A 67-year-old man in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, was arrested Monday for allegedly firing off a shotgun to stop a noisy fireworks celebration near his home, police said. Nobody was injured.

Tadashi Nemoto is suspected of firing twice into open space on both sides of a 36-year-old man at around 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The man, who was alone in the middle of some rice paddies about 20 meters from Nemoto's home, was setting off fireworks with his family and friends.

"I wanted them to stop the fireworks," police quoted Nemoto as saying. "(I was aiming) off to the side of the man."

Nemoto was about 4 meters from the man when he fired the gun and was yelling at him, they said.

Nemoto received his gun-owner's permit for hunting from the Ibaraki Prefectural Government in July 2005.