Man arrested for online threat against Japanese emperor’s granddaughter

A 43-year-old man was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of posting an online message threatening Princess Kako, the 20-year-old granddaughter of Japan’s Emperor Akihito, police said.

Toshiyuki Ikehara, an unemployed man from Tokyo, was alleged to have posted on the “2channel” bulletin board on Saturday a message saying: “You will become unable to disobey me”.

The threat prompted officers protecting the royal family to tighten their patrols.

Ikehara turned himself in to the police on Wednesday night after learning about reports of his alleged post, according to the police.

The princess, the second daughter of Prince Akishino, enrolled at the International Christian University outside central Tokyo in April.

Partly as a result of her increased exposure to the public, details of her activities have been widely reported in tabloids and other media. Traditionally the mainstream media would report very little on the royal family except the authorised version.