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Man arrested after crashing car into Foreign Ministry building

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Such a shame to ruin a nice car. Looks like an insurance right off.

-7 ( +13 / -20 )

I just love the non-lethal force (e.g. restraint) the Japanese police manage to show in these situations.

If course it helps that the perps tend also not to be armed.

15 ( +26 / -11 )

They did what?

"..... pinned him down with a two-pronged weapon..."

Again something learned. They call it a weapon.

to the uninitiated, perhaps..

I’ve seen it in action a couple of times, being used on drunks throwing tantrums. The only weapons here are the ones using it

3 ( +7 / -4 )

pinned him down with a two-pronged weapon

Every Koban has them

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I wonder if he said ‘I’ll be back’ just before attempting to drive into the reception.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

I bet those two old security guards in the photo were so shocked at having to do something useful at last.

8 ( +18 / -10 )

No doubt he would have been smacked around, Kendo Style, had he not done

what he’s supposed to.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Did anyone notice the lovely Sakura in the background…he had to do that HERE.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

After the collision, the man exited the vehicle and yelled repeatedly, "I had something to talk about with the Foreign Ministry," according to a Kyodo News reporter who witnessed the incident.

haven't you thought about just writing a letter instead?

Security officers at the ministry ordered the man, a self-claimed Tokyo resident, to lie face down on the ground and pinned him down with a two-pronged weapon, the reporter said.

that is called a sasumata and it's been used since the time of the samurai. I agree with the poster above that non-lethal force was used. If this guy pulled this off in other countries, he wouldn't walk away from this at all.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

The picture looks a little too staged.

-14 ( +4 / -18 )

The Japanese people have to learn to protest like the French people.

-1 ( +10 / -11 )

good composition in the photo though

too tired to read the article

-15 ( +2 / -17 )

" had something to talk about with the Foreign Ministry,"

HAAAHAHAHA we all have something to talk about, LOL but we don't go crashing our cars into buildings and whatever for heaven's sake.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

@hiro

bad quality, good composition tho

bright side

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

After a careful examination of this photo, it looks like 3 two-pronged weapons were used. In the US, most of the bureaucratic offices like this are surrounded by rather mundane looking barriers that a car could not crash into. It's surprising that such obstacles have not been put in place in Tokyo

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Thats a lot of effort going into retraining someone. In the Wild West, you either shoot the guy, or use a tazer and then hand cuffs. Maybe a few swipes with the ugly stick. Maye a few Will Smith slaps to the face. Japanese law enforcement is too kind.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

That wasn't very diplomatic of him...

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Japan has some interesting tools to subdue and restrain people. This two-pronged fork and also the big tortilla to wrap up and restrain people by turning them into a human burrito.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I think the instrument is known as a sasumata, a kind of bident.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/さすまた/s?k=さすまた

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

They always send 50 cops out to the most mundane of incidents here.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

They love their sticks.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Dramatic photo *but… *Majority of comments so far mistaking the unmasked man in pale jacket as the arrestee?? - He’s another officer calling out commands while subduing the driver in dark blue pinned facedown to the ground underneath him.  

Look at Mainichi Shimbun’s Mar 30 evening photo’s: “This partially modified photo shows a car that crashed into the Japanese Foreign Ministry building in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on March 30, 2022. (Mainichi/Kei Sato)” -

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220330/p2g/00m/0na/075000c -

followed by the original Kyodo article and photo captions: “Security guards subdue a man near the entrance of the Foreign Ministry building in central Tokyo after he crashed his car into the facility on March 30, 2022. (Kyodo)”

- https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/03/dd2ec5efc225-man-arrested-after-crashing-car-into-japan-foreign-ministry-building.html -

**Still, it generated many interesting commentaries on the *sasumata. - Best Wishes to All here.*

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Next time make an appointment. Much, much easier.

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

A very weird way to bring a message. Couldn’t he just make a phone call, write a letter or participate in a discussion in newspapers or internet blogs? I wonder what such a sick psycho had got ‘important’ to tell. lol

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

zichiToday  12:12 pm JST

How did the cops know it was not an accident. No cop with a drawn weapon.

The article holds the answer:

Security officers at the ministry ordered the man, a self-claimed Tokyo resident, to lie face down on the ground and **pinned him down with a two-pronged weapon, the reporter said.**

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Exexalain: I wonder if they employ a bloke to go around the school playing the part of the intruder. Do 2 -4 school a day that would be a 40-70 in a school a year pre year. Good gig if you got it. I am going to retire soon might be good part time job. All you need the a hoody or ski mask and a car to get to gig to gig.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

After the collision, the man exited the vehicle and yelled repeatedly, "I had something to talk about with the Foreign Ministry,"

Has he never heard of phoning to make an appointment? Or email perhaps? Tsk.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

zichiToday  12:21 pm JST

Overreaction from the cops. Four two-pronged weapons and a cop on top of him to hold down the dangerous man.

Now it's an overreaction?

9 minutes ago you were wondering why the cops didn't draw their guns:

zichiToday  12:12 pm JST

How did the cops know it was not an accident. No cop with a drawn weapon.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Man arrested after crashing car into Foreign Ministry building

Minor point, but its pretty obvious from the picture that he did not, in fact, crash a car into any building. Looks like he hit some sort of utility pole.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

MarkToday  08:30 am JST

" had something to talk about with the Foreign Ministry,"

HAAAHAHAHA we all have something to talk about, LOL but we don't go crashing our cars into buildings and whatever for heaven's sake.

The police probably won't be so interested in that now. This guy hosed up.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The guy wanted to make a scene and did.

It wasn't an accident.

The three pronged defense weapon called the Sai has traditional use by law enforcement for grappling.

Yes defense tools are also called weapons .

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

This will either be a Japanese-Korean protesting about the history textbook story in the other article today or a militarist black van uyoku J-national angry at the Foreign Ministry for selling out to China and/or Korea.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

His car was the real weapon.

Suspicion of trespassing is ridiculous

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

rainydayToday  12:41 pm JST

Minor point, but its pretty obvious from the picture that he did not, in fact, crash a car into any building. Looks like he hit some sort of utility pole.

"The car hit a pillar near the front entrance of the ministry ..........."

zichiToday  01:15 pm JST

Why was there a KYODO photographer?

Outside a government building doing his job.

zichiToday  12:12 pm JST

How did the cops know it was not an accident. No cop with a drawn weapon.

They are not cops, they are unarmed security guards.

shogun36Today  08:23 am JST

The picture looks a little too staged.

Only to you. Why on earth would they stage such a thing?

klausdorthToday  06:48 am JST

And the guy looks to be in quite some pain, or is it just a photoshop job?

"the guy"? "photoshop job"? I think you've got that all wrong, maybe too early in the morning for you to be commenting?

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Wow. Some bravery!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I guess the guy couldn't get their fast enough. I guess the distance killer two prong poles worked on getting him down to the ground.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What a comments again. What does it matter what weapon, force or sticks japanese police is using. It is a sovereign country and most other countries are not perfect also.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This is a great, soon to be iconic picture.

Great job Kyodo. Definitely can see the superior quality compared to other news photos.

Harry_GattoMar. 31  02:34 pm JST

zichiToday  01:15 pm JST

Why was there a KYODO photographer?

Outside a government building doing his job.

Exactly. It would be obvious to anyone living in Japan that a Kyodo photographer would be in the area, as thy are the leading news agency in Japan, their office is close to the ministry building, and that area is an obvious place where news journalists would be.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

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