Crime Nine people stabbed on Odakyu Line

Yesterday, nine people were injured in a stabbing incident on Okdakyu Line in Tokyo. The perpetrator was later apprehended at a convenience store, stating he was tired of escaping from the police. Fortunately, such incidents are rare in Japan.

Nine people were stabbed or punched on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train Friday evening in Tokyo, with police saying they detained a man at a convenience store after he fled the scene. Of the nine, a woman in her 20s was seriously injured with multiple stab wounds in her back and chest, while the remaining eight, all men, sustained minor injuries, investigative sources said. After the attack, which occurred at around 8:30 p.m. in the front carriage of a train in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, the man in his 30s fled and was later detained by police at the convenience store in neighboring Suginami Ward, the investigative sources said.

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Man that is awful. Seems like the woman was the initial victim, having suffered the most injuries. Would like to find out the motive and what kind of evidence there was of the assailant's intentions... though it's probably going to be left at "mental disturbance" or something general.

Very disturbing indeed. The most common reasons for such rampages are "stress" (related to work or now Covid) and "curiosity about what it feels like to injure/kill someone".

In my 71 years on this earth , the 2 years I spent in Japan felt the safest. I started to carry a gun in 1974 while working as a police officer and to this day , I don't leave my house without my concealed weapon and even a backup gun as well as pepper spray and a knife. A habit I just can't seem to break. My state of Maine is considered one of the safest in the US , but still has crime.

I've got over 2 decades of experience practicing martial arts as an adult, and the greatest self-defense techniques are the ones that keep you out of trouble and the line of fire, like situational awareness and de-escalation. Despite America's obsession with armament as some kind of security blanket, I've never carried a weapon and have never gotten so fearful of the world around me that I feel compelled to change that habit. If my life were threatened or those around me I would have no choice but to act, but I feel like filling my head with this "I'm a warrior" mentality and arming myself to go grocery shopping only sets the stage for tragedy in one way or another. Just look at the numerous instances of our law enforcement's heavy-handedness in situations that don't seem to warrant it; I can understand because they are constantly exposed to some of the worst things people do and potentially life-threatening situations, but the unintended consequence is they see everyone as a potential threat. That's just not a headspace I'd like to get into.

I imagine some of the injuries sustained by the subsequent victims were men trying to intervene, and if so they likely saved that girl's life. I hope for further details, each of these tragedies is a chance to learn something.

Meanwhile, more details have emerged. The perpetrator, 36-year old Tsushima Yusuke, said he wanted to kill as many people. The news mentioned he was looking for "women who look happy". He had been arrested for shoplifting previously and was reported to the police by a female shop attendant. He seems to have held a grudge against women ever since.

A 36-year-old man arrested for a stabbing spree on a Tokyo commuter train that left 10 passengers injured told police he had hoped to kill as many people as possible. The suspect, Yusuke Tsushima, also said he had harbored feelings for the past six years or so of wanting to kill anybody he thought looked happy. Tsushima was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder for stabbing a woman in her 20s in the chest and back. Although in a serious condition, she was expected to survive. Nine other passengers were injured, but none seriously, in the Aug. 6 attack.

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