At least 15 people were injured at a tyre factory in central Japan on Friday after a man stabbed them with a knife and also attacked them with bleach, police said.
The suspect, a 38-year-old man named Oyama Masaki, a resident of Mishima City, has been arrested, officials said, adding that a probe was on to ascertain the reasons for the attack. He will be charged with attempted murder.
The injured were taken to hospitals, five of whom are reported to have been in serious condition due to the nature of the stab wounds, the fire department said. All were conscious while they were being transported to hospitals, media reports stated.
The incident took place at factory of the tyre-maker, Yokohama Rubber Co. in the city of Mishima, in the Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo, according to the Fujisan Nanto Fire Department.
Police and fire department officials said they received a distress call from the plant at around 4.30 p.m. on Friday.
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The attacker is believed to have been a former employee at the factory, Kyodo news agency said, quoting investigative sources. He was carrying a survival knife and wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, a major Japanese newspaper reported, also citing investigators.
While nine people were stabbed, six others received injuries by the splashing of bleach, the fire department said.
Japan has strict gun control laws and violent crimes are rare in the country. However, there have been a number of high-profile knife attacks in recent years, especially since the start of 2025.
In one of the cases, suspects aged 15-17 stabbed multiple people, killing three; earlier, random stabbings injured multiple people at a Nagano station in January.
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