TOKYO (TR) – An intoxicated foreign man was arrested by the Imperial Guard Headquarters for trespassing onto the Imperial Palace grounds at dawn on Sunday, reports TBS News (Mar. 16).
At around 2:30 a.m., the young, large, Western-looking man entered through the iron fence at the Hanzomon Gate from Uchibori-dori street, according to the Imperial Guard Headquarters.
A palace guard at the gate later found the man and arrested him on the spot on suspicion of trespassing. The man was not carrying any weapon or behaving violently.
During questioning, the guard determined that the man did not appear to understand Japanese. The guard also concluded that the suspect had been drinking.
The Imperial Guard Headquarters later placed him in a break room. Questioning with a guard who is fluent in English is planed to resume once the suspect becomes sober.
The Hanzomon Gate is the closest gate to the Imperial Palace, where the Emperor and Empress live. The scene of the crime is about 400 meters from the palace.
