Security camera footage reveals murder of Lawson manager in Ishikawa

Anyone working in a convenience store should have some kind of protection. Mace, Taser, baseball bat, something...and be ready to use it at all times.

I just don't understand these people.

And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it.

68 years old and working the night shift at a convenience store... sad way to go. I wondering what kind of training he had to deal with a situation like this.

@thundercat - This is "safety Japan," so there's no reason to give the training necessary to deal with violence (read: sarcasm) and at most he was probably told to just give whatever is demanded, but that doesn't really prepare someone from thieves who are intent on using violence.

Every conbini should have drone guns at the counter. Its the only way to stop these terrible attacks. For the night shifts conbini's should only employ ex special forces people. The Japanese govt has too long sat back and ignored these problems.

The govt should implement a programme similar to the JET programme for recruiting employees to work these dangerous shifts. Ex SAS or Navy SEALS would do the job

Horrible... I hope they find him.

"I wondering what kind of training he had to deal with a situation like this."

I don't think there's really any sort of adequate training to prepare a sales clerk for someone with every intention of stabbing you and making off with the cash register money.

"Safety Japan . . . at most he was probably told to just give whatever is demanded . . . "

While the dig at Japan's safety record was anticipated (despite mountains of evidence demonstrating that Japan is still light years ahead of other nations in terms of public safety), MOST law enforcement agencies througout the industrialized world tell people precisely that: Just give robbers what they want. Anything beyond that just isn't worth it -- particularly your life.

Again, this idea that a 68-year old man -- or a hale 25-year old man, for that matter -- could somehow be trained for and successfully use some special disarming technique to against an assailant with a knife or gun, is patently ridiculous. Mind you, this is a job that pays 750yen an hour.

"Every conbini should have drone guns at the counter. Its the only way to stop these terrible attacks."

It's not as if we're talking about an epidemic of convenience store attacks throughout Japan. No, drone guns aren't the answer.

Klein, love the quote from the movie "Fargo"...and it is so true! Why would you go to such lengths of violence for pocket change? And there should never be enough money on the table to commit murder!! Its truly sad, and I hope they catch this guy, and give him the death penalty for his actions.

Isn't it standard to have at least 2 people working on night shifts?

What I find disturbing about this attack was that it was clearly premeditated. The surgical mask, bulky jacket, gloves, and knife all indicate that regardless of how this went the robber had contemplated the possibility of stabbing someone and went ahead with this anyway.

Still this is a chance for the Japanese police to show that they can do real police work. I mean it shouldn't be too difficult to find this guy.

As for the criticism on convenience store safety, the only upgrade I'd really recommend is a panic button with a pre-recorded message for the 110 operator along the lines of "This is an emergency call from <insert address here>. The panic button has been pressed and the cashier is unable to speak right now. Please send the police and an ambulance.".

Honestly given the crime rate in Japan its far more likely that the type of emergency a 65-year old male will have is that he'll have a heart attack so a panic button that can just be pressed and will automatically summon help isn't just a good idea, it's bloody essential.

Should have those super red paint balls that lots of places have

I believe this assailant must have known, a/ the manager was working alone B/ an old guy, therefore he must have entered the shop prior to the time of this incident to check it out. Cold premeditated murder! RIP Tomoji Yamazaki san.

Wearing a mask? I guess the j-cops won't have any ideas then.

The solution to this problem is simple, Hire more staff. The probability of an attack decreases with more staff around. Even if hiring more staff seems unprofitable (safety should be considered in the same regard), staggering the shifts so that there's one night staff, with and evening staff that leaves halfway through, and a morning staff that comes on right afterwards. These people are often sitting ducks by themselves in any country regardless of crime levels comparisons.

Frungy...disagree with the first 2 points for obvious reasons...unless you were being sarcastic..however, the third point, brilliant!

I don't know how it works in Japan, but I know in the USA anything over $20 gets put in the drop-box safe. Usually in Japan the 1-man gets put in the register under the coins.

Could this be why thieves target these stores?

We had a similar murder in my city in Japan. At a circle K. These types of crimes are EXTREMITY rare in Japan. People who do this are desperate!!! I will tell you exactly why the man in my city robbed (and killed the clerk) in my store. He was kicked out of the Yakuza and he borrowed money from them. He borrowed way more than he could ever pay back. and they were after him. After he stole the money he went to pachinko to try and get enough to money. Of course he didn't. He was a fool. A fool for 15 different reasons. He was facing the yakuza. Ending up in a barrel on the bottom of the ocean.

AND dont bash J-cops. They do their jop. And they do it well. Japan arrest rate for violent crimes is MORE than double of places like the USA!!! close to 90% if my memory serves me correct. There are a lot reasons to bash Japan. safety and police are not one of them!

I hope they get this loser.

"Klein, love the quote from the movie "Fargo"...and it is so true!"

I thought the guy kind of looked like a Fargo character with the hood and all. And yes, whether it is Brainerd or Ishikawa, it does not make any sense. The quote fits.

What kind of hell is it when someone will kill for what, 20000 yen or so?

and jostling with Yamazaki before leaving the store just a minute later.

Geeeeezzzz! All he had to do was take the money and run. Why take the old man's life too.

RIP Yamazaki san.

"I don't know how it works in Japan, but I know in the USA anything over $20 gets put in the drop-box safe."

Namabiru is right. Especially if you only have one or two registers. Drop safes are the way to go because they stop all kinds of theft and blow the risk/reward ratio through the roof. Smart. Cheap. Effective. More violence is not the answer, but it is oddly the first resort of people from a country which shall remain nameless.

In this case Mr. Knife would have gotten away with 5000 yen and the cashier just would have let him have it and watched him run.

Probably, this 68 year old was a new guy and saw a few Fukuzawas in the register and tried to be a hero.

A drop safe would have made everyone happy, and it probably would have cost less than what was stolen.

On television a few minutes ago, the reporters were saying that the mope in the photo looks like a foreigner... Nearly all crime in Japan is committed by foreigners...yada yada yada... That is what the Japanese media would have us believe. Japanese only commit 97% of all crime in this country annually. I bet the poor cashier who was stabbed had grandchildren. Very sad.

american bengoshi : . . . the reporters were saying that the mope in the photo looks like a

foreigner... Nearly all crime in Japan is committed by foreigners... That is what the Japanese media would have us believe

NOT QUITE ! ! ! For one thing: THE GUY IN THE PHOTO ABOVE DOES HAVE FEATURES of someone NOT JAPANESE. . . . . Secondly. in stating that the perp "looks" like a foreigner is not fomenting prejudice against foreigners. . . . .A spade is a spade . . . . Maybe it's you who is over-reacting.

Moderator: No further references to foreigners please, unless the suspect is positively identified as such.

Kujiranikusuki says "dont bash J-cops. They do their jop. And they do it well. Japan arrest rate for violent crimes is MORE than double of places like the USA!!! close to 90% if my memory serves me correct. There are a lot reasons to bash Japan. safety and police are not one of them!" Oh come on. 90% arrest rate does not mean they are catching the right people and a justice system so dependant on confession based convictions (especially a system with the death penalty) should alarm everyone.

semperfi...you must have some amazing software that sharpens an image to know for sure what this person looks like. When I look at the photo, I find it extremely difficult from the tiny bit of face shown here, to ascertain whether he is Japanese or not. In fact, bundled up like that, it isn't even easy to tell if the perp is male or female. Obviously, the police have more to go on than we do, but with only that pic above, there is not much for us to go on to be able to say one way or another.

american bengoshi...did they actually say that in the news? The part about nearly all crime? I find it hard to believe the news would put that out there.

Poor Yamazaki san. And his family...this will be so hard for them.

Hope they catch the coward and throw the book at him.

Why are these convenience stores even open at these early hours anyway?? Do they have a lot of customers and make lots of money?? Poor guy, killed for 750Y an hour...

If this photo is the best image they have of this guy's face, it will be difficult to catch him.

out of curiosity, what is it with the surgical mask thing in japan? or the white gloves? Are convienience store clerks allowed to have any kind of personal self defence weapon? I've seen how they are supposed to throw those glass balls filled with a colored ink to mark the perp on the way out, i guess