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An unemployed 54-year-old man has been arrested for setting his bed on fire in his room in an Apa Hotel located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on Thursday.
According to police, the man, Koichi Takahashi, has admitted to the charge. Fuji TV reported that Takahashi started the fire in his room at around 8:30 a.m. Thursday. He placed a newspaper on his mattress and set it on fire with a lighter. The bed sheets and pillow also caught fire.
The incident occurred at the Apa Hotel situated in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district and prompted a temporary evacuation of guests and staff. No one was injured.
After setting the fire, Takahashi left the hotel and went to a nearby koban (police box) where he turned himself in. Police quoted Takahashi as saying he started the fire so he could be arrested and go to prison.
© Japan Today
4 Comments
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nandakandamanda
Bring back the public stocks or pillory or whatever they were called. Not so warm and cosy as jail. (Actually, J jail is probably not terribly warm inside.)
On second thoughts, give him a room and a paid job cleaning snow off old folks' roofs.
jcapan
Well, of all the hotels that he could have set on fire...
Michael Jackson
3 hots and a cot, courtesy of your tax dollars
chisineko
Must have been inspired by an O. Henry tale