News

The damaged statue, bandaged by locals. (Photo courtesy of Katsushika Ward.)

A 23-year-old man has turned himself in to police and admitted to breaking off part of a statue of a popular manga character in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, law enforcers said.

The man, a resident of the ward, confessed that he broke a maraca off a statue of Ryotsu Kankichi, the main character of the long-running manga series "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsu-jo" ("This is the police box in front of Kameari Park in Katsushika Ward")

The damaged statue was widely covered in the news, and police quoted the man as saying he "saw the news and was surprised."

The statue is located on the Kameari central shopping street in Katsushika Ward. It had just been erected in March in a cooperative effort by Katsushika Ward and businesses in the shopping street.

According to police, the man says that while intoxicated in the pre-dawn hours on April 17, he shook and broke off the maraca, and threw it away nearby. The maraca has not been found.

Police are trying to corroborate the man's story, and plan to report him to prosecutors on suspicion of property damage.

Someone from the shopping street noticed the damage on Sunday and reported it to the ward, which filed a report to police. Local residents on Wednesday dressed the statue in a bandage, to express their concern and affection for it. The statue is expected to be repaired within the month.