8 injured as man rams car into pedestrians in Harajuku in 'retaliation for execution'

Wow, terrorism has arrived at Japan.

Police detained a man who is believed to be the driver of the rental car with an Osaka license plate. Investigative sources quoted the man who claimed to be in his 20s as saying he has perpetrated an act of terrorism.

Sounds to me more like a lonely punk who felt they had no future and wanted suicide by cop, but since he didn't have a gun, nor his own car, he did the next thing that would most assuredly get him arrested.

Terrible. So many people its a miracle no one died. This can now happen in any city in the world.

Wow, terrorism has arrived at Japan

Dont you remember 1990s.

Wow, terrorism has arrived at Japan

Haven't you heard of the Red Army and the things they did in the 1970s?

Dayum, I just mentioned something like this when we talked about the Chinese guy burning the newspaper at the Meiji shrine.

Probably better to find out the motive for this before laying any blame.

Sorry for stating the bloody obvious.

Probably better to find out the motive for this before laying any blame.

The blame rests with the driver.

A 21 year-old Japanese guy did it according to the Japanese new. Yubaru was probably right, a lonely guy who felt he had no future.

Trying to do a "Fast and Furious - Tokyo Drift', but the crowd never moved out of the way like in the film.

who claimed to be in his 20s as saying he has perpetrated an act of terrorism

Just another loser nobody wanting his 15 minutes of fame. Hopefully, his 15 minutes of fame turns into 15 years in prison.

Samit BasuToday 06:55 am JST

Wow, terrorism has arrived at Japan.

Somebody already did the drive over thing a decade ago.

Calm down people. This Douchebag is not a terrorist. He's a 21 year old nobody and he's about as close to the Red Army as we are! i,e; not at all.

In many countries "open-space", does not mean a major car intersection, albeit at night, it still remains primarily a vehicular space, a lot needs to change, in regards to open space provision in big cities like Tokyo.

In NYC on New Years Eve, there are giant concrete barriers to prevent these types of incidents during the ball drop. They also use dump trucks when Trump or his wife are in town to close off 5th Ave. towards Trump Tower. Time for the J-police to start setting these things up during Halloween and New Years and whenever large groups of people are going to gather. Really, all it takes is one nut job - and Japan is full of them - to take out a whole village of people.

Renting a car should also require the renter to undergo a thorough background check: Have they been institutionalized? What do the parents say about their kid's mental state? Two letters of reference from former school teachers. Or better yet, getting a drivers license should require all of the above.

All cars in the future will have automated tech to prevent these types of incidents, but until then...

The only thing that makes sense to me so far is that he did this in revenge for the executions of the Om Shinro Kyo members this year, specifically Asahara. We all remember the Sarin subway attack, domestic terrorism incarnate.

I mentioned this to my Japanese Mrs and her first comment was, “Again?”

Remener earlier this year there was sone other idiot driving his car through crowds of people at Shibuya crossing?

The next time somebody says. “japan is a safe country” I’m gonna laugh in their face and slap them back into reality.

Retaliation for what exactly?

This weird act is resemblance to that lunatic that rammed people with his car in Akihabara, a few years ago.

15mins of fame worth a life sentence for 9 attempted homicides — do the crime, do the time!

This is 100% speculation on my part, but the most prominent executions in Japan recently were the leaders of the AUm cult, which was a terrorist organization. Possibly that is what he was refering to?

Or maybe not. Guess we’ll find out. Terrible act, I hope the teenager who was seriously injured recovers.

This was "in retaliation for an execution" I think NOT just his excuse for being a stupid piece of crap with no idea of what to do with his life. Good that no body was killed, Bad that some people were injured. Great that they caught him before he could hurt anyone else. Fantastic if he gets locked up for life.

The next time somebody says. “japan is a safe country” I’m gonna laugh in their face and slap them back into reality.

Japan is a relatively safe country. These kind of incidents are extremely rare and thus the reaction to them tends to be high profile.

As for his motives, who knows? It can legitimately be called terrorism, given that he caused terror, panic and injuries.

"he had intended to kill the pedestrians he hit "in retaliation for an execution" oh dear it looks like he might be joining the executioner him self! can't the see all he has done? he has put innocent people lives in danger, what have they done to him or the state? if he does not like what the government, prison service has done he needs to aim his anger towards them, not innocent people.

According to various sites, it seems he was headed to Meiji Jingu but stopped from entering, so he chose Takeshita Dori. When caught and questioned he is said to have uttered the words 「殺そうと思い、通行人をはねた。オウムの死刑に対する報復でやった」

https://news.headlines.auone.jp/stories/movie/news/12046372?genreid=8&subgenreid=21&articleid=12046372&cpid=10130007

オウムの死刑 = the Aum execution(s)

It is possible that his reference to Aum was not reported in the mainstream press as the police are still worried about remaining hidden support for Asahara Shoko, which they are of course, or it is possible that he was simply misheard and misquoted.

Thanks for posting. The wording on NHK radio news was 死刑制度に対するj.....

Do driving your car the wrong way down a one way street does not terrorize anyone, so thus is not terrorism; if this what the Japanese police really think, hard to believe.

It is a shame that innocent people suffered because of one unstable individual. It could have been much worse. No one died, so far, the kerosene was not ignited, and he was captured.

And, I agree that it seems that Japan is safer than most countries.

It's worth noting that the leader and six followers of Aum Shinrikyo (the cult responsible for the Tokyo subway Sarin attacks in the 90s) was executed six months ago.

*were

It is possible that his reference to Aum was not reported in the mainstream press as the police are still worried about remaining hidden support for Asahara Shoko, which they are of course, or it is possible that he was simply misheard and misquoted.

This was reported in the mainstream Japanese press and in the capsule news put out over LINE.

bullfighter, can you link to which part of the mainstream press and when? Thank you.

OK. Found an Asahi link from one day ago. Asahi was brave to break ranks, maybe.

Mentions Aum, and that he had poured kerosine over himself.

https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/000144307.html

'kerosene', even.

LOL.. Nothing new.. It is not the first nor the last time..! There are many things in the Japanese system and its cultural mentality, that are so wrong and are makeking it's people go crazy up to a point that they don't see any other option but to commit a crime just so they can be heard. Its terrible, for sure, but that is Japan, the number one country in the world for suicides and people killing people because they can take it being shut down and outcassed because they have a different point of view. I am a foreigner and lived in Osaka for the last 20 years!

that is Japan, the number one country in the world for suicides and people killing people

Japan isn't number one for either of those statistics.

In fact, according to the WHO, Japan is #30 for suicides: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

And according to the UNODC is #189 for murders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

Taka a look at the chard:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Japan

Even if it's placed 30th, there is still something wrong. We are talking about Japan not a 3rd world country, here..! It supposed to be relatively safe but not according to many sources like "Wikipedia" which in my opinion should not be taking as a reliable source! All in all is a free world and we all have opinions! What matters is how much brains does an individual has, in order to commit something stupid like that!

Even if it's placed 30th, there is still something wrong. We are talking about Japan not a 3rd world country, here..!

So what position in the ranking would you consider to be acceptable? Finland is only two places beyond that, with nearly the same rate of suicide. Do your comments apply to Finland as well?

It supposed to be relatively safe

Japan regularly ranks in the top 5 safest countries in the world (they use different metrics). It's very safe.

not according to many sources like "Wikipedia" which in my opinion should not be taking as a reliable source!

Why not? Wikipedia entries either have references, or they note when references are missing and the validity of the article is in question. How is Wikipedia not reliable? And what do you suggest as a reliable source?

We are talking about Japan not a 3rd world country

Suicide is not just confined to developing nations.

It supposed to be relatively safe but not according to many sources like "Wikipedia" which in my opinion should not be taking as a reliable source!

Which is it, then? Safe or not safe?

If you're talking criminal acts as opposed to corporate crime, it's pretty safe.

Visitors from abroad usually comment on how safe they feel walking the streets of most Japanese towns. Naturally there are exceptions, and places and people to be aware of, but there is generally no nasty or paranoid vibe to keep you on your toes. This alone must tell us something.

Mainstream press reports that besides the 18 liter jerry can of kerosene/paraffin he had a pressure pump in the car and was planning to fire a fine kerosene spray at the people gathered in Meiji Jingu, a sort of homemade flame thrower.

Oh, 18 L? (Ours at home is 18L.)

Perhaps it was actually 20L as the article above states.