Japanese trains now have umbrellas to protect against maniacs (6 photos)

Not to fight with umbrellas, but the umbrella is made of a material that protects against knife attacks. All because recently in the Japanese subway and on trains there was a series of attacks by all sorts of crazy people with a knife.





A half-hearted attack on a station employee for demonstrating an umbrella

And then the railway company decided that it would buy protective equipment for its carriages for the safety of passengers. With the help of such a knife-proof umbrella, people will be able to hold off the attacker until the train staff comes to their aid.

The device looks like a regular umbrella, although in fact it is about 20 cm longer than a regular one. It was specially made longer to keep the attacker at a greater distance.

The spokes that support the dome were also reinforced and placed more closely together so that the umbrella would not be crushed under attack. The handle itself was similarly reinforced. But the main property of such an umbrella is the cut-resistant material of the dome, which is difficult to cut with a knife.



I'm laughing so hard at this clumsy maniac from the presentation

A total of 1,200 umbrellas will be placed on 600 trains throughout Japan.

Why do Japanese need to defend themselves on trains!?

Previously, train passengers in Japan had no protection against a criminal with a knife. The maximum they could do was fight back with bags, although the staff at the stations had acrylic shields and "sasumate".

Sasumate is such an interesting tool, similar to a weapon from the times of feudal Japan. Such a metal semicircle at the end of a long pole, with its help you can press a person by the limb or even by the neck. But both of these protective options are difficult to use in the limited space of a railway car.





The Samumate in Action

The development of the anti-knife umbrella began in July 2023 after a man attacked passengers on a train heading to Kansai International Airport. Kazuya Shimizu, 37, confessed to police that he attacked people after an argument with one of the passengers. His outburst left three of the 150 people on the train injured, including the driver who tried to intervene.

There have been several similar incidents on Japanese trains in recent years. Kiyota Hattori, 26, was found guilty of attempted murder and arson after attacking 17 passengers on a Tokyo train in October 2021. Hattori was dressed as the Joker when he carried out the attack, which was inspired by a similar incident two months earlier. Ten people were injured in the attack, and Hattori was sentenced to 23 years in prison.



Video stills from inside the train during the recent attack on passengers

Yes, he was inspired by the earlier incident in Tokyo. When 36-year-old Yusuke Tsushima attacked 10 people on a train with a knife because he had no friends and was desperate to find a girlfriend. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

It's interesting that he went on the train with a knife after reading about cases that happened in 2008 and 2004.



Footage of Kazuya Shimizu's arrest

So there is a pattern that someone will read enough and commit such a strange crime, and there is no end to it.

Are combat umbrellas for better or worse?

That's why the railway administration decided to issue combat umbrellas so that passengers could defend themselves. Well, I don't know why they didn't just lay out self-defense knives right away.

I have very mixed feelings about such umbrellas. On the one hand, it's like a fire extinguisher - you're safe, but it will save you in an emergency. But this is a "fire extinguisher" in case a person with a knife on the trip, which shouldn't be there!



My favorite Japanese umbrella is the katana umbrella!