General

On Monday, December 15, Japanese police announced the arrest of a man linked to the stabbing of two individuals at an entertainment venue in Fukuoka, where the female pop group HKT48 performs. The victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities took a 30-year-old man into custody for allegedly stabbing a 44-year-old man in the chest with what seemed to be a kitchen knife on Sunday. Police are treating the incident as a possible attempted murder but have not released information regarding the suspect's motives or the second stabbing. According to reports from Kyodo News and other Japanese media, the injured man was an employee at the HKT48 theatre. He was attacked after he confronted the suspect for being in a restricted area. Additionally, the suspect is accused of stabbing a 27-year-old woman in the back in an elevator hall before escaping the scene. As a result of the incident, HKT48 canceled their fan event that was set for Sunday evening. Violent crimes are uncommon in Japan due to its strict gun control laws. However, there have been several notable cases of knife attacks and homemade explosives in recent years.