A man who had sent Nintendo a total of 39 bomb threats has now been sentenced to one year in prison, based on the latest information.
On July 24, 2024 (via), the Kyoto District Court sentenced a 27-year old city employee from Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, to prison for sending threatening letters to Nintendo, which led to the cancellation of a game event. Judge Hiroshi Kawakami sentenced him to one year in prison with a four-year suspended sentence, as requested by the prosecution.
According to the ruling, from August 22 to November 29 of 2023, the defendant posted messages such as “We’ll make you regret releasing such a crappy game” and “I’ll kill everyone involved. Be careful at events with an audience” a total of 39 times via the console maker‘s official website inquiry form, resulting in the cancellation of a game tournament. In the first trial, a Nintendo employee’s statement was read, mentioning, “The Kyoto Animation arson-murder incident came to mind, and it was terrifying.”
Judge Kawakami stated that “the motive was selfish, fueled by frustration with online game battles and carried out to relieve stress. The act was persistent and malicious.”
For the uninitiated, the aforementioned Kyoto Animation arson attack took place at Kyoto Animation’s Studio 1 building in the Fushimi ward of Kyoto, Japan, on the morning of July 18, 2019. The attack killed 36 people, injured 34 others, and destroyed most materials and computers in Studio 1. It is one of Japan’s deadliest massacres since World War II, the deadliest building fire since the 2001 Myojo 56 building fire, and the first massacre at an entertainment company or animation studio. The suspect, who was not an employee of the studio, entered the front door carrying about 40 liters of gasoline, which he used to douse the area and several employees before igniting it. After setting himself on fire while lighting the fuel, the suspect tried to flee but was apprehended by police about 100 meters from the building.
