A Japanese man has been arrested for threatening to blow up Nintendo’s headquarters
Nintendo had to cancel live events in 2024 following similar threats
A man has been arrested in Japan for threatening to blow up Nintendo’s headquarters in Kyoto.
As reported by KTV News (and translated by Automaton), the 27-year-old man is from the city of Hekinan in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, around 100 miles from Kyoto.
The man, who is reportedly unemployed, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing business, after he sent envelopes to Nintendo‘s HQ threatening to blow it up with explosives.
According to the report, the envelopes contained messages such as “I’m going to blow you all up” and “my plans cannot be thwarted”.
After receiving the envelopes, Nintendo contacted police on March 16, and officers searched the area for explosives but couldn’t find anything.
Although nothing suspicious was found on Nintendo’s premises, the man has reportedly admitted the charges, and police are said to be investigating his motives.
This is the latest example of Nintendo’s Japanese staff being threatened with violence. In April 2024, 27-year-old Kenshin Kazama was arrested for sending a total of 39 threats via the inquiry form on Nintendo’s official website over a three-month period.
Kazama was accused of saying “I’ll make you regret bringing such a shitty game into this world”, threatening to “kill everyone involved” and saying “be careful about events that have spectators in attendance”.
Although it wasn’t clear what game he was referring to, it’s believed to be Splatoon 3, since some of the threats were aimed at the Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals.
The threats led to the cancellation of the Splatoon Finals and Nintendo Live 2024, which were set to take place in Tokyo in December 2023 and January 2024 respectively. Kazama was given a suspended one-year prison sentence.
