JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu

A year after stabbing, Japan's shinkansen wrestle with balance between safety and convenience

JR Central reinforces onboard guards; JR East weighs baggage inspections

Experts are calling for baggage checks to be conducted at bullet train stations after a man with a knife killed a passenger last year, but railways are reluctant to ruin the convenience of the famed trains. | KYODO

Chunichi Shimbun

Jun 17, 2019

A year after a knife attack on a bullet train left one passenger dead and two wounded, authorities and railways are trying to take steps — especially visible ones — to prevent similar crimes.

Experts are calling to start baggage inspections at train stations, though railways remain reluctant to do so because of the congestion and inconvenience they would cause.

The attack occurred on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line on June 9, 2018, when Ichiro Kojima allegedly attacked two women with a knife on the Nozomi 265 bound for Shin-Osaka Station from Tokyo and fatally stabbed Kotaro Umeda, 38, who tried to stop him.

A year after stabbing, Japan's shinkansen wrestle with balance between safety and convenience

JR Central reinforces onboard guards; JR East weighs baggage inspections

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