Hammer attacker wounds 8 at Japanese university: media

Police officers are pictured at the scene after a woman brandished a hammer inside a classroom at Hosei University’s Tama campus in Machida in the western suburbs of Tokyo on January 10, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AFP

“Eight people were wounded in a hammer attack at a university in Tokyo on Friday (January 10, 2025), with a 22-year-old student arrested at the scene,” Japanese media said.

All those hurt were conscious, according to public broadcaster NHK, which cited police sources as saying that the afternoon attack took place at Hosei University’s Tama Campus.

NHK and other media outlets said the attacker, a woman sociology student, had swung a hammer during a class.

Several reports said people were seen bleeding from the head and that the woman had said she had pent-up frustration at being ignored.

Police could not immediately confirm details to AFP about a rare instance of violent crime in Japan, which has strict gun control laws.

Live footage broadcast by NHK showed a line of emergency vehicles with flashing lights at the campus in the suburban Machida district of the Japanese capital.

There are occasional stabbings and even shootings in Japan, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.

Hosei University was founded in 1880 as a law school and has 15 faculties, according to its website.

In December, a junior high school student was stabbed to death and another was wounded at a McDonald’s restaurant in southwestern Japan. A man was later arrested over the attack.

The teens were in line to order at around 8:30 p.m. when the attacker reportedly entered the restaurant in the city of Kitakyushu and stabbed them both.

In January 2022, three people were stabbed outside the prestigious University of Tokyo before nationwide college entrance exams.

“The victims included an 18-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and a 72-year-old man,” police said at the time.

Police arrested a 17-year-old, who was detained at the gates of the university after the early-morning attack. He was not taking the exams and was not acquainted with the three victims but told police he “wanted to die after causing an incident as I didn’t do well in my studies”, NHK reported.

The two teenagers did not sustain life-threatening injuries but the 72-year-old was severely wounded, according to local media.

NHK said the university, where 3,700 students were scheduled to take the tests, went ahead with the exams as planned.