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© KYODO3 people stabbed near Nagano Station; 1 dead
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kurisupisu
One moment waiting for abus and the next dead?
Pretty horrific to say the least.
sakurasuki
Japan is still a safe country?
Fighto!
Yes, safer than most places. These murders happen daily in every major city in the US, for one.
Rest in Peace to the innocent man. I hope the woman makes a full recovery - and that this killer is brought down ASAP before he kills again. With CCTV everywhere, I think he'll be captured soon.
Martimurano
This is shocking news from such a beautiful and very peaceful area of Japan.....
I used to stay at the Hotel Lausanne here over 20 years ago, which was owned by a very good friend of mine's parents.
I hope they catch this dangerous perpetrator quickly, and that he'll never be released.
Seigi
Yes... that's why this incident is headline news on national paper and TV. Because of its rarity.
Theodore Relic
"Japan is still a safe country?"
Let's just say this. In 2021 Japan as a whole had 285 homicides. The US city I live in, Columbus OH, had in 2021, 204 homicides. Compared to Columbus OH, I'd say Japan is safe. I only wish the US had a comparable homicide rate as Japan.
kohakuebisu
Shocking news. Fingers crossed for the victims.
fwiw, the story mentions transport to ski areas, but such buses use the other side of the station. This was the main entrance, the Zenkoji side. Only local buses go here. There are also far more shops and people passing by. The perp was caught multiple times on CCTV so I hope he is found.
WoodyLee
The Bad and Ugly thing about using stabbings or Knifes is NO bangs can be heard so no one know s if it's happening even when near by so no police calls made or even attempts to rescue.
Deo Gratias
Actually, yes, it is.
"Safe" doesn't mean "there's never any crime."
If a crime like this happened in America, it would very likely not make the national news.
It would make the local news. If it did make the national news, it would not be top-story news. It would maybe get a quick mention, in around the ninth or tenth position in the news-story line-up that night.
Reason: These things are rare in Japan.
wallace
It's dreadful. Nagano is a tranquil place—our former home before moving to Hyogo. The killer needs to be caught before he strikes again. I sympathize with the victims.
Ricky Kaminski13
Catch the guy! Pronto!
GuruMick
Absent of motive....victims unknown... psychiatric issues or meth head out of control.
Impossible to predict or Police issues such as these.
Alan Harrison
There has always been violent crime in Japan, nothing really new here. I remember 40 years ago a stabbing murder in a bar in my local area over a baseball match. As for Japan's safety, I would say 8 out of 10.
Geeter Mckluskie
Relatively yes. Google "violent crime rate, by country" for comparison.
Absolutely? Of course not. No place on the planet is absolutely safe
WoodyLee
The Police can't be everywhere at any given time, an impossible task as we well know but in crowded areas like in this case there need to be a reasonable police presence to prevent events like this from happening. I hardly ever see police officers on Patrol in major and crowded cities!?? in fact very rare where I see them ?? this has to change.
Criminal and Psycho's know it, they study their target area and plan their escape rout before they attack.
Xanadu Tokyo
Even if the police were there, would they have been able to see and act fast enough to stop him? Unlikley.
What my wife and I want to know is, why didn't any of the dozens of people standing or wlking nearby tackle the guy or run after him, even if at a safe distance?
Tokyo Guy
Absent of motive....victims unknown... psychiatric issues or meth head out of control.
Could be something as trivial as "I made a mistake at work and was scolded by the section chief. This made me angry and I decided to stab someone".
I'm not even joking, I've heard confessions which read almost exactly like that.
enmaai
I want to know is, why didn't any of the dozens of people standing or wlking nearby tackle the guy or run after him, even if at a safe distance
Maybe because they're scared and don't want to get stab, not every has the hero syndrome.
wanderlust
What my wife and I want to know is, why didn't any of the dozens of people standing or wlking nearby tackle the guy or run after him, even if at a safe distance?
A knife is quiet, shocked or injured victims may not cry out, background noises may mask a a muted cry of pain, some may not even know they have been wounded until some moments afterwards...
spinningplates
''there need to be a reasonable police presence to prevent events like this from happening.''
But that's the tragedy of the trick.... You CAN'T prevent these things from happening. If they had a hundred police officers there, lacking any clear motive, the guy would have apparently just stabbed someone somewhere else where they weren't.
enmaai
I mean not everyone has a hero syndrome.
wallace
The area around the station is quite deserted around 8 pm except when a train comes in.
grc
What’s with all the knife crime?
Geeter Mckluskie
no guns
Nick O.
There's more knife crime per capita in the US by a huge margin, even though guns are available there. It might seem like there's a lot in Japan simply because it's almost the only kind of weapon ever used by murderers, even then more people are killed with knives in other countries (such as the US)
Abe234
Xanadu TokyoToday 10:41 am JST
Even if the police were there, would they have been able to see and act fast enough to stop him? Unlikley.
What my wife and I want to know is, why didn't any of the dozens of people standing or wlking nearby tackle the guy or run after him, even if at a safe distance?
Well maybe the main priority is getting help for the victims, keeping your self safe, if you have kids, maybe you want to think twice about trying to be a hero! And for most I’m not sure I’m prepared to follow some guy with a weapon and possibly orphan them. Maybe not a great idea to take your fists to a knife fight. And maybe in such a few seconds and he’s off, people are confused, busy. So many reasons. And nobody has to justify it. We’ don’t all have to be heroes! There are tons of cameras and he’ll be picked up. Or he might turn himself in, or…….!
Yohan
If you read today's German and British news, I would say, yes, Japan is still a safe country.
Yohan
You cannot prevent crimes to be happen in a country with more than 120 million people, you cannot send a policeman to every corner in all Japan.
Japan is not crime-free, but compared to many other countries worldwide it is crime-low.
However I have to say, if I compare Japan 50 years ago with Japan today, I feel somehow, the number of violent crimes is increasing, but it seems it happens more often within the own family, and among people who know each other - unknown people, especially foreigners, are rarely attacked.
nandakandamanda
There were witnesses, but if I had been there I sense that I would have followed the perp at least to see where he was headed.
Sven Asai
Strict gun laws and other catalogs of defending restrictions and disabling defense completely give them all possibilities and chances to finish their crimes, including beforehand lowering own restricting psychological barrier for committing. It's encouraging and explicitly inviting them to do whatever comes into their sick mind. So, yes, Japan is of course statistically much safer than elsewhere when comparing the numbers of such crimes, but for the affected victims there is no difference anymore.
virusrex
On the contrary, they limit those possibilities and chances. If your argument was true there would be much more violence in countries with heavier restrictions (Like Japan) yet the complete opposite happens.
When your explanation does not fit the reality that means the explanation is incorrect.
Abe234
YohanToday 01:27 pm JST
You cannot prevent crimes to be happen in a country with more than 120 million people, you cannot send a policeman to every corner in all Japan.
Japan is not crime-free, but compared to many other countries worldwide it is crime-low.
However I have to say, if I compare Japan 50 years ago with Japan today, I feel somehow, the number of violent crimes is increasing, but it seems it happens more often within the own family, and among people who know each other - unknown people, especially foreigners, are rarely attacked.
No it’s not really. That’s just because of the psychological phenomenon called recent bias. On top of that today you have a device in your hand 24 hours a day, back in the day, there were less ways to get news, and the TV wouldn’t always have articles on violence. It had to pick and choose what to report. But now there are multiple websites and some will run with blood and gore. Newspaper and websites have the luxury of space and time, updates. TV and newspapers were made once a day, with limited time, and I didn’t buy two or three papers for my news. So it feels that way, but it’s not. You’re just more likely to hear to about now compared to 50,60 years ago.
Agent_Neo
The number of reported murders in Japan has decreased over the years, from 3,081 in 1954 to 1,051 in 2023. By the way, the average number of murders in Nagano Prefecture is 20 per year.
(See Research and Training Institute of Justice Research Department Report 50)
The same is true for traffic accidents, which are now one-fifth of the 1970s, when more than 16,000 people were killed.
Overall, violent crimes are on the decline, but crimes committed by the elderly have been on the rise since 2000. (Theft is the most common)
In the case of the elderly, theft is not due to lack of money, but is most often the result of social isolation. (Recidivism rate is 30%)
On the other hand, due to the declining birthrate, crimes committed by young people have been on the decline since 2000.
However, the number of bullying cases has reached an all-time high of 730,000, so it may just not be visible in the public eye.
This is the current situation in Japan.
Fighto!
@ Agent Neo - thanks for the facts and perspective.
I always find it bizarre that some people actually think violent crime and murders are increasing in Japan.
Japan is far safer than it used to be, and getting safer year-to-year.
kohakuebisu
Its been a bit better since the big facelift a few years back and now looks great with a projecting roof, timber covered pillars and big lanterns. They expanded the shopping and take out food, most of which is open till 8. Unfortunately the big bookstore opposite became a Mega Donki, but you can't have everything.
Nagano's two big youth department stores have been demolished (Again in Nagano City) and slated for closure (Parco in Matsumoto) so I agree that its not as lively as it could be. There is something like 300,000 in each city, plus their catchments.
Zaphod
sakurasuki
Yes it is. Compared to almost any other place. Thanks for asking.
tamanegi
It must be of some comfort for the families of the deceased and injured to learn from JT contributors that knife crime in another country on another continent is apparently higher than that in Japan.
I hope the assailant in arrested soon.
Zaphod
tamanegi
Not "apparently". And sympathy for the families does not make a wrong statement correct.
Xanadu Tokyo
Calling Japan 'safe' is just a bandwagon fallacy.
Based on what evidence? How do you determine 'safety'?
A feeling you get? Your own experience, or what you 'heard? Or becasue that's just what everyone seems to say all the time and confirmation bias.
You can't say stats because they are often grossly inadequate.
Xanadu Tokyo
News flash: violent crime has been falling in the developed world for decades. It peaked in the early 90s and has been in rapid decline (though fluctuating) ever since.
I'm sure you know that many murders in Japan go unrecorded too, since few autopsys are conducted and many people just go 'missing'.
wallace
The levels of violent crime is the lowest of all the G7 countries.
BertieWooster
Gosh. What a bright deduction!
bund
Apart from the US, tell me which developed country would not have a deadly public knife attack in the national news.
Boki24
Sure, not 'everybody' but nobody? is the point I think that some are trying to make I think.
My Japanese partner says this has always been a problem in Japan.
'hero syndrom' which has a negative meaning (' a psychological phenomenon where someone seeks recognition for being a hero" ) is not what were talking about in this case obviously. We're talking about someone stepping up and saving lives.
Cosell
All talk. No walk.
menajep
Condescending much?
You don't know how this person would react (you don’t even know him), and you don't know how you would react, but at least we can plan and prepare for what we would hope to be able to do.
While I was out and about with my small kids and wife in Tokyo today, I was thinking about what I would do if a knife attack suddenly happened. Preparation is half the battle — knowing how to react calmly and effectively could make all the difference in an emergency like this.
What is it?
There was a knife attack in a German park on two people which made world news while this knife attack in Japan did not, so I dont' get your point.
Masami Ito
you’re up against deeply ingrained beliefs and emotional biases about Japan being safe. Your threateming their whole worldview by providing evidence to the contrary. You can't change people's perceptions overnight, and some people will never change no matter how many facts you throw at them.
If they believe that Japan is 'safe' and this is somehow proven by the fact it is national news, then let them believe that if it comforts them.
Sure they might be suffering from cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias, but that's human nature for ya.
oldman_13
I've been saying it for a long time despite people denying it.
Japan is no longer that safe country as people think it is
Nick O.
"No longer" compared to when? Before life evolved? Or do you mean some particularly good year in the past decade?
Nick O.
I think for most people in this discourse, the issue is one of definitions. If "safe" means "nothing bad will happen", then "safe" is a purely philosophical concept and the word belongs only in academia or in theological discourse about the nature of the afterlife; there is no safe place in the entire world by that definition.
For me, "safe" means that I'm very unlikely to be harmed by another person (or animal for that matter). In that sense, I feel safe in Japan. But I still am very cautious when I go hiking, I look both ways before crossing the street, and I don't let my valuables leave my sight before long. I sometimes look over my shoulder on dark nights with mostly empty streets. I do these things because even though I feel safe by my definition, it is not safe by the first definition I gave (nor is any other place)
ILoveDownvotes
I don't know if reading "this makes news so Japan is safe" under the daily stabbing article inspires much confidence.
Something IS going in the wrong direction. Where I am from, unless you specifically cross someone's path, you're not very likely to get stabbed if they don't have any beef with you.
In here, it's randoms being targeted, which means you cannot prevent it, therefore for me personally the chance of being stabbed is likely higher here... Still very low, sure, but worryingly rising it seems.
Nick O.
But murders are down, so how can it be rising?