crime

Osaka man arrested for throwing dozens of cockroaches around at anime music event

16 Comments
By Meg Murphy, RocketNews24

A chef from Osaka Prefecture was recently arrested in relation to a “cockroach incident” that happened at a live anime song performance outside of Tokyo last summer.

The incident took place last August at Animelo Summer Live, an anime song music festival held annually at Saitama Super Arena, just outside of Tokyo. The suspect, 33-year-old Kazuyuki Kawatani from Higashi Osaka City, admitted to throwing around at least a few dozen cockroaches within the arena, near the audience seating area. Eyewitnesses state they saw what looked like bugs flying about from Kawatani’s hands when he lifted his arms to dance, which led to authorities getting involved.

Because of the extra precautions needed to be taken by event staff, Kawatani was arrested on charges of disrupting affairs and interfering with authoritative duties. The particular cockroaches released by Kawatani were “red roaches”, a flightless variety often used as reptile food.

Why the man felt the need to throw a bunch of cockroaches around at the event, as well as how he was even able to bring the roaches into the arena with him, hasn’t been made clear. (At least he didn’t try lighting the place on fire.)

The news has left a number of online readers feeling rather perplexed:

“The guy responsible for the roach incident at Animelo last summer has been arrested. Can’t believe he’s about the same age as me.” “This! This happened in the section diagonally in front of me.” “That really happened?” “So they actually investigated it…. I’ll say it again though, that guy’s an idiot.”

No humans were harmed in the incident, and the festivities continued on as normal.

Source: Sankei News via Hachima Kiso

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16 Comments
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Maybe he wanted to bring his family with him.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Weird.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I can't imagine why one would want to do that, but for sure the last thing I want to do is eat food prepared by this chef (Kazuyuki Kawatani). Potential employers might want to reconsider hiring this guy.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

for a 33 year-old who attends anime song concerts, throwing cockroaches seems about right.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

I have caught myself picturing in my mind that the Osaka man was thrown into a roach motel when being arrested. LOL.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So, does anybody still doubt that anime attracts all the weirdos? TIJ!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Back in L.A. like 20 years ago, I went to a Cypress Hill concert and they threw a lot of "roaches" into the audience. For some reason, the crowd didn't seem to mind.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

How do you spell "loser"?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I do love these stories out of Japan though :P

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Disillusioned So, does anybody still doubt that anime attracts all the weirdos? TIJ!

and your 1 out of 3 nutcracks factor still rings true to this day.

.Disillusioned; got my vote on JP social analytics

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Osaka man arrested for throwing dozens of cockroaches around at anime music event"

"that guy’s an idiot.”

Yes.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The entire thing is weird

0 ( +0 / -0 )

He might have been hoping to make the girls scream, loader than he could ever make them.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

" 33-year-old Kazuyuki Kawatani from Higashi Osaka City, admitted to throwing around at least a few dozen cockroaches near the audience seating area"

another unpredictable loose screw.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"bugs flying about from Kawatani’s hands when he lifted his arms to dance"

he lifted his arms in jimu glory to dance a jn- jig, exclaiming hallelujah in honor of his self legend germ spreading funky groove.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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