Yamaha issues musical instrument case warning after Carlos Ghosn escape
Yamaha has warned people not to try and squeeze into musical instrument cases after reports former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn used the ploy to escape Japan.
The musical instrument maker refused to give a specific reason, but said it had noticed increased interest in climbing inside the cases in recent weeks.
“We won’t mention the reason, but there have been many tweets about climbing inside large musical instrument cases,” it said on Twitter.
“A warning after any unfortunate accident would be too late, so we ask everyone not to try it.”
Ghosn, who is accused of hiding earnings, transferring investment losses to Nissan and misappropriating company funds, escaped from Japan at the end of December for Lebanon.
Japanese authorities have vowed to pursue him and have issued an international wanted notice for him and his wife Carole.
The former auto executive and fugitive has declined to reveal how he slipped past Japanese airport security, or confirm media reports accomplices smuggled him through a private jet lounge in Kansai Airport in western Japan hidden in large speaker box that was too large to fit through the facility’s X-ray scanner.
Earlier reports, which Ghosn has dismissed, said he was carried out of his home in Tokyo in a double bass case.
Yamaha, which makes instruments and equipment ranging from pianos and double basses to drums and heavy duty speakers, thanked people in second tweet for liking its first post, which was retweeted more than 50,000 times.
It also reminded followers again that instrument cases are designed for instruments and not people.