University of Tokyo's May Festival Canceled Due to Bomb Threat; Sohei Kamiya's Speech Also Called Off

(Central News Agency, Reporter Tai Ya-chen, Tokyo, 16th) The University of Tokyo's school festival, the "May Festival," was entirely canceled for the day today after receiving a bomb threat, based on safety grounds by the festival's standing committee. Also at the university, a speech scheduled for today by Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya was abruptly called off just before it started due to public protests.

According to reports from Asahi Shimbun and Jiji Press, the Todai May Festival was scheduled for May 16th and 17th. However, the standing committee announced that due to receiving an email with a bomb threat targeting the committee and specific participating groups, they decided to cancel all of the day's events for safety reasons. Whether the events on the 17th will be held is still "undecided."

The standing committee posted on its official X social media account, stating, "The committee and specific planning groups received a criminal threat email, claiming that bombs have been placed in multiple locations on the Hongo and Yayoi campuses and will be detonated during the May Festival. After consulting with the university and the police, and careful evaluation, we concluded that it would be difficult to ensure the safety of visitors, participants, and committee members, and therefore decided to cancel all of today's events."

The "May Festival" is a large school festival held by the University of Tokyo in early summer each year. The entire student body works together to organize the two-day event, which is open to the public and features a wide variety of activities, from food stalls to academic displays, performances, and interactive experiences.

Separately, the conservative student group "Ugo no Shu" had scheduled a speech by Sohei Kamiya for 12:00 PM. However, at 11:30 AM, the organizers announced a delay due to "safety confirmation issues," and then at 1:00 PM, they officially announced the cancellation, stating it was based on the "judgment of the May Festival Standing Committee."

After the event was canceled, around 4:00 PM, large crowds of visitors were seen leaving through the university's main gate. Staff at the gate were shouting to the public, "The May Festival has been canceled." A line of people formed, moving towards the nearby Hongo-sanchome subway station.

A first-year male student at the university said he had planned to show around more than 10 high school juniors from his alma mater in Saitama Prefecture. "It's really a shame that this rare event was canceled," he said. Another second-year student said that when he received the cancellation notice, "At first I didn't know the reason, but when I heard it was a bomb threat, I was really shocked."

Before Sohei Kamiya's speech was scheduled to begin, a crowd of protesters had gathered at the scene. According to sources, students opposing the speech held a sit-in on the stairs leading to the lecture hall and clashed with individuals associated with the Sanseito party, causing the situation to become disorderly.

Kamiya has been controversial in the past for making what have been criticized as discriminatory remarks. After the news of his speech at the University of Tokyo was announced, there was a large outcry on social media, and a protest was also held in front of the Hongo campus's main gate today.

Regarding the cancellation of his speech, Kamiya posted on X, "It seems today's speech was forced to be canceled because the audience couldn't enter the venue. I was on standby at the scene, but there was nothing I could do. Thank you to all the staff for your hard work, and I am very sorry to everyone who came all this way. In hindsight, maybe it would have been better to hold a street speech nearby. I will consider alternative plans when organizing future events." (Editor: Chou Yung-chieh) 1150516