Rice grain-sized earphone may have been used to cheat on test

The earphone was confiscated from a suspected test cheater, along with a pendant-shaped relay device and a roughly 40-minute video explaining how to use the equipment, according to the sources.

The suspected cheater was one of 10 Chinese test takers at the same test venue as Wang Likun, a 27-year-old graduate student at Kyoto University who has been arrested in the case.

The earphone, which was several millimeters in size, was designed to be removed from the ear using a magnetic stick.

The relay device was for connecting to a smartphone.

The international crimes division of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department believes that the equipment was provided by a Chinese business offering cheating services.

The video explained in Chinese-language audio and subtitles how to use the relay device, including linking it to smartphones via Bluetooth.

In May, Wang was arrested at the test venue. He had a small microphone about three to four centimeters long hidden in his mask.

Wang has been served another arrest warrant for allegedly impersonating another person to take a TOEIC test in Tokyo's Nerima Ward on March 1.

Fourteen Chinese nationals applied for the same day's TOEIC test, using the same address in the Japanese capital's Nakano Ward as Wang.