Woman stabbed by Shibuya Station in Tokyo

So her motive for stabbing the woman was "she didn't like the way the victim stared at her", but what was the motive to be carrying a knife around in central Tokyo? This wasn't an overzealous angry reaction, this was premeditated; she was spoiling to stab someone under the slightest pretext.

What surprises me most is that someone in their 70s would still be able to muster the physical strength needed to stab someone hard enough to put them into a critical condition; in films it's made to look easy, but apparently it's actually quite difficult to substantially pierce all that skin, muscle, cartilage and bone.

I am so glad people here don't have easy access to guns.

This country is still safe. Remember ever single nut out of 110 million gets reported here, Perspective please.

She didn't like the way the victim stared at her, eh? Cripes, I get stared at every day and I never knife any of the starers(?).

So, the Tokyu Department Store closed for the rest of the day, eh? Is the crazy woman going to be made to reimburse Tokyu for all those lost sales?

Stared? STARED?!? You get knifed for staring the wrong way in Japan? Or changing TV channels. Or walking in the street.

Would somebody please tell us again just how peaceful and non-violent Japanese are?

Someone is going straight to the psychiatric evaluation.

I will be very careful of the way I leer at obasans in the future.

CRAZY!

The department store was closed for the day

Well, that's a huge relief.

Grandma's do not need to be stabbing eachother. By THAT age verbal slaps should come naturally.

Random stabbing by a granny.... This country has lost the plot. You can all keep going on about how "safe" this place is but really, it isn't. That's a random stabbing, two dead parents... this week alone. Have I missed anything else?

Why do you still not understand? Japan IS safe, crime rates are lower than almost anywhere else. Safe doesn't mean crime free. You're much safer in Japant than you are in Canada. Stop using reports from the crime section to justify your Japan bashing, it looks tasteless.

Are you looking at me...?

She was quoted by police as saying that she didn’t like the way the victim stared at her, Jiji reported.

Tens of millions of people live in the Tokyo metropolitan area. There's bound to be a crazy person here and there. Unfortunately for the victim, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

whats wrong with just giving the finger..?

I never take the train unless absolutely necessary and avoid stations like Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro like the plague. I've felt a growing sense of zenophobia here since 3/11and have increased my level of vigilance consequently.

"Times of Trenton" & "Japan Today" seem to have the same sort of stories lately (albeit random stabbings instead of random shootings)....

Wow... and what was I JUST talking about on the thread about the son stabbing his father to death earlier today? I was talking about how these people go off with no good reason and will stab or otherwise attack someone on a whim. So that's three so far this week over absolutely stupid reasons.

I hope the woman recovers, and I hope the criminal goes to prison and gets a lot of evil looks from others. We'll see how much she likes it then.

You never know, perhaps she did stare at her in an incomprehensibly horrendous manner. Has anyone seen a computerized re-enactment of the staring on TV yet?

Usually people don't carry knives. That's one strong baba.

Just my opinion, but maybe the 70's baba had little to no money and was having trouble paying rent/food/medical bills so decided it would be easier on her to get it for free in prison.

Wasn't there a report a few months ago on how more and more crimes are being committed by the elderly here because they have no one else to turn to. More petty theft, more physical abuse and now more violent crimes.

Oginome:

Exactly.

These occasional nutcases stand out even more, precisely because this place is so safe. Would one stabbing even make it on national news in many other countries?

That said, I will be careful not to look at any obatarian any more...

Remember that it's hard to have someone admitted to a mental hospital against their will. Also, that from what I understand, they don't have enough beds. So, there are lots of people out there who are dangerous.

This is not a case of a lady who suddenly got a little too angry one day obviously.

The thing that scares me the most about Japan is the way people just attack someone completely random in the most banal settings. In other countries you can avoid certain areas at certain times of the day/night, but here you could be stabbed anywhere, not because you were a bully in someone's previous workplace or school, or something, but just because someone decided to stab "anyone, just anyone".

Call me paranoid, but I usually am aware of people around me. Esp, with my kids around.

You'll notice that the victims are usually the weak and defenseless types. Kids, women.

It's becoming a very Japanese type of crime isn't it? Stab someone, then call the police yourself, or wait to be arrested, and cooperate totally. Not for money, not for a political aim, just because ....

Onibaba alert.

Police cordoned off the area and covered the crime scene with a blue sheet.

Japan's thin blue tarp, standing between civil society and anarchy.

Not crazy. Likely schizophrenic.

The world would be a much better place if psychology was taught to all students in every country as a normal part of the curriculum.

I used to make eye contact with the old ladies in the neighborhood and nod my head as a way to say Hello... but I'm starting to rethink that gesture.

Woman stabbed by Shibuya Station in Tokyo

That sounds like one dangerous station.

@Serrano, the TV news indicated not that they closed the department store for the rest of the day, but that it was the store's day to be closed. Presumably the various news providers--every news story I've seen made a point of mentioning it--feel that's important because otherwise the woman might have run amok in a crowded store, or perhaps that the store being closed meant less potential victims in the area?

@tmarie

Would you rather walk two miles through the centre of Nottingham at two in the morning, or Fukuoka? Or Hiroshima? Or Sapporo? Forget stats, which would you choose?

"She was quoted by police as saying that she didn’t like the way the victim stared at her"

WOW what an ingenious reason.......gaigins have to ignore stares....

she may have been thinking "what set you from cuz"....

This happened in Shibuya a few years ago too with women of similar age. What is it with the senior cits in Japan? Are they all completely bonkers? It seems just about everybody over 50 is a walking time bomb ready to explode at any given moment.

I read the headline thinking this incident took place at Shibuya Station - i.e.past the barriers or in the ticket office area, however the story reads : -

According to police, the victim, a woman from Kawasaki, was on the first floor walkway between the station and Tokyu department store

That walkway is not the station.

Damn this is nuts...another random stabbing...no one is safe anymore

She was quoted by police as saying that she didn’t like the way the victim stared at her

yeah...but why is she having knife?

Kids, sons, and now grandma - place is going off. Stay safe everyone and spring just round the corner too.

If I stabbed everyone who looked at me funny in Japan then I'd be stabbing a lot of people.

I know we're a ageing nation but what is it recently with more older people attacking other old people? First the old man on old man shooting in Chiba and now this..

I hope this woman makes a safe and quick recovery though and that the other woman spends her last years safely away from the public

Not surprised that everyone stampeded the hell out of there, but I would be interested to know if any good samaritan types didn't try to stop the attack. Of course, it is easy to talk brave at home sat at my computer desk, and in reality my first reaction would be to bolt, but on the other hand a 70 year old granny...... there must be some cctv about...

God, I turn my back for a minute...and another story pops up. And here was I, worried about high school kids wandering around with mummified animal parts hanging as trophies from their sports kits.

Jokes aside.......She flipped out because she didn't like the way the other lady stared at her? And she just happened to have a knife on her? Handy! Random attacks. They terrify the he'll out of me. No way to really prepare for one of them. What's the bet we have a copycat in the next couple of days?

Japan sure is changing. I hope the poor lady who was attacked pulls through this and gets the support she needs.

@kaminarioyaji

Agree that it cold possibly have been premeditated.

It is surprising that she had the strength to really hurt someone, but she did pick on an elderly frail person.

And about the difficulties of cutting up someone, that could also depend on the knife. They have some seriously sharp blades here for within the $200 range that slices through meat and hide very easily.

"didn’t like the way the victim stared at her"

Wow, just amazing how people can be set off. How many walking hand grenades are out there every day of the week waiting to go off? One wouldn't want to think about it too much I guess.

Readers, no more comparisons with other countries please.

After the attack, panic ensued with commuters screaming and rushing out of the station,

I wonder if any of these terrified shoppers stopped to help the old lady while she lay there bleeding.

@ gaijinfo, no they probably wouldn't... I've seen this time and time again when a person passes out at a club or at the street others leave them be. The don't even check for a pulse. If the individual is bleeding...they scream bloody murder, and maybe 1 out of 20 would actually do something other then scream, and that is call an ambulance.

But I actually saw a woman smack a by-passer cuz well appearently he was "leering at her"....all he did was nod and smile. I was the witness....

MaitakeFeb. 22, 2012 - 09:38AM JST 50 year old man kills his father...sad, and over a TV channel? Japanese TV channel? pathetic. I am not surprised; just the other day a kid stabbed his mother because she took away his video game. From 50 year old stabbers to teen stabbers, from random stabbings to rage-filled impulsive stabbings, there is no shortage of people stabbing each other in Japan. What do you think tomorrow's stabbing will be? "Woman stabs pinchinko parlor worker" , "Boy stabs brother for kancho-ing him" Your guess is as good as mine. Posted in: Man fatally stabs father over TV channel argument

I'm going to have to amend my statement from yesterday. Now there are 70-something-year-old granny stabbers out there too! I was way off on my predictions. A granny stabbing another granny? Who would have thought? I'm going to start taking bets as to tomorrow's stabbing scenario. Closest prediction takes the pot!

NetNinja, mental disorder is not a conspiracy. If the signs are recolonized these kinds of incidents can be prevented.

What Japam needs to do is change its insurance program so that people can receive mental health without the records of their treatment available to anyone who isn't a doctor.

Wow, usually its the men going at it like this. Whats up with the old people lately.

I also fear getting pushed off the platform of the train too. I always try to be vigilant about my surroundings. People just snap.

This story is bizarre even by Japanese standards.

To many NQR's in this country that like playing stabby for no reason.

Holy smokes. I just came back from there tonight!

WilliB: "These occasional nutcases stand out even more, precisely because this place is so safe."

BS. That's like saying a random shooting in the US stands out because it's safe -- truth is there are thousands of shootings in the US and not enough news but to report the massacres, and likewise here they cannot possibly report every stabbing. There have been two stabbings in my town in less than 6 months and neither was reported beyond local news. One was even a 16 year old stabbed by an older man that locals were trying to link to the guy who kept stabbing young girls late last year. Nope.

True, it's not downtown Baghdad, but it's not as safe as you think when 'getting stabbed by someone who wouldn't even look at you sideways' is considered the norm (and it is, increasingly).

"You're much safer in Japant than you are in Canada."

Stats? I know you are scared of said nation beyond above and beyond superior to your native land in every respect, but seriously. Come on, bud... how many stabbings like this in one day like we've had at least two international newsworthy reports on in Japan?

She's in her 70's, so nothing will happen to her. She will be released with an apology, and a pleasant request not to do it again. "Obasan, you shouldn't go around stabbing people like that. It's not nice."

After the attack, panic ensued with commuters screaming and rushing out of the station,

"I wonder if any of these terrified shoppers stopped to help the old lady while she lay there bleeding."

I wondered the same thing. It sounds like people ran off like a bomb was about to explode! Poor victim!

Smith is right. Japanese people will do something violent on a whim. The scariest moment in my day, everyday, is when I walk the platform looking for a spot to board the train. I don't fear being stabbed so much cause it will be a fight to the death once someone brands a knife or cuts me.

What's really scary is someone that might push you off the platform. I'm extremely vigilant for nutcases until I get to my boarding area.

We must be careful. Right now, they are practicing on each other. Soon that won't be enough. They'll start targeting tourists and foreigners living in Japan. I wonder where their website is? People who commit such acts are somewhere on the web talking about it, daring each other to do it. Where is Japan's cybercrimes division?

I was right there at that time. Was crazy. Lots of helicopters and police.

At first I thought the cops were checking girls with mini-skirts on bikes, but it turned out to be a random stabbing by a sick grandma.

My train was not delayed though on the Hanzomon line, so ureshikatta.

Random stabbing by a granny.... This country has lost the plot. You can all keep going on about how "safe" this place is but really, it isn't. That's a random stabbing, two dead parents... this week alone. Have I missed anything else?