Man arrested over deadly Japan stabbing spree

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A man was arrested in central Japan after stabbing one person to death and injuring two others aboard a bullet train tonight, a rare violent assault in the Asian nation.

The suspect, identified as Ichiro Kojima, attacked the victims around 10:00 pm local time (1300 GMT) aboard the shinkansen train which was travelling from Tokyo to a station in Osaka, Kyodo News reported.

Police arrested the 22-year-old unemployed suspect on suspicion of attempted murder, the report said. A man in his thirties was killed in the assault and two women in their twenties were wounded.

Japan has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world and mass attacks are extremely rare. In 2015, a man set himself ablaze on board a moving bullet train, killing himself and a woman in an unprecedented incident.

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