Multiple Stabbed in Tokyo Train Attack: Woman Admits to Attacking Passengers with Intention of Killing (UPDATE 2)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:43 JST, January 4, 2024 (updated at 17:36 JST, January 4)

A woman has been arrested after stabbing and injuring four passengers with a knife on a JR Yamanote Line train as it ran between Okachimachi and Akihabara stations in Tokyo, police announced.

Three men from their 30s to 60s were stabbed in the back and chest, resulting in serious injuries, at about 10:55 p.m. on Wednesday. Another man in his 30s suffered a minor injury to his left arm, the police said.

Police officers rushed to Akihabara Station after receiving the report. When the train stopped at the station, they arrested the woman — who claimed to be in her 20s — inside the train on suspicion of attempting to murder one of the men, who was in his 40s.

The police do not believe that the woman and the victims knew each other.

According to the police, she admitted to the suspicion, saying, “I boarded a train from Ueno Station. I stabbed [them] with the intention of killing people.”

In addition to the injured four men, one man was attacked and had his jacket cut, but was not hurt.

The police found a kitchen knife on the floor of the train car, and another knife in the woman’s bag. The woman reportedly explained that she was suffering from mental illness.

After the incident, the platform at Akihabara Station, which was covered with crime scene tape, was plunged into temporary disarray as ambulances arrived and emergency personnel carried out the victims on stretchers.

According to East Japan Railway Co., five JR Yamanote Line outbound trains were suspended, affecting about 4,000 passengers.