A 56-year-old man was sent to prosecutors Wednesday for allegedly trespassing on the grounds of Prince Hisahito's school, where he left two knives on the boy's classroom desk, he later admitted.

The police tracked down Kaoru Hasegawa, who had been on the run for four days since Friday, by piecing together footage from surveillance cameras in various locations.

The incident took place as Japan prepared to celebrate the ascension of Emperor Naruhito to the Chrysanthemum Throne on Wednesday. The imperial succession has promoted Prince Hisahito to second in line to the throne behind his father Prince Fumihito, the younger brother of the emperor.

Two knives were found around noon on Friday on the 12-year-old prince's classroom desk, with security camera footage showing a helmeted man clad in blue and wearing a mask and gloves entering Ochanomizu University Junior High School in Tokyo earlier in the day.


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The camera also spotted a man resembling Hasegawa, whose place of residence and occupation is unknown, leaving the school premises from the main gate at around 11:10 a.m., according to the police. They added a person thought to be him was later seen at the nearby Myogadani Station, from where he apparently took a subway.

By analyzing surveillance camera footage from different locations, the police were able to determine that Hasegawa took an indirect route to a hotel in the city of Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture, around 50 kilometers southwest of the downtown Tokyo school.

The police arrested him on Monday after he returned to the hotel.

A woman in her 50s who was staying at the hotel said she saw Hasegawa being led away by two people, apparently investigators, after he told the front desk clerk his room number.

"He looked quite calm," she said.

The police are investigating the motive behind the incident. The two knives were attached to the end of a 60-centimeter-long aluminum bar with duct tape like a two-pronged pitchfork. The blades of the knives were painted pink, according to the police.

(Prince Hisahito, center, is pictured with his parents, Prince Fumihito and Princess Kiko, on April 8, 2019)