Nintendo bomb threat leads to arrest of suspect

On Tuesday, Japanese authorities arrested a 27-year-old man accused of sending mailed threats to Nintendo headquarters offices in Kyoto. The man, who is described as unemployed, allegedly told Nintendo, “I’m going to blow you all up.”

As reported by KTV News, the man was apprehended on suspicion of disrupting Nintendo’s business. The video game publisher is said to have reported the threats as far back as March 2026, but police were unable to find any evidence of a bomb on Nintendo’s premises at the time. Since then, the man has admitted to the charges.

The threat, which was mailed in an envelope, claimed that the man had planted dangerous devices somewhere on the Nintendo campus. “My plans cannot be thwarted,” the letter reportedly read.

Though he has been arrested, the situation is one of many that Nintendo has faced in recent years. In 2024, Nintendo had to cancel multiple events after receiving threats that targeted both employees and Nintendo fans who would have attended the gatherings. Similarly, the situation led to the arrest of a different 27-year-old male who later admitted he had sent 39 messages via the company’s online inquiry form. The suspect allegedly told Nintendo that, no matter how much security it hired, people would be killed.

The man was later sentenced to a year in prison in a verdict in which the judge called his actions “selfish” and “malicious.” During the court hearings, a Nintendo employee read a statement that said they were terrified by the threats.

In 2012, yet another 27-year-old man issued a bomb threat to Nintendo using a computer virus that allowed him to gain remote PC access.

Though a police investigation is underway, a motive for the latest bomb threat has yet to be established.