Japan Arrests A Nyaa "First Seeder" Going After The Source, Not The Site

Japanese police have arrested the alleged "first uploader" of a pirated NHK drama on Nyaa, the torrent index that has sat near the top of the anime piracy ecosystem for the better part of a decade. On 28 July 2026, the Cyber Investigation pision of the Kyoto Prefectural Police, working with Fushimi Police Station, detained a man resident in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on suspicion of violating Japan’s Copyright Act.^1,2,4 

The allegation is that he posted the torrent file for the NHK drama Midnight Taxi to Nyaa and seeded the data to an unspecified number of users over a peer-to-peer network. CODA states that he is also suspected of sharing numerous other television dramas, primarily NHK works; neither CODA nor police have put a figure on that.^1,2