KOCHI (TR) – A 63-year-old man currently on trial for slashing a train conductor with a knife earlier this year was revealed to have threatened to “massacre” restaurant staff earlier that same day, prosecutors said, reports TV Kochi (June 23).
Motomasa Yamauchi, a resident of Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture, is standing trial at the Kochi District Court. According to the indictment, on January 25, Yamauchi was riding the JR Shikoku Nanpu limited express train through Otoyo Town, Kochi Prefecture, when he pulled out an 8.2-centimeter-long knife.
“I have a knife,” Yamauchi told a passenger, pressing the blade against the victim’s left cheek. When the train conductor attempted to disarm him, Yamauchi forced the conductor to grab the blade, inflicting hand wounds that took two weeks to heal.
During his initial hearing on April 21, prosecutors noted that an intoxicated Yamauchi had been harassing passengers before flying into a rage when the conductor reprimanded him for pressing the emergency stop button in the train’s restroom. Yamauchi admitted to the charges.
Hot tea
However, during a June 23 hearing, prosecutors revealed new details, amending the charges to include a shocking outburst at an Okayama City restaurant hours before he boarded the train.
At around 7:30 p.m., Yamauchi demanded hot tea at the eatery. When staff explained they did not stock tea leaves or serve hot tea, an irate Yamauchi handed over cash and relentlessly ordered them to go buy some. Though a worker went to a nearby grocery store, staff eventually decided to stop indulging his unreasonable demands upon his return to the shop.
Upon being denied the tea, Yamauchi erupted, hurling abuse at the employee.
“You’re not cut out for the restaurant business, go home!” he yelled, before escalating to violent threats. “If this place doesn’t go under, I’ll come burn it down with gasoline. Understand? Next time I come, I’ll burn this place down and massacre everyone.”
“There is no mistake”
Yamauchi’s charges now include violations of the Act on Punishment of Physical Violence and Others, encompassing both the train assault and the restaurant threats, alongside a Swords and Firearms Control Law violation.
When asked by the judge about the newly added charges regarding the restaurant threats, Yamauchi told the court, “There is no mistake.”
The next hearing is scheduled for August 12.
