
Tokyo subway stabbing suspect stayed in station for 30 minutes before attack
Investigative sources say a suspect held in a stabbing at a Tokyo subway station remained inside the ticket gates for about 30 minutes before Wednesday's attack.
Tokyo police say 43-year-old Toda Yoshitaka is suspected of assaulting a university student with a knife while he was waiting for a train on a platform.
The incident occurred just before 7 p.m. at Todaimae Station on the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line.
The student fled onto a train. A security camera recorded the suspect chasing the student and slashing him multiple times.
The sources say there was no contact between Toda and the student before the attack.
Security camera footage shows the suspect entering a toilet and sitting on a bench during the 30 minutes at the station.
Police say it also appears that the two men were strangers.
One of the train passengers who intervened to restrain the suspect also sustained hand injuries.
Police arrested Toda on the spot on suspicion of attempted murder. They are continuing to investigate his motive, but say the suspect is refusing to answer questions.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Japan Times
12 hours ago
- Japan Times
Suspect in Dalian murder of Japanese nationals identified
Local authorities revealed further details Tuesday about the killing of two Japanese nationals in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian late last month, including the suspect's surname and the apparent motive behind the crime. The suspect, identified only as a 42-year-old man with the surname Yuan, is a Chinese national and a long-term resident of Japan, according to a statement issued by the Dalian Public Security Bureau on Tuesday. The two Japanese victims — who were Yuan's business partners while in Japan — were visiting China when they were murdered, the statement said, adding that a business dispute with the suspect was allegedly the motive behind the killings on May 23. The Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang was notified about the incident on May 25. Local authorities told the mission at the time that the suspect had been taken into custody in connection with the killings. Given the nature of the incident, the consulate has not issued a safety warning to other Japanese nationals residing in the region, it told The Japan Times on Tuesday. Relevant authorities of the Dalian city government have informed the victims' families, who went to Dalian after the incident and raised no objections to local authorities' explanations, according to the police statement. They returned to Japan on Sunday after the bodies of the victims were cremated. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a news conference on Tuesday that the case is undergoing further investigation and that Chinese authorities will handle the case in accordance with the law. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tuesday in a news conference that the government is currently providing necessary support to the victims' families.


Japan Times
14 hours ago
- Japan Times
Around 100 dead cats found at woman's home in Japan
Around 100 dead cats were discovered at the squalid home of a woman in Kumamoto who belonged to an animal welfare group, a local official said on Wednesday. The group, Animal Assist Senju, apologized on social media, posting pictures of the trash-strewn house it said "was overflowing with feces and urine." The residence belonged to one of its staffers, who the group said was found to have gone rogue and taken in many cats without consulting the organization. One cat was found "unrecognizable" with "its skin partly peeled off and paws covered in feces and urine," the group said in an Instagram post at the weekend. The city of Kumamoto's animal protection center said on Wednesday that the dead felines were initially estimated to total "around 100." Media reports however said the number is now thought to be higher. Animal Assist Senju, based in Kumamoto Prefecture, says it rescues cats and dogs from animal shelters and transfers them to new homes. "All the members of our group take what happened very seriously," it said in another Instagram post. "We can only imagine what agonizing pain the cats went through before dying." The woman is no longer allowed to take in cats, it said. City officials and animal rights volunteers inspected the house twice after they were notified last week of a feline death, before launching a full search and rescue mission. It is not clear if legal action has been taken against the woman. Twelve live cats have been saved from the home so far, according to city animal protection official Tsutomu Takimoto.


Japan Times
18 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan Times 1925: Tokyo police impose curfew on ‘social dances'
100 YEARS AGO Sunday, June 7, 1925 Police rule public dances must close at ten o'clock The curfew will ring for all public dances, including those at the Imperial Hotel, at 10 o'clock hereafter, according to a new set of regulations adopted by the Metropolitan Police Board in an attempt to combat the evils which are alleged to have grown out of the increasing popularity of the Western style of dancing among Japanese young people. The new regulations provide that all social dances held at dancing clubs, dancing schools or other public dancing places in Tokyo shall be stopped at 10 o'clock in the evening. The only exemption made in favor of the Imperial Hotel, which presents a different case on account of the many foreigners there, was in the case of the regulations against the operation of a dance hall in connection with restaurants of any kind. The management of the Hotel is negotiating with the police for a special arrangement by which the hours of dancing may be extended. 'We have been carefully studying the moral effects of the Western dancing upon the Japanese people,' said Mr. Soemi, head of the Peace Preservation Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Board in discussing the new regulations with a representative of The Japan Advertiser. 'Many instances of disorderly conduct in dance halls have been brought to our attention and it is for this reason that we have adopted new regulations.' 'The rule for setting a limit to the hour for dancing may seem rather severe to foreigners, but we believe that it will be better for all concerned. We have made certain allowances for the Imperial Hotel for the dances there are patronized mostly by foreigners. The Japanese who attend are of the higher class, but we know, however, that there are a good many young people of the best Japanese families the moral integrity of whom has not been helped by Western dancing.' Another police official was more frank in expressing his opinion of the moral effect of the Western style of dancing on Japanese youth. 'It is first necessary to recognize the difference between the social customs of the West and of Japan. Young men and women in the Western countries are brought up together and are accustomed to one another's society. In Japan they are brought up separately and are not accustomed to one another's society.' 'Western young men are accustomed to touching their young lady friends in shaking hands, helping them from tram cars and in other ways, which is far from the case in Japan. Consequently it is not to be wondered at that the effect upon Japanese young people of the Western style of dancing is far different from the effect, or lack of effect, upon the young people of other nations. 'So we are of the opinion that it will be better for the general good of the youth of this country to curb the dancing at least until Japanese young men and women become more accustomed to each other's society.' 1925 | The Japan Times 75 YEARS AGO Wednesday, June 7, 1950 24 red leaders purged; epochal SCAP directive is swiftly implemented Within seven hours after receipt of Gen. MacArthur's letter to Prime Minister Yoshida, the Japanese Government sent telegrams and letters to the 24 members of the Japan Communist Party Central Committee designating them as falling under the purge ordinance. The letters were sent out by special delivery and contents-certified mail. The speedy action followed legal procedures taken by Attorney General Shunkichi Ueda for naming the 24 men as purgees. Earlier Tuesday morning, the SCAP letter was brought to the Foreign Minister's official residence at 9:30 a.m. by Col. L. E. Bunker, SCAP's Aide-de-Camp. At the Cabinet meeting which opened at 10 a.m., the Government decided forthwith to remove the 24 designated Communist leaders from public life in compliance with the SCAP order. The purge notices gave no specifications but roundly designated the 24 Communists as amenable to the Imperial Ordinance No. 1 of 1947, concerning the expulsion of ultra-nationalist and other undesirable elements from positions of influence. 1950 | The Japan Times 50 YEARS AGO Tuesday, June 17, 1975 6,300 mourners attend former premier Sato's national funeral The national funeral for former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato was solemnly held at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Kitanomaru Park in Tokyo Monday afternoon. About 6,300 mourners including Japanese and foreign dignitaries and personal friends of the late Sato attended the funeral. The Emperor and Empress sent their emissary to the service. The Crown Princes and Princess and other Imperial Family members were among the mourners. Special envoys and other delegates came from 91 foreign countries including the United States and the Soviet Union. Sato's close acquaintances in the political, business, sports, artistic and other fields also participated in the funeral. China did not send a representative while Chang Pao-shu, secretary general of Taiwan's Nationalist Party, attended as an 'old friend' of Sato's. Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos of the Philippines led the foreign mourners in laying flowers at the altar. Among the foreign dignitaries were South Korean Premier Kim Jong Pil and Australian Foreign Minister D. R. Willesee, Soviet Ambassador Oleg Troyanovsky, head of the foreign diplomatic corps in Tokyo, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan U. Alexis Johnson, and Donald S. Macdonald, Canadian Minister for Energy, Mines and Resources. Sato's ashes in an urn held by his elder son Ryutaro, accompanied by his widow Hiroko, left his home at Daizawa in Setagaya Ward at 1:30 p.m. The procession passed by the Prime Minister's official residence, where Sato kept his office for seven years and eight months as the chief executive, and the Diet Building, where he spent more than 25 years as a Dietman, on its way to Budokan. Sato died June 3 after remaining unconscious for 15 days following a stroke suffered during a meeting with business leaders. When it reached the hall shortly before 2 p.m. the solemnity of the function was briefly broken as Prime Minister Takeo Miki was hit on the head by a man standing nearby. Miki's glasses fell off but he was unhurt. The man was later identified as an ultrarightist from Okayama Prefecture. 1975 | The Japan Times 25 YEARS AGO Wednesday, June 7, 2000 Key cult figure gets life term for role in subway gas attack Aum Shinrikyo's former intelligence chief, found guilty of involvement in the March 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and other crimes, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison. While prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for Yoshihiro Inoue, 30, the Tokyo District Court handed down a life prison term on the grounds that he did not take part in the act of releasing the deadly gas on the subway trains and only provided backup support. Despite his lack of direct involvement, the court said Inoue played an important role in the gassing, which could not have taken place as planned without his contribution. Prosecutors pointed out that Inoue, one of Aum founder Shoko Asahara's closest aides, commanded other Aum followers who actually released the sarin on morning subway trains, killing 12 people and injuring thousands. However, presiding judge Hiroichi Inoue determined that the defendant's role in the attack was limited to 'logistic support and coordination,' saying that he had not been ordered by Asahara to take charge. In the ruling, the court said that if the nature of the heinous crimes, the feelings of the victims and their families as well as the impact on society were considered alone, then Inoue did, in fact, deserve the death sentence. The judge said the court was 'giving the defendant a ruling that will allow him to live.' The court took into consideration the fact that Inoue, who joined the cult when he was 16, showed deep regret over his crimes and that Asahara controlled his mind at the time of the crimes, he said. Compiled by Mike Fu. In this feature, we delve into The Japan Times' 128-year archive to present a selection of stories from the past. The Japan Times' archive is now available in digital format. For more details, see