Japan Tokyo police arrested Akitoshi Okamoto, 71, after he made 24,000 calls to the operator of the KDDI telecommunications network to appeal.

Local media said Okamoto called KDDI, the major telecommunications operator in Japan, to complain about their breach of contract with him. In just 8 days, Mr. Okamoto made hundreds of free calls to KDDI's customer service. In all, during the past two years, he has called 24,000 calls to the operator for this reason.

The customer also made thousands more calls from pay phones to express dissatisfaction with KDDI and slander customer service staff. Tokyo police decided to arrest Okamoto last week.

"He asked KDDI staff to come and apologize for breaching the contract. He also hung up the phone as soon as possible after connecting," a police spokesman said. Authorities claimed Okamoto was arrested on charges of "hindering business operations".

Japan has recently witnessed an increase in social problems associated with rapid population aging. Many elderly drivers have caused accidents on the road, while older passengers often commit violent acts against railway personnel.