Latest news with #FirearmsandSwordsControlLaw
Japan Today
5 days ago
- Business
- Japan Today
The Japanese sword experience was one of our main programs, so this is a real blow to us.
The president of the Yamagata tourist association. A program that lets foreign tourists use real Japanese swords as part of the martial art iaido was suddenly canceled in January in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, because it violated the Firearms and Swords Control Law. © Yomiuri Shimbun
Yomiuri Shimbun
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japanese Swords Banned from Tourist Programs, Putting Damper on the ‘Samurai Experience'
Courtesy of Yamagata Prefecture's Murayama municipal government A woman tries out a real Japanese sword in a program in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture. YAMAGATA — A program that let tourists use real Japanese swords as part of the martial art iaido was suddenly canceled in January in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, because it violated the Firearms and Swords Control Law. The program was popular among foreign tourists and even won an award from the central government. The city's tourism association expressed disappointment about having to cancel the attraction. In iaido, practitioners hone their body and mind through the motion of drawing their sword and attacking. Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu (1542-1617), who is said to have created iaido, was born in Murayama and is venerated at its Kumano Iai-ryo-shrine, commonly known as the Iai Shrine. In 2017, the Murayama municipal government planned a hands-on program for tourists to try out real Japanese swords on tubes of tatami. After confirming with the Yamagata prefectural police that there were no problems, the city commissioned the local tourism association to hold the program. This 'samurai experience' proved to be a hit, and in fiscal 2020, it was selected for the martial arts tourism award sponsored by the central government. However, as similar programs using real swords began to be offered in other parts of Japan, the National Police Agency issued a notice to police across the country on Dec. 25, saying that the use of registered swords by a large number of tourists for momentary amusement was not allowed under the Firearms and Swords Control Law. 'The Japanese sword experience was one of our main programs, so this is a real blow to us,' said the president of the tourist association. In response, the association switched to another program about batto-jutsu, or the art of sword drawing, and provided more detailed explanations. Canceled nationwide Bugeido Musubi, a dojo in the town of Kosaka, Akita Prefecture, also terminated its program, in which participants could cut straw bundles with real swords. The dojo was told by the prefectural police that it could be putting itself at significant risk if it failed to comply with the NPA's notice and continued to allow tourists to use swords. An official for the program complained that reservations had dropped off because the highlight of the 90-minute 'samurai experience' was no longer available. In March, a lodging facility in Sanmu, Chiba Prefecture, began offering a program where tourists could experience the art of sword drawing using a real sword, and information about the program was put up on its website. However, after hearing that the NPA had tightened its rules, the facility took down the web page with the information in late April.
Yomiuri Shimbun
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan Ex-PM Abe Murder Defendant Plans to Admit Intent to Kill; Defense to Not Challenge Ability to Bear Criminal Responsibility
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Tetsuya Yamagami is seized in Nara on July 8, 2022. The man indicted over the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to admit his intent to kill at the Nara District Court, sources involved in the trial said. Unemployed 44-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami was indicted on charges including the murder of Abe, then 67, who was fatally shot during a stump speech in Nara in July 2022. The defense also plans to not challenge his ability to bear criminal responsibility, the sources added. The district court is planning to hold the first hearing on Oct. 28. Yamagami was also indicted on suspicion of firing a handmade gun that he created in violation of the Firearms and Swords Control Law. Whether the handmade gun is subject to the regulations for firing offenses will likely be an issue at the trial. According to the indictment, Yamagami fired metal bullets from a handmade gun and fatally shot Abe during his stump speech in Nara for a House of Councillors election around noon on July 8, 2022. Yamagami told the Nara prefectural police that he held a grudge against the Unification Church, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, to which his mother continuously donated large sums of money when he was a teenager. He also told the police that he targeted Abe because he thought the former prime minister had ties to the religious group. He was detained for an evaluation to determine his criminal responsibility and was indicted by March 2023. In October 2023, pretrial proceedings began to narrow down the issues, and there have been six such proceedings so far.
The Mainichi
10-05-2025
- The Mainichi
Japan man arrested in Tokyo subway slashing cites education pressure as motive
TOKYO -- A man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder for stabbing a male university student at the Tokyo Metro's Todaimae Station has stated he wanted to highlight the downside of excessive parental pressure over education, investigative sources said. Yoshitaka Toda, 43, from Ikusaka, Nagano Prefecture, was quoted as telling investigators, "I wanted to show education-obsessed parents who push their children toward the University of Tokyo (called "Todai" for short in Japanese) that excessive pressure could cause their kids to go astray and commit crimes like me." Authorities believe Toda aimed to attract public attention by carrying out the attack near the prestigious university. Investigative sources said Toda had initially remained silent after his arrest but began cooperating on May 8. He reportedly told investigators that when he was in junior high school, his parents' excessive focus on education led him to stop attending school. Regarding his choice of Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, Toda was quoted as saying, "The station's name includes 'Todai,' which I thought would make people easily associate the incident with educational abuse." The stabbing took place at around 6:55 p.m. on May. 7. The victim, a 20-year-old university student, was about to board a train when he was attacked from behind with a kitchen knife with an approximately 16-centimeter-long blade. He sustained cuts to the back of his neck, forehead and left hand, requiring about 10 days of hospitalization. Toda is thought to have been unacquainted with the victim. He reportedly claimed, "I targeted this man just because he happened to be nearby. As long as my message was conveyed, it didn't matter to me whether the victim lived or died." Toda also stated financial hardship was partially behind his actions. According to a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) investigation, Toda traveled from Nagano Prefecture to Tokyo on the day of the incident. At around 4 p.m., he is believed to have been walking near the Tokyo Metro's Hongo-sanchome Station, which is close to the University of Tokyo. On May 9, the MPD sent Toda to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on charges of attempted murder and a violation of the Firearms and Swords Control Law.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
Bleeding man arrested after attacking Kyoto train station staff with knife
An injured man reportedly attacked a staff member at a train station in Kansai region in western Japan on Tuesday. The unidentified Japanese man, with a bleeding forehead, reportedly pulled out a knife and attacked a staff member at a train station in Seika in Kyoto prefecture around 6.30am on 11 February. Station staff and bystanders reportedly subdued the man and alerted the police. Local police arrested the man on suspicion of violating the Firearms and Swords Control Law. There were no injuries reported. According to West Japan Railway, the incident led to cancellations and delays on the Gakkentoshi Line, impacting approximately 150 passengers. Last month, a knife attack outside Nagano Station in central Japan left one person dead and two injured. A 49-year-old man died, while a 37-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman sustained injuries. The stabbing occurred near a bus terminal outside Nagano station, according to the Kyodo News. The incident, suspected to be a random attack with no one targeted in particular, occurred near JR Nagano Station. The suspect used a blade-like object to attack three people waiting for a bus near the station, police said. One of them, Hiroyuki Maruyama, a 49-year-old man, was pronounced dead in a hospital. Maruyama was stabbed in the left side of the abdomen and went into cardiac arrest. Violent crime is rare in Japan due to its strict gun control laws. However, recent years have seen several high-profile incidents of random knife attacks and arson on subways. In 2021, a 24-year-old man dressed as the Joker attacked passengers on a Tokyo train on Halloween night, injuring 17 people. He stabbed a man in his 60s, who was left in critical condition, and set a fire inside the train. The suspect, who was later seen calmly smoking on the train, was arrested at the scene. He reportedly told authorities he wanted to kill people to receive the death penalty.
