Photo/Illutration Devices for the English listening test are handed to university entrance exam-takers at the venue of the University of Tokyo in Bunkyo Ward on Jan. 16. (Rei Kishitsu)

A man who repeatedly refused to cover his nose with his face mask while taking a university entrance exam was found hiding by police in a campus restroom after being disqualified and arrested on suspicion of trespassing.

The man, 49, locked himself in a restroom stall for roughly four hours at the exam venue after refusing to leave, before police climbed over the top of it and apprehended him, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

The man was taking the unified university entrance examinations on Jan. 16. He is suspected of having locked himself in a stall at the Etchujima campus of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology in Tokyo’s Koto Ward from around 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. that day, according to the Fukagawa Police Station.

Police released him from custody on Jan. 19.

During the exam, the man six times disobeyed test proctors' instructions to cover his nose and refused to take the test in another room, according to the education ministry.

Even after he was disqualified from the exam for his misconduct, he refused to leave the venue. Thirty-one examinees at the venue were forced to move to another room due to the disturbance. The start of the English listening test was also delayed five minutes by the incident.

Education minister Koichi Hagiuda, catching wind of the face mask incident, said test proctors were correct in disqualifying the man for not covering his nose.

“The government has been spreading awareness that the proper way to wear a mask is to cover both your mouth and nose,” he said during a news conference on Jan. 19 following a Cabinet meeting.

(This article was written by Emi Iwata and Yu Kamata.)

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