A Japanese man stabbed at least 10 passengers on a commuter train on Friday in Tokyo and then told police that he gets incensed when he sees women who "looked happy" and wanted to kill them. The stabbings took place on an evening train in Setagaya ward, in the west of the city, according to reports.
The incident took place just a few kilometres from the venue of Olympic equestrian events.
Almost Killed
The unnamed Japanese man, 36 allegedly wounded 10 people in a knife attack on a Tokyo commuter train late on Friday and fled the scene. Hours later he was arrested, reported Reuters. According to media reports, the almost fatal took at around 8:40 pm (1140 GMT) on a train on the Odakyu Line in the western part of the city.
NHK public television said one passenger, a female university student, was seriously injured in the attack, while the rest suffered less severe injuries. It said the suspect left his knife behind as he fled. He was later detained by police at a convenience store in neighboring Suginami Ward.
Strange Mindset
According to the Sankei newspaper, the suspect told police: "I began feeling like I wanted to kill women who looked happy about six years ago. Anyone was fine, I just wanted to kill a lot of people." According to The Japan Times, the man admitted to his crime during interrogation and is likely to face charges of attempted murder.
The suspect was arrested after a worker at the convenience store called the police after the man entered the store and said, "I am the suspect in the incident reported by news media. I am tired of fleeing," according to the sources.
The man left what is believed to be the weapon and a mobile phone on the train, they added.
Blood on Clothes
At the time of the incident, several hundred passengers were on the train and the driver brought it to a halt after hearing loud voices from the train cars, reported The Japan Times.
After the suspect had left the scene, train crew guided passengers to walk along the tracks to a nearby station. One of the train's passengers, a 19-year-old university student who witnessed the incident, said, "There were a lot of people with blood on their clothes and running away in panic."
The incident prompted Odakyu to temporarily suspend train operations between Shinjuku Station in Tokyo and Mukogaoka-yuen Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Japan's History of Gory Killings with Knives
Violent crime is rare in Japan but there have been a spate of knife attacks by assailants unknown to the victims in the country in recent times, according to Reuters. In June 2008, a man in a light truck drove into a crowd in the popular Akihabara district and then jumped out of the vehicle and started stabbing pedestrians, leaving seven dead.
Japan has strict gun laws, but there have been occasional violent crimes involving other weapons, reported Al Jazeera. Meanwhile people on Twitter have been discussing the psychology behind the crime. Some netizens said it's the workaholic Japanese society that can trigger such kinds of thoughts to kill happy people while some said it's difficult to find such kind of people in Japan. One Twitter user wrote, "The moment you attack someone, they're no longer happy dude. Get a therapist."
It's a long discussion. They have quite a rigid society, people fall apart under too much stress. Not everyone can live like a machine and not crack down.
— Luce Nox (@Okultus1) August 7, 2021
