TOKYO: Tokyo District Court’s Tachikawa branch on Monday sentenced a 26-year-old man to 23 years in prison for his knife and arson attack on a train in the Japanese capital in 2021.

Kyota Hattori was accused of attempting to murder 13 passengers on the rapid train on Keio Corp.’s Keio Line by stabbing or setting fire.

Public prosecutors had sought 25 years in prison in the lay judge trial, while the defense had argued that Hattori deserves a sentence of 12 years because the act of arson does not constitute attempted murder.

In the incident, which began around 7:55 p.m. on Oct. 31, 2021, Hattori stabbed a passenger in his 70s in the right chest, as well as poured lighter fuel toward the 12 others and set it on fire with a Zippo lighter while the train was traveling in the city of Chofu, aiming to kill them, according to the indictment.

JIJI Press