August 2021 Tokyo stabbings

{{Short description|2021 mass stabbing incident in Tokyo, Japan}}

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = 2021 Tokyo stabbings

| partof =

| image = Odakyu 5000 Series (2 Generations) 5051F ver.2.jpg

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| alt =

| caption = An Odakyu train

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| location = Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, Japan

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| date = {{start date|2021|08|06|df=yes}}

| time = 8:30 p.m.

| timezone = JST

| type = Mass stabbing, attempted arson, Terrorism

| fatalities = 0

| injuries = 10

| victims =

| suspect =

| susperp =

| weapons = Knife

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| motive = Alleged/claimed sexual and romantic rejection by women
Jealousy{{cite news |title=Man arrested in Tokyo train stabbings had difficulties with personal relationships |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/08/08/national/crime-legal/odakyu-stabbing/ |access-date=9 August 2021 |work=The Japan Times |date=8 August 2021|url-access=subscription}}

| inquiry =

| coroner =

| perpetrator = Yusuke Tsushima{{cite news |title=Suspect detained after stabbing 10 on Tokyo train |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/08/08/2003762225 |access-date=10 October 2021 |work=Taipei Times |date=8 August 2021}}

| convicted =

| verdict = 19 years in prison

| convictions = Attempted murder
robbery
attempted robbery

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A mass stabbing incident occurred 6 August 2021, on a commuter train in the Odakyu Electric Railway in Tokyo, Japan. Ten people were injured in the incident.

The attacker, a 36-year-old man named Yusuke Tsushima, was arrested hours later at a convenience store. Police charged him in January 2022 with attempted murder, robbery and attempted robbery. The possibility of femicide was suggested, based on Tsushima's testimony.{{cite web |last=Ito |first=Kazuko |date=2021-08-07 |title=フェミサイドの危険な兆候。いまこそ社会は明確なNOを |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/itokazuko/20210807-00252079 |accessdate=2021-08-11 |website=YAHOO!ニュース |language=ja}}{{cite web |last=Ogawa |first=Tamaka |date=2021-08-08 |title=トナカイさんへ伝える話（59）フェミサイドについて・1 |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/ogawatamaka/20210808-00252220 |accessdate=2021-08-11 |website=YAHOO!ニュース |language=ja}} On 14 July 2023, Tsushima was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Background

Although Japan ranks amongst the countries with the lowest crimes rates,{{cite news |title=Homicide and Robbery Rates Extremely Low in Japan |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00888/ |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=Nippon.com |date=23 December 2020}} incidents of mass stabbings are not uncommon.{{cite news |last1=Sato |first1=Mai |title=Despite Japan’s low crime rates, it’s seen a number of mass stabbings in the past decade |url=https://theconversation.com/despite-japans-low-crime-rates-its-seen-a-number-of-mass-stabbings-in-the-past-decade-117910 |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=The Conversation |date=29 May 2019}} In 2008, Tomohiro Katō, a 25-year-old man committed the Akihabara massacre, killing seven people. Eight years prior, Mamoru Takuma murdered eight children at an elementary school in the Ikeda school massacre. In 2016, 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu committed one of the most serious incidents of mass murder in Japan since World War II, when he stabbed 19 severely disabled people to death at a care center. Further incidents happened again in 2008 when Masahiro Kanagawa killed a man and injured scores of others with a knife and most recently, the Kawasaki stabbings in 2019, when a man, Ryuichi Iwasaki, 51, who self-identified as a hikikomori, killed two schoolchildren and injured 18 others at a bus stop before killing himself.

Two months after the attack, 24-year-old Kyota Hattori, who dressed as Joker, committed attempted murder and arson in a Keiō Line train at Chōfu in October, resulting in 17 passengers being injured.

Incident

At around 8:30 pm (JST: UTC+9) on 6 August 2021,{{cite news |title=Tokyo train stabbing suspect hoped to kill ‘as many as possible’ |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14413231 |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=The Asahi Shimbun |date=7 August 2021}} Yusuke Tsushima, aged 36,{{cite news |last1=AP |title=Man Arrested After Injuring 10 With Knife On Tokyo Train |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/08/06/1025517948/at-least-10-people-were-injured-in-a-stabbing-spree-on-a-tokyo-commuter-train |access-date=7 August 2021 |agency=NPR.org |date=7 August 2021}} began stabbing people indiscriminately on a commuter train in Setagaya Ward.{{Cite news |last=Saito |first=Mari |date=2021-08-07 |title=Knife attacker on Tokyo commuter train wanted to kill 'happy women'- NHK |language=en |work=Reuters |editor-last=Cameron-Moore |editor-first=Simon |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/knife-attacker-tokyo-commuter-train-wanted-kill-happy-women-nhk-2021-08-07/ |url-status=live |url-access=registration |access-date=2023-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412101030/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/knife-attacker-tokyo-commuter-train-wanted-kill-happy-women-nhk-2021-08-07/ |archive-date=12 April 2022}} A 20-year-old female university student was attacked relentlessly and sustained serious injuries to her chest and back.{{cite web |url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20210808/k00/00m/040/260000c |title=小田急線刺傷　容疑者、女子大学生に複数回切りつけ　追いかけ襲ったか |date=2021-08-08 |website=毎日新聞 |accessdate=2021-08-11 |publisher=毎日新聞社 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810171534/https://mainichi.jp/articles/20210808/k00/00m/040/260000c |archive-date=2021-08-10 |language=ja}} The victims were 5 female and 5 male passengers in their 20s to 50s, including the female university student. Three women and one man were stabbed; the victims were injured when they were hit by a blade wielded by the man, excluding the female university student. The other victims were injured when they fell down while running away.{{cite web |url=https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/122491 |title=小田急線車内で10人重軽傷　36歳の男を殺人未遂容疑で逮捕「幸せそうな女性を殺してやりたいと思った」、床にサラダ油まく |date=2021-08-07 |website=東京新聞 |accessdate=2021-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813120146/https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/122491 |archive-date=2021-08-13 |language=ja}}

The train was immediately halted and Tsushima spread cooking oil on the compartment's floor and tried to ignite a fire before escaping.{{cite news |last1=Parveen |first1=Shafia |title=Man who stabbed at least 10 people on Tokyo train for 'looking happy' arrested |url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/man-who-stabbed-at-least-10-people-on-tokyo-train-for-looking-happy-arrested-9870691.html |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=First Post |date=7 August 2021}} Police rapidly responded to the incident, with a woman being transported to hospital with serious stab wounds to her chest and back.

Tsushima, who had been suspected of shoplifting earlier in the day,{{cite news |last1=Castronuovo |first1=Celine |title=Japanese police arrest man who stabbed 10 people on Tokyo train |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/566835-japanese-police-arrest-man-who-stabbed-10-people-on-tokyo-train |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=The Hill |date=7 August 2021}} remained at large amidst a manhunt for hours.{{cite news |last1=AP |title=Man arrested after at least 10 people stabbed on Tokyo train |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/06/man-arrested-after-stabbing-tokyo-train |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=7 August 2021}} He finally entered a convenience store hours after the incident in Suginami Ward and informed the store employee that he was the suspect saying "I am the suspect in the incident reported by news media. I am tired of fleeing". The store employee quickly informed police and Tsushima was apprehended.{{cite news |last1=Maruyama |first1=Mayumi |title=At least 10 people injured in stabbings on Tokyo train |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/06/asia/tokyo-train-stabbing-intl/index.html |access-date=7 August 2021 |agency=CNN |date=7 August 2021}}

Although police opened an investigation, Tsushima was quoted as saying that he had been wanting to "kill a happy woman for the past six years" and added that the day of the incident "anyone would have been OK". He also stated that he thought "he could kill a large number of people given there's no space to escape inside a train".{{cite news |title=10 injured in knife attack on Tokyo train |url=https://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/World/20210807/3799472.html |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=News india |date=7 August 2021}}

Tokyo Police charged him later with the attempted murder of the seriously injured woman and other charges. Tsushima is a native of Kawasaki, Kanagawa.{{cite news |title=9 passengers stabbed or punched on Tokyo train, suspect detained |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/08/c98e4c5ec3ab-urgent-man-on-run-after-stabbing-passengers-on-tokyo-commuter-train.html |access-date=7 August 2021 |work=Kyodo News |date=7 August 2021}}

On 8 August 2021, Tsushima was sent to the prosecutors, where he said that he was ultimately motivated to commit the crime when he faced online rejection from women and regretted that he had not killed anyone, quoted as saying that the fact that no one had died was "unfortunate" for him. He also said that his life was a misery and blamed society.{{cite news |title=Man arrested in train stabbings suffered rejection in relationships |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/08/46285d9c8a10-man-arrested-in-train-stabbings-suffered-rejection-in-relationships.html |access-date=8 August 2021 |work=Kyodo News |date=8 August 2021}}

= Plan to bomb Shibuya Crossing =

On 10 August 2021, Tsushima reiterated his intent to target "happy-looking couples" in his attack and told police he considered bombing the famous Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo. Tsushima told investigators that he was willful in his intent to kill the seriously injured woman on the train because she looked like a "winner" in life. Police formally re-arrested him after the interrogation.{{cite news |title=Man in train knife rampage thought of bombing landmark Shibuya Crossing |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/08/e51f4add6851-man-in-train-knife-rampage-thought-of-bombing-landmark-tokyo-crossing.html |access-date=10 August 2021 |work=Kyodo News |date=10 August 2021}}

Legal proceedings

On 28 January 2022, Tokyo prosecutors formally charged Tsushima with attempted murder, and a judge remanded him in custody, after finding him fully liable to respond to the charges.{{cite news |title=小田急線刺傷事件で男を起訴 |trans-title=Man in the Odayku line stabbing case indicted|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/dc7b738b73edf9fb8338d80cfd962585eba28caa |access-date=18 April 2022 |work=Yahoo! News |date=28 January 2022|language=ja}} He was later also charged with robbery and attempted robbery.{{cite news |last1=Tanaka |first1=Kyota |title=Suspect admits to carrying out stabbing spree on Odakyu train |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14942676 |access-date=30 June 2023 |work=Asahi Shimbun |date=27 June 2023}}

On 27 June 2023, Tsushima admitted to the attack but his lawyers stated that he had no murderous intent.

On 14 July 2023, Tsushima was sentenced to 19 years in prison, with the presiding judge calling his motives "selfish" and the attack "extremely malicious," which the judge said, "left no room for leniency."{{cite news |title=Tokyo train knife attacker gets 19 years in prison |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230715_07/ |access-date=6 August 2023 |work=NHK |date=14 July 2023}}