HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police have arrested a 57-year-old office worker after he repeatedly dumped onigiri (rice ball) wrappers on a private residential property, reports the Kobe Shimbun (Oct. 19).
On September 4 at approximately 4:50 a.m., the suspect, a resident of Kobe City’s Higashinada Ward, allegedly discarded five plastic onigiri (rice ball) wrappers in the parking lot of a home in Nada Ward.
Six days later, he returned to the same property to dump three more wrappers.
Officers from the Nada Police Station arrested the man on Monday. Upon questioning on suspicion of violating the Waste Management Law, he admitted to the allegations, telling investigators, “There is no mistake that I threw them in the parking lot of the house.”
According to police, the targeted residence is currently vacant. However, the suspect told officers that he was acquainted with the former resident.
Investigators are now looking into the man’s motives to determine if a personal grudge or prior dispute led to the bizarre littering campaign.