Knife-Carrying Man Held at Japan Upper House Office Building

Tokyo, April 20 (Jiji Press)–A knife-carrying man was arrested Monday at the office building for the members of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, in Tokyo. The Metropolitan Police Department arrested the man, who claims to be in his 50s, on suspicion of violating the firearms and swords control law, after a staff member at the building reported to a patrolling riot police officer around 9:45 a.m. that there was a man carrying a knife. Nobody was injured. The suspect told investigators he had been instructed to bring the knife by lawmaker Katayama, the police said. According to the police, the knife was found when the man tried to pass through a metal detector at the entrance. He did not resist or act violently. Speaking to reporters, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, an Upper House member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said that she had been aware that the man would visit Tokyo in hopes of meeting with her. “He had nothing to do with me, and he had no appointment,” Katayama also said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]