A SPANISH tourist in Tokyo has caused havoc as he swam naked in the moat around the Imperial Palace, one of Japan's most sacrosanct sites. Police seized the bald and portly man after a nearly two-hour chase in which he hurled rocks at police and scaled the moat's walls as shocked onlookers snapped photos from their mobile phones.The 40-year-old toured the sprawling palace in central Tokyo with five other Spanish tourists and afterwards said his bag fell into the moat, Fuji Television reported. While the group was speaking with police to help, the man reportedly threw his belongings out of his pockets, stripped naked and dived straight into the water.
"I'm lucky I don't have very good eyesight,'' an elderly woman told Fuji Television. "I can't believe he did this here, but he probably didn't know the significance of this area,'' she said.
Police initially approached the Spaniard in a small rowboat and tried to throw him a float. But he suddenly began beating the water in a threatening way and then threw stones at the officers, barely missing them, footage showed.
After he climbed out of the moat, he took a nearby pole and - his pinkish body still completely uncovered - charged at the police officers who pushed him back into the water. Police seized him as he got out of the water a second time.