A pure golden tea bowl worth about 10 million yen, or 65,000 dollars, is still missing as police in Tokyo arrested a man for its alleged theft on Saturday.

The 32-year old suspect is said to have confessed to the alleged crime.

The bowl was stolen from Takashimaya's flagship department store in the Nihonbashi district in Tokyo on Thursday where an event featuring golden objects was being held.

The suspect fled from the store by subway and got off at a station in eastern Tokyo.

Sources close to the investigation said that the suspect is likely to have sold the golden bowl on the same day to a resale store in the area for about 1.8 million yen cash.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police suspect that it has since changed hands.