A 49-year-old man was arrested Monday after he suddenly began wielding two knives on board a bullet train heading to Tokyo, police said. The man wounded a woman conductor on the train, Fuji TV reported.
The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. on the Nozomi 38 Tokaido bullet train passing through Shizuoka on its way to Tokyo from Fukuoka. According to police, passengers on the train notified staff and the police that there was a man in the seventh car, carrying knives. When a woman conductor approached the man, identified as Shuichi Nakagawa, to ask him what he was doing, he began wielding the knives and cut the conductor's hand.
Passengers subdued Nakagawa until the train made an unscheduled stop at Kakegawa Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, where he was arrested by police on a charge of violating the Weapons Control Law.
Nakagawa carried two knives, each with a 15-cm-long blade. He is currently being questioned, but has so far remained silent, police said.
© Japan Today
33 Comments
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papigiulio
First the guy who set himself on fire and now this douche. I guess it won't be long before we will have airport like security checks at shinkansen stations as well.
Gaijindesu
That would be sad. I really enjoy the much more relaxing process of boarding a Shinkansen, compared to the zoo that's getting on a plane.
kurisupisu
What sort of individual does this? Either the guy is mentally deranged or there is a more sinister motive?
And statistically, there is a higher likelihoodd of being the victim of a crime carried out by a Japanese than a non Japanese here in Japan.
Even the 'crime' of failing to renew a visa on time still doesn't skew the stats enough to make the foreigner appear a bigger risk ......
Moderator: Please repost without the reference to foreigners, which is irrelevant to this discussion.
Jonathan Prin
Funny about asking somebody what he is doing with weapons...Safety behaviour tells you to take preventive actions(take a blanket ready to throw on), not to trigger the attack in the open. Common sense. Fortunately, brave passengers did the necessary. Houra to them.
Peter Qinghai
@papigiulio You said it first. Coming out of the woodwork they are.
wontond
@papigiulio I said the same thing back when the nutter set himself on fire. It's a necessary inconvenience passengers will have to endure.
Christopher Glen
It would be a real shame if people are taking bullet trains for camping trips - and metal detectors are introduced. Hopefully common sense prevails
masri
shinkansen in Japan is much more expensive and "luxury" than domestic flight fare, BUT the security is worse than a hypermarket!
Aly Rustom
papigiulio+ everyone else,
I really hope that the Jgov don't use this to implement MORE draconian laws concerning transport security. Sadly, with this happening so close to the Ise Shima summit I fear that may very well be the case.
My advice, start driving everyone. Better that than the hassel of what's to come...
khulifi
He was drunk and can not remember any thing ...
Bob Sneider
they always seem to go after women don't they... can only pick on those they view as weaker.
Wakarimasen
Maybe he just wanted to cut his travel time......
Yoshitsune
Hope not; the bullet trains in China have airport style security and it sucks
igloobuyer
Japan, the once 'safe' nation. I blame the economy.
iamme
I thought the focus would be assault with a deadly weapon, not just a violation of the Weapons Control Law, which just outlaws the possession of such weapons.
DaDude
After you provide proof that you drove in your home country for 3 months then take a test that takes 5-10 times or more to pass.
Moderator
Back on topic please.
nath
It still is.
Kobe White Bar Owner
Stress relief Japan style.
KAPPE1980
All too often, such a madscum appears anywhere conveniently just when we are worrying about the threat of terrorism. And my anger comes out together against gov doing nothing!! As everyone said, It's about time to reconsider the security systems of the Shinkansen!!
katsu78
Another way to think of it- Japan remains such a safe nation that after a violent altercation with an armed passenger on a mass transport vehicle the death toll reached zero people.
Not anything close to everyone said it. At my count there are 7 comments in this thread talking directly about Shinkansen security, and not a single one unambiguously supports reconsidering it. Most fit the pattern of posters being reluctantly resigned to the likelihood that a reconsideration of the security systems will happen, making the Shinkansen experience worse.
pudus
"Passengers subdued Nakagawa until the train made an unscheduled stop at Kakegawa Station in Shizuoka Prefecture"
Go get em passengers!
Himajin
151 million people ride the Tokaido annually.
Two nutters and everybody wants TSA-like security? That's an overreaction, in my opinion.
FightingViking
@Aly RustomMay.
The roads are bad enough as it is... We don't need any more "paper drivers" trying out their luck... The Shinkansen is MUCH quicker than driving too ! If you're in a hurry - take the train !
Mocheake
Next time, fill him full of lead. That will keep copycat wackos at bay.
Kobe White Bar Owner
@ChrisGlen
"Hopefully common sense prevails"
Arghhh mate thanks, i needed a laugh.
Serrano
"passengers on the train notified staff and the police that there was a man in the seventh car, carrying knives."
At that point I'll bet he had the entire car to himself.
wontond
I certainly don't want it, but I see added security as an inevitability.
Fadamor
No nation is "safe". Japan may be relatively "safer" than most other nations, but I'm starting to wonder if that's only because a lot of the crime goes unreported.
nath
What would you define as safe then? A complete absence of any violent crime whatsoever? Where is the threshold? a
Himajin
Evidently. One nut with a knife and suddenly Japan's not safe anymore and we need security.
since1981
He wounded a woman and "was arrested by police on a charge of violating the Weapons Control Law"? Think attempted murder should be added as well.
Himajin
Her injury was 'daboku', being struck, so he must have hit or pushed her.