Man arrested after stabbing high school boy at train station

My guess is something happened on the train here, a loud ipod, he was talking to his girl on kaitei, or he looked like Ryo Ishikawa?...guy was probs boozed up too.

This is horrible. Some nutter stabs a kid in the back and gets away BY TAXI? Nutters with Knives. Danger.

Yikes! That's scary. Sounds like the guy is delusional or something. Hopefully they have the right guy and not just using some poor mentally ill person as a scape goat. Wouldn't aggravated assault be a more appropriate charge? Hope the student is able to make a full recovery.

Hope the boy makes a speedy recovery. Too many loonies here out on the street.

Would love to have intercepted that whacko. Responsibly speaking Japan will see a rise in this type of occurrence. It is wise to educate all of proper (re)action. You could have the chance to save a life seriously.

"Responsibly speaking Japan will see a rise in this type of occurrence"

It's already risen incredibly. The question should be on how to tackle the problem.

Another of those "dare demo yokatta" crimes? Mentally sick people should be confined In a hospital but in Japan mental illness is something to be ashamed of.

kavikahi: Japan won't see a rise, as in the future, Japan IS seeing a rise now, in the present. These loons are everywhere. Stab someone for no reason? Becoming a bit of a national past time.

I hope this boy recovers completely.... and he gets into whatever school he was vying for.

I hate knives.

"The boy, who was returning home after sitting for a university entrance exam in Tokyo"

Poor Kid - just starting to unwind from taking exams and gets stabbed in the back by some looney - Tell me this kid isn't going to be checking his back every time he goes to the train station for the next year - crap!!

Sadly, nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to Japan. I hope the kid makes a speedy recovery.

rushing through the ticket gate and getting into a taxi...Police received a call at about 9 a.m. Wednesday morning

So he immediately escaped by taxi, and wasn't caught until 9a.m. the next day? How?

Nobody around screamed for help or gave chase, alerting the driver that he's carrying a criminal?

Good thing knives are banned....

Unemployed and had nothing else to do, but trying to become a stupid scumbag! Did Japan ban knives including with all restaurants, butchers, and homes? Airlines are using pkastic knives to protect passengers from cutting themselves when cutting chop or steak, or is that due to security???

Lets hope the poor boy recovers quickly and gets through his exams. As for the lowlife who did this - lock him away forever. We are all sick and tired of nutters with mental illnesses roaming the streets when they should be locked away - preferably in a straightjacket. Not so long ago (30 years or so) the mentally sick were kept in asylums - put 'em back in there I say!

Dear Japan, Please start dealing with you crazy people. Japan is not the "safety" country you really wish it was.

Love, Tmarie

Why these creepy people are allowed to walk openly endangering others life. Next to my appartment is one such sick creepy staying with his parents, he is 23 yrs and always starring people from the window. A few month back he chased one neighbour with knife and he is still not admitted in mental hospital. Whenever i return home i am always aware of his madness.

Wow! unemployed, and after stabbing an innocent child takes a taxi home? Sad that flatscreen tvs, blueray, LV purse, collagen have more respect than human lives for some people.

27% of the adult population are loopy. Watch your backs people. 1 in 3 people at the platform could be targeting you.

What's going on in Japan ??? It was long one of the most peacable, orderly and safe nations in the world. Now, it seems like there are random attacks on innocents and murders every day - often committed by "ordinary people" without any long criminal history. A 56-year-old man ... you cannot even make a lame claim that he was warped as a child by too many violent mangas, video-games and Hollywood shoot- 'em-ups. Something broader is going on that leads people to belive that extreme violence is the only answer to their problems.

Yes, there has been a general economic downturn, but these have happened before without causing such large tears in Japans social fabric. I've heard some say that Japan has become "contaminated" with western values that sometimes glorify untargeted violence ... but Japan was just as "contaminated" in 1990, 1980, 1960 for that matter and there were no outbreaks of general mayhem. So, I don't think this is as easy as pointing a finger at what seems "obvious".

People tend to turn violent when they feel they have no control of their lives at any useful level and there's no hope for a better future. Violence is a way of taking control, at least at the personal level. It's a way to be powerful and important, even if it's within a very narrow sphere.

So why would so many Japanese feel out of control, helpless, hopeless, NOW ? What is different about NOW as compared to a decade or two in the past ?

Stabbings do seem to eb the preferred choice in Japan. Doesn't surprise me about the mental illness part. This seems to be mentioned for most reported stabbers.

No one knows this guys history so making unsubstantiated deductions as to how this man came to do this is stretching it. He lost it and stabbed a kid. Trying to make sense of a criminal mind is senseless. Why would you want to understand it. You can't even if the real reason was given.

Poor kid. Wish him a speedy recovery.

Dear Japan, Please start dealing with you crazy people. Japan is not the "safety" country you really wish it was. Love, Tmarie

Japan is safety country of four unique seasons. But, being foreign alien, you could never understand. You not drive white car slowly on Sundays (day off).

glyco157: I think you are right about more people feeling out of control, powerless, hopeless, helpless. That is the reason for the increase in suicides as well. Some people turn their anger, resentment and frustration inwards and others turn it out on society.

My theory is that values and roles are changing. Once people knew where they belonged and what was expected of them. They worked hard for the good of society and worked hard to keep the harmony. Now things are shaking up a bit and people suddenly feel a sense of discontent, confusion and frustration.

What scares me a little is that Japanese people don't often show expression on their face so you never know what is really going on in their minds and many don't express their true feelings openly. I fear more of these bottled up people will explode...

What's going on in Japan ??? It was long one of the most peacable, orderly and safe nations in the world. Now, it seems like there are random attacks on innocents and murders every day

It still is. On average during the last 30 years, there are less than 10 random attacks (通り魔 ) per year. The media made a big deal out of it during 2008 because the # was 14 coupled with the Akihabara incident. In the first half of 2009, there were only 3.

I'm still waiting for the "explosion" of Japanese going postal which some of the posters are predicting.

This is just sad. What is it with the random attacks? From cutting girls hair to stabbings it's just plain weird.

Nigel, I'm sure Japan is still safer than some places but the random attacks seem to be increasing both in number and violence since the last economic downturn started.

Anybody have some data on this?

"Nigel, I'm sure Japan is still safer than some places but the random attacks seem to be increasing both in number and violence since the last economic downturn started.

Anybody have some data on this?"

Did you not read my post?

Here's some stats.

http://kangaeru.s59.xrea.com/toorima.htm

http://www.npa.go.jp/toukei/seianki8/h21kamihanki.pdf

Next time, if it "seems" to you that certain events are increasing, perhaps you might pause for a moment and consider that the media's coverage has something to do with it.

This is a "relatively" normal incident... It's incredible how people will make a mountain out of a molehill from an article of news. A few already trying to debunk Japan as one of the safest places to be. Newsflash! It still is...

Try to keep things in perspective.