A female employee at a Pokemon merchandise shop was stabbed to death in Tokyo's commercial ​district on Thursday, and the suspected assailant ‌also died after stabbing himself, shocking shoppers during children's spring break season in Japan. Broadcaster TV Asahi said the woman was a staff member of the Pokemon Center store in ​the building and the perpetrator was wielding knives ​in both hands. The motive remains unclear, local media reported. A spokesperson for the Pokemon Co, which operates about two dozen stores ​in Japan selling merchandise from the popular ​franchise, ⁠was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters. Strict gun controls in Japan mean knife attacks are ⁠a ​more common form of public ​violence, with multiple stabbing incidents on trains and at railway stations in the past ​few years.

Source: The Standard March 26, 2026 23:55 UTC