Fourteen people were injured in a violent stabbing incident at a factory in central Japan on Friday, after a man attacked workers with a knife and reportedly sprayed an unidentified liquid at the site. Authorities said the incident occurred at a rubber manufacturing facility in the city of Mishima, located in Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo. The attack caused panic among employees and prompted an immediate emergency response.
According to reports by Kyodo News Agency and other Japanese media outlets, multiple workers were stabbed during the attack. Tomoharu Sugiyama, an official from the Mishima City firefighting department, confirmed that emergency services received a distress call at around 4:30 pm local time. The caller reported that five or six people had been stabbed and that a liquid, described as spray-like in nature, had also been released at the scene. Emergency responders rushed to the factory, and at least fourteen injured individuals were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Authorities later confirmed that a suspect had been taken into custody at the factory premises. However, details regarding the identity of the attacker, the motive behind the assault, and the severity of the victims’ injuries were not immediately disclosed. Police have launched an investigation to determine the sequence of events and the nature of the liquid that was sprayed during the attack.
Japan is generally regarded as one of the safest countries in the world, with a very low rate of violent crime and some of the strictest gun control laws globally. Incidents involving mass violence are rare, making cases such as this particularly shocking to the public. Nevertheless, isolated attacks do occur from time to time, including high-profile incidents such as the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.
Earlier this year, another violent episode was reported in February when a man in his 40s was fatally stabbed at a convenience store in Sapporo. In that incident, two additional people were injured. According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, the suspect had been behaving aggressively with what appeared to be a kitchen knife before the attack. The assailant, a 43-year-old unemployed man, was arrested at the scene, while the victims—store employees aged between their 40s and 60s—were rushed to hospital.
The latest stabbing in Mishima has once again drawn attention to workplace safety and emergency preparedness in Japan, as authorities continue to assess the situation and ensure the safety of those affected.
