<figure id="attachment_329146" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-329146" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="059d0994"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/4fe6d5cd41ef64018dcdb558efd593be.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-329146" class="wp-caption-text">Defendant Hattori was sentenced to 23 years in prison (PHOTO: Shinji Hasuo)</figcaption></figure>
 On October 31, 2009, Kyota Hattori, 26, an unemployed defendant, was charged with attempted murder and arson of an inhabited building for stabbing a passenger with a knife and setting fire to the train car on a running Keio Line express train.
 He also attracted public attention for dressing up as the Joker, the villain of the movie &#8220;Batman.
 The Tokyo District Court Tachikawa Branch sentenced him to 23 years in prison on July 31, stating that the crime was &#8220;an indiscriminate, heinous, and despicable attempt on the lives of numerous passengers for selfish reasons.
 The sentence became final when neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney appealed by August 14.
 Hattori is now incarcerated and will spend the next 23 years in prison. Meanwhile, nearly two years after the incident, many of the victims are still traumatized in mind and body.
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 Mr. A (72, all ages at the time of the incident), who was stabbed in the chest while riding the same train to his job as a security guard on the day of the incident, was released from the hospital in March of the following year, but has difficulty walking. He is unable to write well due to numbness in his hands, and sometimes eats with his hands because he cannot hold chopsticks well. At the end of last year, he resigned from his workplace, which had treated him as if he had been on leave for a long time.
 He is still going to rehabilitation. When asked by the prosecutor during a witness interview, &#8220;Do you have anything you want to say to the defendant? When asked by the prosecutor, &#8220;Do you have anything you want to say to the defendant?
 If you can&#8217;t take responsibility, don&#8217;t do anything. That&#8217;s the worst. If you can&#8217;t even apologize, you should pay the price for your crime.
 He was angry.
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 In his argument, Mr. A&#8217;s representative said, &#8220;I will never change my feelings toward the defendant, and I will never forgive him. There is no concrete plan for compensation for the damage. It is difficult for him to be rehabilitated, and life imprisonment is appropriate.
 Ms. B, 21, who said she hyperventilated for the first time in her life while running away from Hattori, was asked by the prosecutor , &#8220;Did anything happen in your daily life after the incident? When asked by the prosecutor, &#8220;Did anything happen in your daily life after the incident?
 I became afraid of men. I couldn&#8217;t go outside, and I couldn&#8217;t go to school or work. I felt like I couldn&#8217;t live and couldn&#8217;t ride the train anymore. I couldn&#8217;t find a job because I couldn&#8217;t get an interview. I caused a lot of trouble not only to myself but also to my family and people around me. It was very hard.
 He sobbed.
 At the hearing, Mr. B&#8217;s representative stated that &#8220;the defendant only thinks about himself.
 The defendant only thinks about himself. And he has increased the number of people who have difficulty in living. No matter what happens, please do not come to our world. I will never forgive you, no matter who sympathizes with you.
 He read out his feelings.
 Mr. A and Ms. B were not the only ones to express their feelings. Many of the victims who took the stand testified that they felt burdened in their daily lives even after the incident.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" I only face myself."></div>
<figure id="attachment_329147" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-329147" style="width: 715px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="92f6193d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/4c3b577731c63f90280fc6184d5f8945.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-329147" class="wp-caption-text">Defendant Hattori being taken into custody by investigators (Image: &#8220;@siz33&#8221;)</figcaption></figure>
 A man, 48, who saw defendant Hattori light a Zippo lighter at a distance of about 3 meters, said that after the incident, he became afraid to ride the train and began to shake with flashbacks when he saw people moving in an empty car. He also said that after the incident, he became afraid of riding the train,
 The incident came back to haunt me at work and interfered with my duties. So I took a leave of absence from work last year, and I was seeing a psychosomatic medicine specialist until the beginning of this year. But I managed to get back to work this month.
 He said he had been suffering from the effects of the incident until recently.
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 I heard a bang right behind me, and when I turned around I saw flames,&#8221; said a man (29) who testified that he had no appetite for a while after the incident. I went to a psychosomatic clinic about once a week until March of the following year. Even now, I get nervous when I take a train that does not stop at a station for a certain distance, such as the Shinkansen.
 Many of the victims also said that they could not forget the fear of the incident for a while, saying, &#8220;After the incident, I became afraid of people coming out of the couplings,&#8221; &#8220;When I get on a train, I check the location of the emergency button,&#8221; and &#8220;Immediately after the incident, I was afraid to get on a train that runs for a long section without stopping. I was afraid of trains that run for a long distance.
 And
 I was afraid to take the train because it ran on a long stretch of track and I didn&#8217;t want to stop. I am continuing rehabilitation, but my body has not returned to normal. My wife is worried about me. I really put her through a lot of trouble.
 When I get on the train, I hyperventilate, and when I see an ambulance, I remember the incident. I caused a lot of trouble to the people around me. It is not my fault, but I feel sorry.
 Many of the victims blamed themselves, saying that they had caused trouble at their workplaces and worried their families and friends.
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 After delivering the reasons for the verdict, Judge Takeshita Yu said, &#8220;Twenty-three years is a long period of time. My relationship with the victim has not ended. Please live your life thinking about the case and the victim,&#8221; he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
 Many of the victims who just happened to be on the same train as Hattori suffered from the aftereffects of the incident, and even more so, they have spent their lives feeling &#8220;sorry&#8221;.
 During the defendant&#8217;s questioning, he was asked, &#8220;How do you feel about the victims now? Hattori answered, &#8220;When I think of the victims, I feel that there is no meaning to life for a person like me, and I am conflicted because I feel that I have to live to make up for my sins.
 From his statement, it seemed as if he was still facing only himself.
<figure id="attachment_329148" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-329148" style="width: 3546px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1629ed57"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/c454c8c7ad90f5a9de5e89076f0a7218.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-329148" class="wp-caption-text"> From Hattori&#8217;s Facebook page</figcaption></figure>

 Nakahira Ryo

 Kyota Hattori, 26, an unemployed man who stabbed a passenger with a knife and set the train car on fire on the Keio Line express train in October 2009, was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Two years have passed since the incident, and the anger of the victims has not subsided.

23 years in prison confirmed! Victims&#8217; Suffering&#8221; and &#8220;Defendant&#8217;s Too Selfish Statement&#8221; Discussed in Court in Keio Line Joker Case

23 years in prison confirmed! Victims’ Suffering” and “Defendant’s Too Selfish Statement” Discussed in Court in Keio Line Joker Case

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