Naked intruder exposes gaps in Japan’s royal security: ‘enormous failure’

South China Morning Post · Feb 19, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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A bizarre, previously unreported incident involving a naked man at Japan’s Imperial Palace during a new year’s celebration has raised questions about the emperor’s security as the royal household prepares for his birthday audience on Monday.The breach occurred on January 2 but only came to light this week, when the magazine News Post Seven published an account of the episode. An official from the Imperial Household Agency confirmed to This Week in Asia that a security incident had taken place at the annual ceremony, but declined to provide further details.The magazine quoted agency sources as saying security had since been tightened around the imperial family ahead of Monday’s appearance.“Japan is generally seen as a very safe country, so this has to be seen as a pretty shocking breach of security around someone as important as the emperor,” said Robert Dujarric, co-director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University’s Tokyo campus.The imperial family is always well protected, so a breach like this is an enormous failure“The imperial family is always well protected, so a breach like this is an enormous failure and we can only be thankful that this person was not armed.”