Usually, the most serious crime that happens on a Japanese train is molestation. However, one train in Kanagawa Prefecture allegedly saw some violence involving an itchy throat and an icepick.
Kanagawa Prefectural Police say they arrested a 59-year-old doctor from Yokosuka on charges of violent behavior. The report says the doc was rising a line from Kamiōoka to Yokohama when he became perturbed because a 19-year-old man seated on the train was coughing.
Instead of dealing with the situation like a normal person, reports allege the doctor pulled out an icepick and told the man, “If you cough one more time, I’ll kill you.”
Unfortunately for the doctor, his victim was a soldier in Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Forces (SDF). The man detained his alleged attacker until police arrived.
I say “alleged” in all of this because the doctor denied to police that he did any such thing. One report says he testifies to “taking out” an icepick when the man coughed. Which I assume to mean he admits to casually taking an icepick out of his pocket but denies threatening the SDF soldier with it.
Police say they’re investigating the incident. No one was injured. Keikyu Corporation, which operates the line in question, says there were no line delays due to the incident.
Is carrying around an icepick itself a crime?
This report raises so many questions. Were the two men alone on the train when the incident allegedly occurred? Why is there no witness corroboration? Or were there other passengers but everyone left before police arrived?
Even more curious, of course, is why a doctor was carrying around an icepick in his pocket randomly. Is his contention that he reached into his pocket and was like, “Oh, that’s where I put that, huh”?
As one Yahoo! News JP commenter noted, most normal people don’t randomly carry icepicks around. “It’s not like he’s a bartender,” another quipped, adding, “Even a bartender wouldn’t walk around with one, and if they did, it’d probably be in a case and not something you could just whip out.”
Indeed, Japan’s weapons laws ban carrying around any sharp, unsecured object greater than 8cm in length. People have been arrested here before for carrying long scissors in public. In other words, even having the icepick on him is likely a crime.
Suffice it to say that I’m now unusually invested in this story and can’t wait for the follow-up to learn more.
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