Japanese man with 'rubbish dump' home arrested for blocking sidewalk

A 79-year-old resident who left a mountain of rubbish in front of his home, obstructing a sidewalk, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Law.

Arrested was Hiroshi Sekine, a bicycle repair store manager from Gyoda. He has reportedly admitted to the allegations against him.



After Sekine consented to the disposal of the garbage that remained inside his home and on the sidewalk, a team of about 30 people including police and officials from the Gyoda Municipal Government and the Saitama Prefectural Government spent about 2 hours on Friday to clear away roughly 4.25 tons of junk.

Police accuse Sekine of having about 2.25 tons of garbage on the sidewalk in front of his home-cum-store on Friday morning. When questioned by investigators, Sekine reportedly said: "I'm sorry for causing trouble to the people around me."