A census taker in Japan burned census forms last week after reportedly becoming angry with uncooperative people. The man was assigned to collect census forms from about 70 households in the Nakazato district in Bando. He called the Bando municipal government Thursday morning, complaining that some people were not cooperating.
"I can't deal with people who live in apartments. Can I just burn all the forms?" he reportedly said in a phone call to city hall.
Two officials of the municipal government tried to visit his house, but mistakenly went to the address of another census taker with the same surname. The man called city hall again and said, "You didn't come, so I burned the forms."
When the officials reached his house, they found ashes of the census forms at the entrance.
The officials are revisiting the households he was responsible for, the prefectural government said.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is considering punishing the 66-year-old man for destroying public documents.
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