A 23-year-old university student was arrested Thursday in Tokyo for allegedly using a self-defense spray in a packed train, leaving several other commuters slightly injured, police said.
The incident took place on East Japan Railway's Keiyo Line at around 8 a.m. and irritated the eyes and throats of 26 people in the car, which was packed with some 180 passengers, police said.
After the train reached Shin-Kiba Station in Koto Ward a few minutes later, the injured passengers got off and were taken to a hospital, police said.
The student, identified as Toshihiro Ono, a resident of Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of causing injury.
He was quoted as telling a police officer, "I used the spray because I was punched by another (passenger) who claimed that the brim of my cap hit him in the face."
At the station, a passenger got off and pushed an emergency stop button, putting the train on hold for nine minutes. The incident delayed two other trains and affected some 3,100 passengers, the railway operator said.
