Graffiti vandal captured

Darin has translated this inspiring story about an Japanese graffiti artist:

Unemployed Man Arrested for Writing Graffiti on and Breaking 350 JR Ticket Machines with a Metal Pole

On the 13th, Saitama Prefectural Omiya Police Department arrested 20-year old unemployed Hiroshi Ohjima of Minuma ward, Saitama city, Saitama prefecture on charges of interfering with a public servant in the execution of his or her duties. He is suspected of using a metal pole to write graffiti and break parts of 350 JR ticket machines in Tokyo, Saitama and 2 other prefectures in the Kanto Area.

Investigations revealed suspicions that the suspect used a pole with a nail on the tip to write “SHARAKU” (frank) on the screens of 11 machines in the JR Okegawa station in South Okegawa city, Saitama at around 11:40 PM on the 22nd of August. It’s said that the suspect repeated the same crime at 29 stations along the Saikyo and Keihim Tohoku lines in Tokyo and three prefectures, causing estimated damages of 100 million yen (836,600USD) to 350 machines.

When asked about the charges, the suspected said, “I wanted to assert myself. I have an interest in Ukiyoe so I wrote “SHARAKU”. I learnt about graffiti as an art in public places through foreign magazines and decided to do it myself.”

Darin adds that the news has reported that the man wrote all his graffiti in hiragana, because it was too hard to write the kanji. I guess there were too many strokes for it to be managable with a nail and a pipe…