having gained entry they proceeded to search the house thoroughly, checking anywhere and everywhere that a person could possibly hide. Tatsuko Horikawa, a homeless 58-year-old woman was eventually found in the top of a built-in closet, designed to store mattresses and bedding. Having apparently gained access to the house one day when the man had forgotten to lock his door, she had secreted plastic drinking bottles and laid out a thin futon in the low space in which she was later found, By then, she had lived there undetected for close to a year, on and off.

Horikawa has been charged with trespass. More details here.

The film scenario was a little different, obviously, but I'm sure you can see the parallels.

The main thing that struck me, though, was that, as in 3-Iron, the protagonist of the story was doing no real harm. My question then is this: couldn't this real-life story have had a happier ending?

Let me explain.

The room in which the closet was housed was rarely used. In a year, the spare bedding it held had never been used. Clearly, the unnamed man is single, knocking around a large house on his own; no-one ever comes to stay. It is probably safe to assume he is lonely.

At 58, Horikawa is a woman more or less his own age - they could have much in common. Why not see how things go? Something beautiful might blossom.

Equally, it might not.

But no matter - she's already proven herself easy to live with; he'd hardly even notice she was there. And in a year, she stole only the odd bit of food. He could have a worse housemate. Why not simply let her have the unused room?

Better still, tell the home insurance company: a lodger and a new security camera, that's got to be worth a discount on your premiums.