Japan: Man swims and sneaks into palace ground, arrested before Emperor’s key event

A Japanese man was arrested in Tokyo on May 25 after swimming across the Imperial Palace's fort to cross an outer wall and entering into the grounds of the palace before Emperor's key event, police reportedly said. According to the international media reports,  the police identified the man to be in his 40s and arrested him shortly before Emperor Naruhito was scheduled to conduct a rice planting ceremony on the imperial property. 

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Man arrested for sneaking

As per the reports, no other details were immediately available including the man's identity or motive for sneaking into the palace. A police spokesperson reportedly said that the incident did not hamper the scheduled event and he is not the first man to be arrested for breaching the palace's norms. Earlier in 2013, two men identified as British tourists were reportedly arrested after swam the moat and scaled to the outer walls. A year earlier another British man was detained by the police after being discovered inside palace grounds. He reportedly told the police that he had swum the moat and wanted to meet the emperor. 

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The imperial palace located in the centre of Tokyo is one of Japan's most popular tourist attractions. Some parts of the ground are open to the public but the sprawling property is off-limits and the surrounding moats are regularly patrolled by police. 

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