79-year-old man arrested for blocking street with garbage in Saitama

Friday 10th October, 02:28 PM JST

SAITAMA —

Police on Friday afternoon arrested a 79-year-old man for blocking the road outside his home with his garbage in Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture.

According to police, the man, who has not been named, has repeatedly piled up garbage in front of his house since 1995. Recently, the mountain of garbage grew with old bicycles and furniture added to the pile. Police said that neighbors had complained about the man many times and the city council had also requested him to dispose of his garbage.

The man told police it wasn’t garbage and that he was still using a lot of the items.

The law imposes less up to three months in jail or a maximum 50,000 yen fine for blocking a public road.

Latest 15 of 33 Total Comments Show All

Everton2 at 08:36 PM JST - 10th October

Hoarders are everywhere, it is a real problem for some people. They feel so attached to everything they own that they just cant bring themselves to throw it away. This person may need some treatment rather than jail time.
greensatindress at 08:58 PM JST - 10th October

that kind of place is just asking for arson. I've seen a lot of hoarders in this country.
NuckinFutz at 10:26 PM JST - 10th October

He should have just put up a sign that said "Recycling Shop"! 13 years huh? Thats got to be a police response record!
butterfly1 at 10:35 PM JST - 10th October

and I thought my place was a mess ;P
norinrad21 at 10:43 PM JST - 10th October

Saitama is back on the charts again, its been a long few days
amannin1 at 11:48 PM JST - 10th October

so since they arrested him (for only up to 3 months) are they going to empty his trash as well, or simply leave it up to him and the honor system.

hopefully they take a bull-dozer / tractor of some sort and a large trash truck (or two) and just pile everything in there and take it to a hidden trash depot.

i wonder if collecting items / trash is not only this old man's favorite pass-time, but his life as well?
KitsuneYoukai at 12:00 AM JST - 11th October

"The Mountain????" This doesn't even live up to being called a hill. It is sure gross though. Since "1995" and now they've decided to arrest him. Geez, they could have resolved this issue long before it got to this.
meanmutha at 02:11 AM JST - 11th October

Have a yard/alley sale. Or a flea market weekend. Anyway, classic. The geezers, are very sentimetal...like me. lol
akaguma at 02:24 AM JST - 11th October

why? oh why? hast thou forsaken thee SSSSAAAIITTAAMMAAA!!
Helly at 02:25 AM JST - 11th October

He's 79 yrs old. He probably thinks it's still 1940. I am going to vote for him for president.
Badsey at 06:47 AM JST - 11th October

squatters rights: He has laid claim to the sidewalk and the Gov did nothing since "95." Since posession is 9/10 of the law I would tell the court I believe the sidewalk is mine and not pay the fine.

With all the financial turmoil it's nice to see the little guy win one and a little humor at the same time. How does he even know if all that crap is his and not just others piling their junk on also?
kjunluc2 at 04:46 AM JST - 12th October

I think there's a difference between trash and garbage. That looks like trash to me. But then, He and I are the same age.
pizzaboy at 09:15 AM JST - 13th October

of course saitama is gonna make the news more than other places, it's one of the most densily populated prefectures in Japan, get a clue people.
carlosgodoy1 at 10:03 AM JST - 16th October

Do you guys see that sign? Thats... ironical. I betcha it says "No dumping".
Miyazakikn at 11:30 AM JST - 16th October

Eh, police probably didn't intervene because they expected him to eventually clean it up himself. You know, they were probably saying "Be a good big boy and clean it up yourself. You're not going to like it if we end up cleaning it."