TOKYO, Monday 6 September 2010 (AFP) - Japanese police have arrested a suspected armed robber who wore a nappy on his head as a makeshift balaclava, the force and local media said on Monday.

The 55-year-old South Korean is accused of holding up a store with a knife in late August and getting away with 141,000 yen (1,700 dollars), police said.

The robber was masked in incontinence pants with eyeholes cut out, the Sports Hochi tabloid reported.

He made off on foot with his haul but had to remove the nappy as he was running -- revealing his face to witnesses -- as he had failed to cut breathing holes in it, the report said.

The man turned himself in Sunday after police visited his house twice, the Sports Hochi said.