The man indicted for a fatal stabbing rampage in Tokyo’s Akihabara district last year has sent a letter of apology to one of the victims, saying, ‘‘My crime deserves death,’’ informed sources said Friday. In the letter to Hiroshi Yuasa, a 55-year-old former taxi driver who sustained serious injuries, Tomohito Kato, 27, said, ‘‘I believe I will be executed, but I want to explain everything without becoming defiant.’‘
   
Yuasa said he felt as if he had seen a ray of light and that he plans to write back in the hope that their exchange will help Kato to deepen his regret for the crime.
   
‘‘I’m really sorry. I have no way to justify the harm I inflicted,’’ said Kato, who is charged with killing seven people and injuring 10 others in June last year in the bustling Akihabara electronics shopping district, at the beginning of the six-page letter.
   
Kato said that time had passed as he had worried about whether the letter would offend victims but he had ‘‘reached the conclusion that I should apologize as a human being.’‘
   
‘‘Offering an apology just for form is disrespectful. I’m still asking myself whether in writing this it is a real apology,’’ he wrote.
   
After hitting three pedestrians by driving a truck into a congested vehicle-free crossing in Akihabara around 12:30 p.m. on June 8, 2008, Kato proceeded to randomly stab people with a dagger, leaving 17 victims, according to the indictment.
   
The date for his trial has not yet been set while pretrial proceedings have been held on five occasions, with Kato himself taking part on Oct 21. Prosecutors indicted Kato in October last year after concluding he was mentally competent to stand trial.
   
In the letter, Kato did not specifically refer to his motive for the crime, noting that he hardly remembers how he acted at the time of the incident.
   
As a reason for his effort to explain what happened, Kato wrote he wanted to help prevent a similar crime from occurring again ‘‘as my way of making atonement,’’ saying he believes preventive measures have not been implemented because the truth behind past incidents was not clarified.
   
Yuasa, who was stabbed in the abdomen while trying to rescue one of the pedestrians hit by Kato, said, ‘‘As he has sent me a letter, I think I can finally see his real face.’‘
   
‘‘By reading this, I wondered why this man committed the incident. Although there are elements that make me think his regret is not enough and his thoughts are naive, it is impressive that he is hoping to uncover the truth in order to avoid another tragic incident,’’ he said.