Latest news with #Todai
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.
Malay Mail
09-05-2025
- Malay Mail
‘Tough love ruined me': Tokyo subway knife attacker says toxic parenting made him snap
TOKYO, May 9 — A knife-wielding man arrested in Tokyo this week wanted to warn parents nationwide that tough love can ruin their children, citing his own miserable childhood, Japanese media reported today. The 43-year-old has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly assaulting a man in his 20s on Wednesday at Tokyo's Todai-mae Station, near the University of Tokyo, Japan's most prestigious higher education institution. The suspect 'with the intent to kill slashed the victim's head and other body parts with a knife-like object that he was carrying, causing injuries', a police spokesman previously told AFP. When questioned, the suspect spoke of his demanding parents, who he said were obsessed with his academic achievement, local media said. Because of them, 'I stopped going to school and had a hard time' as a teenager, public broadcaster NHK and other outlets quoted him as telling investigators. 'I wanted to show all these parents trying to get their kids into Todai that if they go too hard on them, their kids can go reckless and become criminals like me,' he said, using a common nickname for the University of Tokyo. He chose Todai-mae Station for the attack, believing the top university is a byword for the concept of 'educational abuse' by overly competitive parents, the reports said. But he and the victim were strangers to each other, and he chose to attack the man 'because he happened to be nearby', according to NHK. Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world's toughest gun laws. But there are occasional stabbing rampages and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. A day after the knife attack, five staff members sustained minor injuries at a primary school in Tokyo after two men intruded onto the premises. And in 2021, a 24-year-old man stabbed a passenger and started a fire on a train in the capital on Halloween while wearing an outfit resembling comic book villain the Joker. Today, a 34-year-old man was reportedly arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly slashing a man with a knife in the city of Osaka, causing minor injuries. — AFP
CNA
09-05-2025
- CNA
Tokyo knife attacker blames toxic parenting: Reports
TOKYO: A knife-wielding man arrested in Tokyo this week wanted to warn parents nationwide that tough love can ruin their children, citing his own miserable childhood, Japanese media reported on Friday (May 9). The 43-year-old has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly assaulting a man in his 20s on Wednesday at Tokyo's Todai-mae Station, near the University of Tokyo, Japan's most prestigious higher education institution. The suspect "with the intent to kill slashed the victim's head and other body parts with a knife-like object that he was carrying, causing injuries", a police spokesman previously told AFP. When questioned, the suspect spoke of his demanding parents, whom he said were obsessed with his academic achievement, local media said. Because of them, "I stopped going to school and had a hard time" as a teenager, public broadcaster NHK and other outlets quoted him as telling investigators. "I wanted to show all these parents trying to get their kids into Todai that if they go too hard on them, their kids can go reckless and become criminals like me," he said, using a common nickname for the University of Tokyo. He chose Todai-mae Station for the attack, believing that the top university is a byword for the concept of "educational abuse" by overly competitive parents, the reports said. But he and the victim were strangers to each other, and he chose to attack the man "because he happened to be nearby", according to NHK. Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world's toughest gun laws. But there are occasional stabbing rampages and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. A day after the knife attack, five staff members sustained minor injuries at a primary school in Tokyo after two men intruded onto the premises. And in 2021, a 24-year-old man stabbed a passenger and started a fire on a train in the capital on Halloween while wearing an outfit resembling comic book villain the Joker. On Friday, a 34-year-old man was reportedly arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly slashing a man with a knife in the city of Osaka, causing minor injuries.
