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One thing Japan excels at is preparedness training. Whether it’s using mascots to simulate an animal escape from a zoo, or setting up chutes to escape from a burning castle, people are constantly being reminded of the importance of being prepared for worst-case scenarios, and that extends to dangerous situations on Japanese trains.
So when Japan Rail and the Ibaraki Prefectural Police Department conducted an emergency drill inside a train on Japan Rail’s Joban Line, they shared a video of the event with the public. Their desire to spread information about what might occur and how staff and passengers should deal with such an incident went better than planned, as the video ended up going viral online.
The reason why the clip went viral was due to the man playing the role of the knife-wielding assailant. This was no half-baked performance, as the wide-eyed man went all out with the role, playing it so convincingly that the stand-ins playing passengers didn’t need to act scared — they genuinely were.
The video currently has over 3.3 million views.
The video starts with one of the passengers moving away from the assailant, who clearly looks unhinged as he yells while hitting a tiny drum. The scene unfolds further as the passenger, identified by the word “乗客” (jokyaku or passenger) on his vest, heads over to the emergency call button, where he asks the conductor for help and explains that a man with a knife is on the carriage.
Some time passes and the carriage is now being evacuated by staff so that the assailant is on his own, holding a replica of a knife in one hand. This is where the actor really puts on a performance, holding his head in his hands and acting agitated, sprawling out over the seats while shouting at the top of his voice. Then, when the police arrive, we’re all given a lesson in how the authorities confront violence in Japan — not with guns, but with a stick, a shield, and a “man catcher” known as a sasumata.
The assailant makes a lunge for the police officers, but he’s no match for them and their defense system, and the man is restrained and arrested on the spot. Upon the end of the video, online viewers gave the clip a unanimous round of applause, leaving comments like:
“He acts like someone who’s experienced this firsthand before.”
“So impressed by this enactment.”
“It almost looks like he’s not acting.”
“Someone nominate him for an Academy Award!”
“Playing the criminal properly like this increases the value of the training. They all did a great job.”
It’s true that the more realistic the scenario, the better prepared everyone will be for an emergency incident like this, so kudos to Japan Rail and the local police for conducting the drill, and to the actor for not holding back with the performance.
Sources: Twitter/@ibarakipolice via Hachima Kiko
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2022/10/27/emergency-drill-assailant-on-japanese-train-goes-viral-for-being-too-good-at-the-job/
21 Comments
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virusrex
It may seem silly but this is quite important, even a small amount of realism can make the people around feel stressed and agitated, facilitating mistakes or problems that can then be identified and corrected before the real situation comes around. The guy really went beyond just pretending and made the drill worth everybody's time.
I would not be surprised if they got an actor (even if not a professional) to play this part, taking into account how much resources a drill like this can cost it may not be a bad idea to actually hire one actor or two to play the roles of criminals.
sakurasuki
Japan really good in making PR video that can be really different from actual situation, it's hard to immediately identify the real life offender before crime happened even after, in that training PR video that offender use specific vest that shows he is offender all in that video. In reality that offender can just wearing same clothes as everyone in the train.
William Bjornson
Somehow, as an American, it seems odd that the police didn't just shoot him 16 or so times (and perhaps another passenger or two as well). I'm sure that American police would view the sasumata as 'quaint' however effective it appears to be in quelling the emotionally disturbed Human, and their union claiming unreasonable risk in actually 'protecting and serving' a vulnerable Human being because they night damage their uniforms or are too fat to move quickly enough. I'm seen real-life videos of French police doing this bare handed... Just cultural differences in the sanctity of Life, I suppose.
Elvis is here
The Twitter link at the end is essential watching for anyone who travels a lot in the trains. It gives a good sense if what such an incident would be like.
Stay safe everyone.
GBR48
Japan has a formal culture. This guy, perhaps for the only time in his life, was licensed to go postal in 'public'. He took it with aplomb. Bro fist.
The video teaches you an important lesson. Don't take your mum's cake knife to a sasumata party.
And don't forget to pack your post-pandemic yellow hard hats for your next trip, or you'll be walking from Narita to Tokyo.
Dee
That pole the police used to hold him down was impressive. It's better than putting a foot on his neck to the point where the person can't breath. I assume they have different sizes because that one wouldn't work on a large individual. Also, the bar should be angled, so the officer can use his weight on it. None of the officers had their .38s drawn. This is "protect and serve".
Desert Tortoise
It depends on the police department. Our local city police will wrestle with crooks to subdue them. I was talking with one of our cops one day when they blocked off a major street due to an underground transformer explosion and mentioned that I was impressed that unlike, say, the LAPD they didn't just default to pulling their guns and ventilating suspects. The cop's answer was interesting "if we start shooting suspects they'll start carrying guns and shooting at us" followed by "we don't want that". Practical and smart. Now the county mounties (county sheriffs) here are another story altogether.
Desert Tortoise
Potentially very dangerous to disembark passengers onto adjacent rail lines. One hopes in such a situation traffic on those adjacent lines is stopped.
wallace
A crazed man would have stabbed people in rapid action. Like previous mass stabbings.
OnTheTrail
@wallace. Was thinking the same thing, heck people growing old waiting to get out of the train. Seems better to to the other car and hold the door closed.
wallace
letsberealistic
So, Let's be realistic.
*A mass stabbing incident occurred on 6 August 2021, at a commuter train in the Odakyu Electric Railway in Tokyo, Japan. 10 people were injured in the incident, including a female university student passenger, who sustained serious injuries to her back and chest.
*Man stabbed, 16 others hurt as attacker starts fire on Tokyo train
Oct 31, 2021 — A man dressed in Batman's Joker costume was arrested for attempted murder after a knife and fire attack on a Keio Line train in Tokyo on ...
huberts2
Thanks Capuchin, instructive.
Rodney
I saw the video on the tv, and thought it was real. My Japanese language ability is very minimal. Without this sites English translation, I would be Lost in Translation.
Sven Asai
Those ‘trainings’ are bare of any realistic scenarios, although impressive ( and funny) to calm down the public and feel them safer. Of course a real and average skilled assailant can easily handle a few policemen and even a sasumata in cases when no guns are used.
wallace
letsberealistic
In my first comment, I did not say "all". I said a crazed man....
There have been more than three.
Safer to assume, if an attacker appears on a train armed with a knife, axe, or hammer he is most likely going to attack and what can we do at that moment to protect ourselves? Let's not just believe, like in the training video the police will appear and the attacker arrested before hurting someone.
In 2021. there were 120 stabbing deaths in Japan. 900 murders.
Still, nothing to be unduly concerned about unless you are a victim.
Japan is still one of the safest countries for personal crimes.
kurisupisu
On visiting a UK prison once I was shown a high powered torch which would blind a person for around 30 seconds whilst those on hand could subdue the deranged individual.
This would be a good way in Japan to end a standoff.
Zizi
What utter nonsense.