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Fumihiro Otobe, a 58-year-old man from Ryugasaki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, who was arrested on suspicion of “welding modified parts to the circuit board of a second-hand Nintendo Switch,” in March 2024, has finally been convicted and sentenced.
As reported by Dexerto, “On April 14, 2025, Fumihiro was sentenced to two years in prison and suspended for three years for selling illegally modified switches.” He was also issued a fine of 500,000 Yen, which amounts to approximately $3500 USD.
Fumihiro Otobe’s tampering with a gaming switch went against the Japan Trademark Act, leading to his arrest and subsequent conviction.
More details on Fumihiro’s tampering with Nintendo Switches
Fumihiro Otobe was arrested for welding modified parts to the circuit board of a second-hand Nintendo Switch, which he reportedly sold online for 28,000 Yen, approximately $200 USD.
@dexerto on X, formerly Twitter, shared the news with the caption:
“Japan has convicted a man of "selling illegally modified Nintendo Switches," sentenced him to a two-year prison sentence, suspended for three years, and fined him $3500.”
The post quickly garnered several comments as netizens took to the comments section to express their opinions on the news.
“Honestly fair! IP rights matter, and Nintendo's always been strict about hardware mods.” @Giii_014 commented.
“Deserved. Don’t do something illegal in a country that actively has laws against modding consoles.” @ShinyHaunter tweeted.
“BTW people this is a super japanese thing to do like japan has different laws about this type of stuff them we do in the west so like if you have shiny locked pokemon in japan it's against there law I know it another nintendo game but it is true,” @JaytheMonsterH1 added.
While netizens praised Japan and Nintendo’s Swift action, others condemned it.
“Absolutely unjust, if you buy something, you f**king own it and have the right to do whatever you want with it, including modifying it and reselling it,” @BurrowsMVP stated.
“That's uh... that sounds like some bullshit ngl. Every time I'm like "Japan seems sooooo cool" I immediately hear about them charging someone criminally for some straight stupid sh*t that makes no sense.” @thecrazedminer commented.
“This is indefensible. Do you not own the hardware you buy? If you own something, you should modify it however you like. If you were to resell it, it's between you and the buyer.” @Baiigan added.
According to Japanese Law Translation, the trade mark act encompasses the following:
“The purpose of this Act is, through the protection of trademarks, to ensure upholding the reputation of businesses of persons who use trademarks, thereby contributing to the development of the industry and the protection of the interests of consumers.”
Under Japan's Trademark Act, copyright infringement can lead to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 10 million Yen, approximately $70,000 USD.
While it remains remains unclear which clause of the act was infringed upon, 58-year-old Fumihiro Otobe's violation of Japan’s trademark act led to his arrest and subsequent sentence.
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