Seven Dead In Tokyo Stabbing Frenzy

[Yukiko_San]

A man has gone on a stabbing spree in a busy Tokyo neighbourhood famed for comic-book subculture, killing at least seven people and leaving around a dozen injured in Japan's deadliest crime in years.

The assailant, who later told police he was "tired of living," drove a truck into a crowd of pedestrians shortly after noon on Sunday in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara area before jumping out and stabbing strangers while screaming.

The assailant was identified as Tomohiro Kato, 25, from central Shizuoka prefecture. He first said he was a gangster before retracting his story.

"I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn't matter whom I'd kill," he was quoted by Jiji Press as telling police.

Kato, bespectacled in a beige suit and black-and-white sneakers, was armed with a survival knife and duelled with a police officer who fought back with a baton.

By the time Kato finally dropped his knife with an officer's gun pointed at him, 17 people lay bloodied on the street of the crowded district, according to fire department and police officials.

Jiji Press and other Japanese media said seven people were dead - six men aged 19, 20, 29, 33, 47 and 74, and a 21-year-old woman.

Kato had blood running down the side of his face as he was taken into custody. Kyodo News reported that he was a temporary worker at an auto component factory in Shizuoka.

The attack fell on the anniversary of the last incident of similar magnitude in Japan - a stabbing frenzy that left eight children dead at an primary school in 2001.

Ambulances with sirens blaring raced to the scene on Sunday, where Kato's rented white Isuzu truck was abandoned with a shattered windshield on streets that were closed to traffic on a balmy afternoon.

Hundreds of stunned pedestrians stared from a distance as medical workers set up green plastic sheets in the middle of an intersection to ensure privacy as they gave emergency treatment.

"I was shocked to hear the news as I've visited this place quite often," said Wataru Amano, a 26-year-old truck driver. "I could have been a target if I had been here a few hours ago."

"I'm afraid this will give a negative image of Akihabara, where people are coming from around the world," he said.

Akihabara is best known for major electronics stores and in recent years has mushroomed into a haven for Japanese subculture, pulling in tourists from home and abroad interested in comic books and video games.

Akihabara's attractions range from a museum of Japanese animation to cafes where waitresses dress as maids and video-game characters. It is also a major commuter hub.

"When I passed by, I saw a man collapsed on the street. He was stabbed in the chest and bleeding badly," one young woman said. "He was unconscious."

It was seven years to the day since a mentally disturbed man went on a rampage with a butcher's knife at the Ikeda primary school in the posh suburbs of the western metropolis of Osaka.

Mamoru Takuma, who had an apparent grudge against children of the elite, stabbed to death eight youngsters.

At Takuma's sentencing, the judge called the killings "one of the most heinous cases in Japan's criminal history." Takuma was executed in 2004 at the age of 40.

The primary school attack stunned Japan, which prides itself on its safety, and authorities moved to step up security at schools.

In another knifing spree, a man in 1999 drove into the main train station in the southwestern city of Shimonoseki and stabbed to death five people.

Japan tightly restricts guns. But in December last year, a licensed hunter with a vendetta barged into a private gym in the western town of Sasebo and shot dead two people.

[Drake Dun]

Only a few stations from where I live.

There's a lot of quiet desperation here.

[CptSternn]

*Please include the original link when posting news articles.

This lets people know you didn't modify it and also keeps the original writers/website publisher from suing yourself and Gothic.Net for stealing their content.

[Drake Dun]

ちょっと待って。ゆきこさんは日本人なの？

[Drake Dun]

Nevermind that. I was asking whether Yukiko was Japanese, but then I noticed her photos in the photo thread.

[Yukiko_San]

Originally Posted by Drake Dun

Nevermind that. I was asking whether Yukiko was Japanese, but then I noticed her photos in the photo thread.

-.- i don't use my real name, just my nick name. that's why I used Yukiko.

[Yukiko_San]

Originally Posted by CptSternn

*Please include the original link when posting news articles.

This lets people know you didn't modify it and also keeps the original writers/website publisher from suing yourself and Gothic.Net for stealing their content.

I will edit my post and put it in now, sorry.

[Yukiko_San]

Source:ninemsn.com

[viscus]

Yeah, this has been heavily talked about lately. Apparently, the guy had zero prospects and could only find temporary employment.

[I Am Great.]

The title of this thread would make a kick ass song title.

[Kodachi]

That's really upsetting. I don't think it will affect the reputation of the city much but that is very disheartening. Considering the life and customs of Japan, I can believe the idea of heavy quiet despiration.

[CptSternn]

It just goes to show - in a country where guns are not readily available, people can still go postal.

Sittin' to close to me on the subway? Thats a stabbin'...