Terrorism? Another foreigner? …The “Imperial Palace toilet graffiti artist” who caused a stir at the beginning of the New Year has an appalling motive.

Incident at the first general visit to the Imperial Palace in two years

On January 2, the first general visit to the Imperial Palace in two years took place. When the Emperor and Empress, Princess Aiko, the Queen and her husband, and Prince Akishino and his family appeared on the balcony of the Palace, there were loud cheers from those gathered.

Last year, the New Year’s general visit was cancelled due to the Noto earthquake that occurred on New Year’s Day. Also this year, there was no lottery for admission, and 60,000 people visited the Imperial Palace as it had been reverted to the pre-Corona response.

In the midst of this celebratory mood, the incident occurred.

The commotion occurred around 10:35 a.m., about 20 minutes after the first entry was over. Daisuke Kobayashi, 46, a landscaper from Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, was arrested for destruction of property by graffiti with a black felt-tip pen on the metal fence of a restroom in the Imperial Palace.

The toilet was located near the lotus pond assembly hall on the route from the east garden of the palace, where the general visit was held, to the gate. The arrest was made after a general visitor who saw Kobayashi scribbling graffiti reported the incident to the police.

The news of the incident was met with a huge response on the Internet.

《How many? No matter what their nationality, they should not be prosecuted and acquitted of all charges.

Religion and ideology are free, but crimes like this should be strictly enforced.

This kind of terrorism happens because we give preferential treatment to foreigners and allow them to enter the country more and more.

Many people seemed to associate this with the incident in May 2012 in which a Chinese man urinated on a stone pillar at Yasukuni Shrine and spray-painted graffiti on it, as well as the graffiti incident that occurred at Yasukuni Shrine in August.

In the May incident, one of the perpetrators was arrested and convicted to eight months in prison. However, the remaining two suspects and the suspect in the August incident have not been arrested because they have returned to their home countries. In addition, an American national who painted graffiti on the torii gate of Meiji Shrine in December was arrested on suspicion of destruction of property, but was not charged.

In addition, the site is close to the Imperial Household Agency building, with many people coming and going. Since it is a very conspicuous place, many people thought that he was prepared to commit the crime.

However, the actual situation was different. The suspect told the interrogator , “The purpose of my visit to the Imperial Palace was to attend a general visit to the shrine. When he stopped by the restroom, he suddenly thought of something and wrote it down.

He was entering the palace as a regular visitor and had his baggage checked. When he was arrested, something that looked like marijuana was found in Kobayashi’s possession, but he said that it was ‘not marijuana. Graffiti was also found in a manhole near the scene, and the police are investigating the connection.

It seems that the crime that caused a commotion at the beginning of the New Year was indeed a “disturbing” one.