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Japanese court gives seller of modified Nintendo Switch systems suspended two-year prison sentence

Casey Baseel Apr 18, 2025
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Case is Japan’s first arrest and conviction for selling Switch with unauthorized modifications.

With less than two months to go until its release, the Nintendo Switch 2 has the global gaming community buzzing right now. That doesn’t mean the Switch 1 has become a relic of the past, though. As a matter of fact, the original Switch is back in the news in Japan right now, though unfortunately not because of a cool new software release or final edition hardware bundle, but because of the first criminal conviction in Japan for selling unauthorized modified Switch units.

On April 14, the Kochi District Court handed down its verdict in the case of Fumihiro Otobe. Otobe, a 58-year-old worker in the shipping/transportation industry, was arrested in January on charges of trademark infringement stemming from his sales of modified Switch consoles though an online flea market/second-hand goods app.

It’s worth pointing out that the specific modifications Otobe performed allowed the systems to play pirated software, and while that may not land a person in particularly hot water in some other countries, it’s something that the authorities are less likely to turn a blind eye to in Japan. To illustrate how seriously the matter was taken, the specific sales for which Otobe got in trouble took place all the way back in March of 2024, 10 months prior to his arrest. And while you’d be correct in assuming that he stood trial in Kochi District Court because he was arrested by the Kochi Prefectural Police, Otobe himself is actually a resident of Ibaraki Prefecture, more than half-way across the country from Kochi.

▼ It’s 11 hours by car between the two prefectures.

It’s unclear if the arrest was made by the Kochi police because they were the first to notice what Otobe was selling or because a modified Switch was purchased by a Kochi resident. Either way, it underscores the long reach of the law regarding such activity in Japan, and as further proof that the Japanese legal system doesn’t take kindly to such activity, Otobe wasn’t just ordered to pay a 500,000-yen (US$3,355) fine, the presiding judge also slapped a two-year prison sentence onto his punishment for good measure. That part of the sentence is being suspended for three years, however, meaning that Otobe can avoid incarceration if he remains on good legal standing for that period of time.

So just like we saw with selling modified Pokémon and Zelda save data, it turns out selling modified Switch hardware in Japan is a bad idea, and can come back to bite sellers long after they complete the transaction.

Source: RKC News via Hachima Kiko, Game Spark via Yahoo! Japan News
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