Man nabbed in severed-finger shrine protest
TOKYO (Reuters) - A member of a Japanese right-wing group was arrested Thursday after he sent his severed little finger to the ruling party's headquarters in protest at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's failure to visit a Tokyo war shrine.
Abe stayed away from Yasukuni Shrine on the August 15 anniversary of the nation's World War Two surrender, avoiding a slight to those in China and Korea who see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
The 54-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of making threats after he sent his finger to the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo, said a police official in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan.
The envelope also contained a letter of protest and a disk showing images of the man cutting off his finger, the official said.
"I thought they would ignore me if I just sent the letter, so I put my little finger in as well," Kyodo news agency quoted the man as telling police.
Removing part of a finger is a traditional form of punishment or atonement among gangsters in Japan.
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