Here at RocketNews24 we love a good April Fools’ Day yarn. But in Japan, April Fools’ Day still isn’t that popular, and there’s a clear difference between catching people out with a clever joke and deliberately trying to deceive and emotionally harm people.

One man who apparently doesn’t know the difference between a joke and lying maliciously managed to flood Akihabara with police after posting a particularly unfunny April Fools’ Day tweet threatening a sarin gas attack in the area.

The perpetrator posted the threatening tweet on his Twitter account under the name S_I_K_A, prompting a huge amount of backlash and panic. The tweet has since been deleted, but according to surviving screenshots it simply read: “I’m going to release sarin gas in Akihabara”.

While comparatively safe compared to other major cities around the world, Tokyo is no stranger to acts of violence perpetrated by members of the public. In 1995, 12 people were killed and many others injured when a cult released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway in a calculated attack, and in 2008, Tomohiro Kato murdered seven people in the Akihabara area after posting his intentions to do so on an online message board. Suffice it to say, the above “joke” was not well received by fellow Twitter users.

The tweet’s poster followed up with several taunting tweets inviting others to “come at me” if they “have a problem with my April Fools’ joke”. The police obviously took the threat extremely seriously, causing this to happen:

https://twitter.com/Siruapoid/status/583115710672420864

▲ “An idiot posted ‘I’m going to release sarin gas in Akihabara’ and now Akihabara is flooded with police. What a freakin’ idiot.”

The perpetrator later posted the following apology:

https://twitter.com/_S_I_K_A/status/583196603042820096

▲ “I am so sorry to all those people who were frightened by my tweet about releasing sarin gas, all those people in Akihabara at the time who were frightened, and to everyone else I upset. I went too far for an April Fools’ joke. I’m so sorry for causing so much trouble.”

As you can imagine, his apology failed to do anything to improve his situation, and was met with a barrage of responses such as “What you did is unforgivable” and “Funny how you’ve changed your tune all of a sudden.”

We’re surprised that S_I_K_A hasn’t already been arrested for disturbing the peace. Here’s what Japan’s netizens had to say in response to the story:

“What a brainless individual.”

“This guy is clearly just an idiot out to get attention. Probably has nothing better to do with his life. Sad.”

“I hope he has trouble sleeping at night from now on.”

“After what happened in 1995, this guy’s a moron to post something like this. Like, what did he think was going to happen?”

“Where is this guy’s common sense?”

“His apology sounds completely fake.”

“The cops are coming for him, it’s only a matter of time.”

“Haha, he’s apologising ’cause he’s scared. Too late lol. Can’t wait to see his face on TV.”

We’ll keep you posted on any new developments in this story if and when they occur.

Source: Itai News (Livedoor)
Featured image: Twitter @Siruapoid