Yamaha Corporation has warned people against trying to squeeze inside musical instrument cases after a viral phenomenon named “The Carlos Ghosn Challenge," spread throughout Japanese social media.

https://twitter.com/Yamaha_Wind_jp/status/1215996768636194822?s=20

“We won’t mention the reason, but there have been many tweets about climbing inside large musical instrument cases. A warning after any unfortunate accident would be too late, so we ask everyone not to try it,” the Japanese company said in a post on its twitter account on Jan. 11.

The challenge initiated as an attempt to imitate the way in which Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn had reportedly escaped from Japan to Lebanon.

This happened shortly after the Wall Street Journal’s Senior Editor Mark Maremont posted photographs of the case that Ghosn allegedly hid in. The case, which is typically used for audio equipment, had holes drilled in the bottom so that Ghosn could breathe, tweeted WSJ’s Maremont.

https://twitter.com/MarkMaremont/status/1213985840407437313?s=20

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, Reuters reported.

According to the Wall Street Journal and other reports, Ghosn allegedly fled the country with the help of accomplices who smuggled him through a private jet in Kansai Airport, western Japan, while hiding inside a large black case that is typically used for audio equipment.

Despite the ongoing lack of clarity surrounding Ghosn’s escape plan, and his dismissal of the audio-box method of escape, the bizarre idea of a human inside a musical instrument case has inspired Japanese nationals on various social media channels to post comedic photos of themselves attempting to fit inside instrument cases, as part of the ‘Carlos Ghosn challenge’.

The challenge has extended beyond Japanese internet users and has been carried out by famed television and radio hosts.

For example, the Nippon Broadcasting Announcer Naoki Yoshid shared a video on Twitter of herself squeezing inside a music instrument case.

https://twitter.com/yoshidahisanori/status/1214238442634149888?s=20

Japanese actress Michiko Makino also participated in the challenge, posting a picture herself inside box while referring to Ghosn in the caption accompanying the Instagram post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7GecKmhy1c/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link