Bomb threat prompts Tokyo court to ban entry, change trial schedules
The Tokyo High Court on Monday temporarily banned entry into its building and canceled some scheduled trial sessions after receiving a bomb threat, the court said.
The building at the heart of Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki administrative district was not accessible from noon until 2 pm, with a total of 267 trials scheduled between 1 pm and 2:29 pm, including 245 at the Tokyo District Court housed in the same building, were bumped to later in the day or other days, it said.
The trial sessions included the high court’s ruling over a vote weight disparity of up to 3.03 seen in the House of Councillors election this July. The ruling was handed down at 3:30 pm, two hours after originally scheduled.
According to police, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan received an email around 3:25 am saying, “I will blow up the Tokyo District Court at 1:34 pm,” Monday, with the name of an individual, believed to be a man, included in the message.
The Tokyo Fire Department also received a similar email, police said.