Japanese authorities applied an 1889 anti-dueling law to arrest a man over a fight that resulted in his opponent¡¯s death in Tokyo¡¯s red light and entertainment district, police said Friday.
The face-off took place in September on a street in the Kabukicho area of the capital after the suspect ¡°and the dead man agreed to fight each other,¡± police spokesman Mitsuhiro Hirota said.
Tokyo police on Wednesday arrested Fuzuki Asari, 26, on suspicion of having ¡°conspired with someone else¡± to have a duel and causing injury resulting in the death of his 30-year-old adversary, Hirota said.
The suspect, who is unemployed, ¡°committed acts of violence such as throwing¡± the opponent, Naoya Matsuda, who ¡°died on Oct. 12 at a hospital in Tokyo... of multiple organ failure¡± caused by head injuries, the spokesman said.
The crime was investigated and announced by the Tokyo police¡¯s organized crime control division, he said.
It was not specified whether any weapons were involved in the fight.
The 1889 law stipulates that ¡°anyone who has engaged in a duel shall be punished by imprisonment for no less than two years and no more than five years.¡±
The suspect¡¯s other alleged crime ¡ª causing death from involuntary injury ¡ª would lead to no less than three years in prison, according to Â鶹´«Ã½ criminal law.
Although it is rare to apply the anti-dueling statute in Japan, police in Gunma Prefecture arrested a high-school student and a man in October on suspicion of dueling, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
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