Last week, shortly after an earthquake rocked Japan, a tweet tore up Twitter and pissed the country off.
The tweet by @Reonandnene read, "Because of the earthquake, my house collapsed, and moreover, I cannot get out. I'm trapped under rubble. Please call for help." The tweet raised the concern of a local fire department and the country's largest newspaper, but a few hours after the original tweet, @Reonandnene said the whole thing was a joke.
Today, that Twitter user's school apologized for the reckless tweets.
Tezukayama Gakuin Izumigaoka, a private school in Osaka, posted an apology on its website, writing that it had discovered the individual who penned the untrue tweet was a student at the school.
"Firstly to everyone in the area hit by the quake, and to everyone everywhere else, we'd like to offer our deepest apology," the website read. The school said it was dealing with this student in a "strict" manner. The school said it was also working with students so nothing like this happens again.
In Japan, how things reflect on others—whether that's families, companies, or schools—is given importance. Thus, even though the school didn't send these tweets, the institution is responsible for educating its students. Since one of its students caused so much trouble, the school feels compelled to apologize. (More here on Japan's culture of apologizing.) And it is admirable that the school stepped up and said it's sorry. Or, it could just be trying to cut the internet hate off at the pass.
2ch, Japan's largest bulletin board, was one step ahead of the school. Using internet sleuthing (combing through tweets), the bulletin board was able to track down the student's net history, revealing the name of the school and that Twitter user in question seemed to be a male. Alleged photos of the student were uploaded, too. Tezukayama Gakuin Izumigaoka had to apologize.
But where is the apology from @Reonandnene? That Twitter account hasn't been updated since those incendiary tweets were sent. It should've been.
@reonandnene [Twitter]
@reonandnene ブルギニョンが特定されるまで【2ちゃんまとめ】 [Gucchoi]
12月7日の地震発生時のツイッター上の虚偽情報について [2ch]
地震発生時のツイッター上の虚偽情報について（お詫び） [帝塚山学院泉ヶ丘中学校高等学校]
(Top photo: sakurasaku)
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.