OSAKA -- Police Thursday arrested and then released a 57-year-old man in his Osaka hotel room after receiving a tip that he was armed with two handguns, which proved to be toy replicas.
Police stormed the man's room on the 25th-floor of the 27-story Hotel Granvia Osaka in front of JR Osaka Station in Kita Ward at around 1:30 a.m. The man was asleep and for an instant did not seem to understand what was going on.
Police identified the man only as a resident of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. He was released after being questioned.
He reportedly told investigators that he showed his "incompetent" eldest son the handguns "to put some backbone into him."
According to police, the man's 29-year-old son in Osaka telephoned police at 10 p.m. Wednesday to say his father was in the hotel room with two handguns, which turned out to be toy replicas.
The man invited his son to his room at around 6 p.m. and told him over drinks, "This will be the last time" they would meet because he would be arrested for killing a politician, police said. The surprised son, who had seen the handguns, then notified police, they said.
Some of the other hotel guests were asked to leave their rooms during the incident.