Prosecutors on Friday charged a 56-year-old man with trespassing and other offenses in connection with an April incident in which knives were found on the school desk of Prince Hisahito.
Kaoru Hasegawa admitted to placing knives on the desk in question at Ochanomizu University Junior High School on April 26, telling investigators he intended to stab the 12-year-old nephew of then-Crown Prince Naruhito. He also criticized the imperial system and way of imperial succession.
He was arrested three days later, shortly before the crown prince became the emperor on May 1 following the abdication of his father the previous day. The young prince is second in line to the throne after his father Crown Prince Akishino, 53, who is the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, 59.
Around noon on April 26, a teacher found an aluminum bar with two fruit knives attached by duct tape placed across the prince's desk and the one next to it. The heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne and his classmates were not in the classroom at the time.
Hasegawa, a resident of Kyoto, underwent a psychiatric examination in May and the prosecutors have determined he is fit enough to be charged with criminal liability.