A Japanese court has given a 23-year jail sentence to a 26-year-old man, Kyota Hattori who was convicted of attempted murder and arson on a train in Tokyo. The crime occurred on 31st October 2021, or Halloween night when Hattori, who was dressed as the Joker from Batman attacked passengers on a Tokyo train.

On Halloween 2021, at approximately 8 pm, a man wearing a purple suit, green shirt, and tie entered a train en route to Shinjuku station and carried out a stabbing spree. His actions resulted in severe injuries to an elderly passenger, whom he stabbed multiple times. After the stabbing, he proceeded to start a fire on the train with the intention of harming 12 other passengers. Due to his appearance resembling the character "Joker" from DC comics, people referred to him as such.

Fortunately, no fatalities occurred during the incident, and the passenger who was stabbed managed to survive despite sustaining serious injuries. In a recent court hearing, the attacker, identified as Hattori, admitted to both the stabbing and setting the train carriage on fire.

Police caught him on the spot as the media reported. Significant international interest was generated by the crime's location—a train—and the accused's wearing a "Joker" costume at the age of 24. There have been comparisons to a sequence from the movie "Joker" that takes place on a New York underground car, raising the possibility of a copycat crime.

Based on Hattori's testimonies in court, it becomes apparent that he displayed maniacal tendencies and had a sinister intention of causing harm to a large number of people. His deliberate choice of Halloween day as the attack date indicates a desire to target passengers returning from celebrations. Furthermore, he strategically selected a train as the location to prevent easy escape for the victims. Hattori openly admitted to employing lighter fluid (gas fuel) to initiate the fire.

It was reported that the accused revealed to the police his admiration for the character of Joker and how he wanted to harm as many people as possible. Although violent crimes are rare in Japan, which is renowned for having a low crime rate, the incident made stabbings and shootings more common. In a similar incident in August 2021, another stabbing attack on a Tokyo train left nine people wounded and in the same month, two people were injured in an acid attack at a Tokyo subway station.