Man Charged Over Rush-Hour Knife Attack on Tokyo Subway That Injured Two

TOKYO, May 8 — Tokyo police have charged a man with attempted murder following a knife attack on the subway during rush hour that reportedly left two people injured.

Yoshitaka Toda, 43, was arrested Tuesday evening at Todai-mae Station on suspicion of assaulting a man in his 20s, a police spokesperson told AFP.

“The suspect, with the intent to kill, used a knife-like object to slash the victim’s head and other areas of his body, causing injuries,” the spokesperson said, reading from an official statement without providing further details.

According to local reports, Toda allegedly launched the attack on the station platform before the victim fled into a subway car, where the suspect pursued and continued slashing his head multiple times.

Passengers intervened and managed to subdue Toda until police arrived and arrested him at the scene, reports said.

Media also reported that Toda and the victim were strangers and that another passenger who helped restrain the attacker sustained a hand injury.

While violent crime is rare in Japan—known for its strict gun laws and low murder rate—sporadic stabbing incidents and shootings do occur. In 2022, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in a shooting. A year earlier, in 2021, a 24-year-old man in a Joker costume stabbed a passenger and set a fire on a Tokyo train on Halloween. — AFP