WEB DESK: A man was arrested on Friday, December 26, for stabbing eight people and injuring seven others, possibly with bleach, at a rubber factory in Mishima city, Shizuoka, Japan. According to Fujisan Nanto Fire Department, eight victims were hospitalized, five of them in serious condition.
A call at 4:30 PM reported multiple stabbings and the use of a “spray-like liquid” at Yokohama Rubber Company. Police detained the attacker, a 38-year-old man connected to the factory, for alleged attempted murder. Witness accounts described him wearing a gas mask and wielding what appeared to be a survival knife. Japanese news outlets confirmed all victims were conscious.
Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world’s toughest gun laws.
However, there are occasional stabbing attacks and even shootings, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.
A Japanese man was sentenced to death in October for a shooting and stabbing rampage that killed four people, including two police officers, in 2023.
A 43-year-old man was also charged with attempted murder in May over a knife attack at Tokyo’s Toda-mae metro station.
