Japan court jails man for 23 years over Joker train attack

Kyota Hattori, 26, was convicted of stabbing a male passenger in his 70s and trying to kill 12 others.


A Japanese court on Monday sentenced a man to 23 years in jail after finding him guilty of attempted murder and starting a fire on a train in Tokyo while dressed as comic book villain the Joker.

The verdict for the 2021 Halloween attack was handed down by the Tokyo District Court’s Tachikawa branch, a spokeswoman for the court told AFP.

Kyota Hattori, 26, was convicted of stabbing a male passenger in his 70s and trying to kill 12 others by starting a fire inside a train, Jiji Press and other local media said.

ALSO READ: Japan says North Korea threat more serious than ‘ever’

Hattori had reportedly told investigators that he wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty. He also told them he had spread lighter fluid in the train.

Violent crime in Japan

Violent crime is rare in Japan, but there are occasional stabbings and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe last year.

In August 2021, nine people were wounded, one of them seriously, in a stabbing attack on a commuter train in Tokyo, with the suspect later handing himself in after fleeing the scene.

ALSO READ: Japan sees record drop in population

In a separate attack that same month, two people suffered burns in an acid attack at a Tokyo subway station.

Read more on these topics

Japan killings stabbing

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.