Smoking ban sparks shooting threat

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) Police have turned a case over to prosecutors on an Ehime Prefecture man who allegedly threatened to shoot Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa for setting Japan's first local ordinance that bans smoking inside public facilities.

The 49-year-old smoker has admitted to the charges, saying he did it because he thought he would not be able to smoke if a similar ordinance was introduced in Ehime Prefecture, according to Kanagawa police.

"The rising antismoking mood has made me feel small," the shipbuilding worker was quoted by the police as saying.

He is suspected of sending an e-mail to the prime minister's office from his mobile phone that said, "I will shoot the Kanagawa governor for banning smoking."

The message was sent March 25, the day after the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly passed the ordinance.