The university searched the American football team’s dormitory in Nakano Ward on 6 July 2023 and found a dried plant fragment and two pills in a locked closet in Shigefumi Kitabatake’s room.[1] Police examined the seized items on 19 July and confirmed the fragment was dried marijuana.[1]

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested Kitabatake, a 21-year-old junior player, on 5 August 2023 for alleged cannabis and stimulant offences.[1][2]

Police searched the dormitory again on 22 August 2023 after other players were suspected of possessing cannabis.[2] The university suspended the team indefinitely and closed the dormitory.[2]