Knife-wielding man arrested in Tokyo; blames toxic parenting

Knife-wielding man in Tokyo arrested for attempted murder, blaming tough love from parents for criminal behavior.

‘A knife-wielding man arrested in Tokyo this week wanted to warn parents nationwide that tough love can ruin their children, citing his own miserable childhood,” Japanese media reported on Friday (May 9, 2025).

The 43-year-old has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly assaulting a man in his 20s on Wednesday (May 7, 2025) at Tokyo's Todai-mae Station, near the University of Tokyo, Japan's most prestigious higher education institution.

The suspect "with the intent to kill slashed the victim's head and other body parts with a knife-like object that he was carrying, causing injuries," a police spokesman previously told AFP.

“When questioned, the suspect spoke of his demanding parents, who he said were obsessed with his academic achievement,” local media said.

Because of them, "I stopped going to school and had a hard time" as a teenager, public broadcaster NHK and other outlets quoted him as telling investigators.

"I wanted to show all these parents trying to get their kids into Todai that if they go too hard on them, their kids can go reckless and become criminals like me," he said, using a common nickname for the University of Tokyo.

“He chose Todai-mae Station for the attack, believing the top university is a byword for the concept of “educational abuse” by overly competitive parents,” the reports said.