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A 42-year-old man was arrested in Yotsukaido City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on suspicion of property damage after spray-painting graffiti, including the name of Son Goku, on utility poles and apartment walls.
The man, identified as Takahashi Sakae, claimed his actions were based on instructions from God.
In December 2024, graffiti featuring characters like ‘Buddha,’ ‘Love,’ and ‘Son Goku’ were discovered in over 60 locations across the city.
In an interview with Fuji TV conducted before his arrest, Takahashi referred to himself as an artist and stated that his actions were all based on God’s instructions.
“It was all God’s instructions. I follow without doubt because God knows everything—what’s happening and why,” he said. “I wrote ‘Love’ in areas where there’s movement from criminal organizations. It’s like being an artist or a kind of creator. The bottom part of the character [I drew] is for ‘friend,’ meant to reflect on what it means to accept someone as a friend.”
However, during a follow-up investigation by the reporters, they found that some of the graffiti had been painted over. When questioned about this, Takahashi admitted that he himself had done that after the police arrived.
This cast doubts over his claims that his actions were guided by divine foresight.
During police questioning, Takahashi admitted to the crime stating that he was driven by a desire to control the delinquent youths in these areas from misbehaving. The graffiti, which included Goku’s name among Buddha and Shakyamuni, was supposed to make them reflect and reconsider.
“I felt uncomfortable with the decline in public safety. I wrote the characters to stop delinquent youths from engaging in bad behavior. I wanted them to reflect and reform after seeing the kanji,” Takahashi said.
Despite his justifications, his actions resulted in property damage charges.
While Son Goku is recognized widely as the main character of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series – it is also the Japanese name of the Chinese religious figure Sun Wukong – based on whom Goku was created.
Goku’s adventures are currently ongoing in Dragon Ball Daima, which marked the return of the Dragon Ball franchise to television for the first time in six years, following the conclusion of Dragon Ball Super in March 2018.
The final episode of the anime will air on Feb 28, 2025.
Source: FNN
