Man in underwear swims palace moat 'to meet emperor'

+1 for effort

owh my. that's insane.

It was his proof he was unarmed and thus posed little threat.

Wish the reporter could've fished for details; such as when the swimmer was spotted. Did the security detail observe him shedding his clothes, swimming in the moat, wandering Imperial Palace grounds or did a someone else alert security that a man clad only in his tighty whities was asking for directions to the emperor's room?

aaargh! wish there was an "edit" button after the fact. "moat and wandering around the Imperial Palace grounds or did someone alert security that there was a man..."

If he did indeed make it to the Palace side of the moat, then that shows a flaw in the security setup. The story doesn't say which side of the moat he made the swim from, but if he did make it all the way he still had to scale security fences around the palace itself. Wonder how far he actually got ... ?? The guy has to be some kind of a nutcase ...

lol! wow this is great news! haha i would do the same thing ^o^

police would examine whether he is mentally fit to stand in criminal proceedings

He swam across a moat, near naked, at 4.30am, in water that would have been colder than the 4 degree air temperature, to see the Emperor... And there's a question over whether he is compos mentis?

I wonder what his real MOATive was....

It was his proof he was unarmed and thus posed little threat.

but nearly 50 years younger than the emperor...threat risk is not little.

For all that effort why not let him say hello?

ahh.......trying to beat the current world record holder for skinny dipping in the moat and defying the keystone cops for over an hour!.Check out :News of crazy naked spanish guy in Japan...on youtube. He was an english expat from spain........see how the cops run!!

That is really commitment. Maybe a bit crazy, but the guy was really tough.

Raw Video: Naked Man Swims in Imperial Waters...on youtube. This shows better footage of the cops at their best.

Sorry, but the Raw Video: Naked Man Swims in Imperial Waters...on youtube ... is an old video of a foreigner who took a dip in the moat. This happened a while back ... Nothing here yet on the new venture ... which would have been made in the early morning hours ... probably still dark at that time ...

This guy has style.

430 am?? Not just crazy but an early bird too??

Wasn't there a drunk brit that did something similar some years ago?

By the way those moats are filthy!! Thick green moss since that water is stagnant. So this crazy guy was not only freezing but stinky!!

I think he learned a lesson from the last guy who did it. Go early so no one will see you. Seriously, this is the second time. The emporer can't be happy. I wonder what they are going to about this?

Another nutter.

Best news of the day!

Sounds like he had already met and had tea with the faries.

Must be some Jungian archetypal fantasy. Happens all the time. Get naked, swim, meet God.

Stay tuned, more to follow...

If he wanted to meet the emperor he could at least have worn a tie. Standards are slipping these days, tsk tsk.

Or maybe that was part of his "shinobi" training :P

I wish we could have more details on this..

Bloke is insane but hilarious.

Its stories like this that make my day.

As a taxpayer whose money maintains the palace and royal family, and after going to so much trouble, he should get his audience.

hahahaha. i like this news... about a guy not having a clear political motive did this tough swimming job, and he ended up being stopped by the security.

You'll have to show more courage than that, mate. The last bloke doffed the full kit, as I recall.

For all that trouble, he should of chosen to try and see someone important.

The guy just wanted to see the Emperor. It's really too bad that the Japanese people get so little opportunity to visit the Imperial Palace. There should be tours and maybe an opportunity to see the Emperor every know and then as he goes about his business.

I am sure he can claim he is sane on the basis that only an insane man would have left his clothes on to swim across the moat.

that is so freaking insane.dude i mean , there is a lot of way to meet an important person like the emperor or even a president, but still do! that is so freaking insane.

The man's clothing was found on the side of a street surrounding the moat, the officer said, adding that police would examine whether he is mentally fit to stand in criminal proceedings.

Is trespassing criminal?

A better response to the cops would have been; I thought this was the 50 Meter Freestyle for the Emperor’s Cup.

I think we should all join him! this should be the occupy Tokyo movement! All the stressed salary men and OL's strip butt naked and swim the palace moat!

Did he at least take a nice suit in a plastic bag with him? Hardly becoming to greet the Emperor in wet skivvies...!

Was the emperor debriefed?

In Thailand people who insult their King will go to prison. Japan is same.

@Nessie: the emperor is always well briefed.

Ninja in training?

Maybe he was wearing Heat-tec underwear.

lol

Japan is same.

No, it is not. Japan does not have a king.

I still think anyone who swims the moat naked in January at 4:30 in the morning deserves an audience. I hope they pass a law on that.

How did he scale the wall out of the moat? O_o

A British guy did the same thing and was arrested 2 or 3 years ago

Here is the video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B3AlI_Gync

anglootaku:

I don´t think that one wanted to meet the emperor though.

Mishima's reincarnation..?

Willb: no actually he did