Tokyo police have arrested 26‑year‑old Fuzuki Asari under an 1889 anti‑dueling law after a September street fight in Kabukicho left 30‑year‑old Naoya Matsuda dead of head injuries. Authorities say the two men agreed to fight; Matsuda died on Oct. 12 of multiple organ failure. The case was handled by the Tokyo police's organized crime control division, and Asari has reportedly expressed remorse. Japan rarely uses the century‑old statute but has investigated similar incidents.
Man Arrested Under 1889 Anti‑Dueling Law After Fatal Kabukicho Street Fight
Man arrested under 1889 dueling law after deadly street fight
Japanese police invoked an 1889 anti‑dueling law to arrest a man following a September street confrontation in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment and red‑light district that left his opponent dead, authorities said Friday.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesman Mitsuhiro Hirota told AFP the two men "agreed to fight each other" before the confrontation. On Wednesday, police arrested 26‑year‑old unemployed man Fuzuki Asari on suspicion of conspiring with another person to engage in a duel and of causing an injury that led to death.
Hirota said Asari "committed acts of violence such as throwing" the other man, identified by police as 30‑year‑old Naoya Matsuda. Matsuda died on Oct. 12 at a Tokyo hospital of multiple organ failure attributed to head injuries, the spokesman said.
The case was investigated and announced by the Tokyo police's organized crime control division. After his arrest, Asari reportedly told the Tokyo Reporter: "I am deeply sorry that my opponent died." Authorities have not said whether any weapons were used, and police said the two men reportedly met for the first time on the day of the fight.
Legal Context and Penalties
The 1889 statute used in this case prescribes imprisonment for anyone who "has engaged in a duel" for no less than two years and no more than five years. Separately, a charge of causing death through involuntary injury under Japan's criminal code carries a minimum sentence of three years.
"Anyone who has engaged in a duel shall be punished by imprisonment for no less than two years and no more than five years." — 1889 statute (translated)
Applying the anti‑dueling law is uncommon in Japan. The Asahi Shimbun reported a separate October case in Gunma prefecture in which police arrested a high‑school student and another man on suspicion of dueling. Internationally, the U.S. state of West Virginia once charged a participant under an 1849 "murder by duel" statute after a deadly 2007 shootout.
The investigation remains active. Police have released few additional details while authorities review evidence and consider charges.
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