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Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14

Letter by man accused of Japan stabbing carried a warning

Police investigators cover the entrance of the Tsukui Yamayuri-en, a facility for the disabled where a number of people were killed and dozens injured in a knife attack, with a blue sheet in Sagamihara, outside Tokyo Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Police said they responded to a call at about 2:30 a.m. from an employee saying something horrible was happening at the facility in the city of Sagamihara, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Tokyo. A man turned himself in at a police station about two hours later, police said. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Police investigators cover the entrance of the Tsukui Yamayuri-en, a facility for the disabled where a number of people were killed and dozens injured in a knife attack, with a blue sheet in Sagamihara, outside Tokyo Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Police said they responded to a call at about 2:30 a.m. from an employee saying something horrible was happening at the facility in the city of Sagamihara, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Tokyo. A man turned himself in at a police station about two hours later, police said. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

The 26-year-old man accused of carrying out a mass stabbing Tuesday at a Japanese facility for the mentally disabled that left 19 people dead had written a letter in February to parliament’s lower house speaker, outlining what was similar to Tuesday’s attack, and expressing his disturbing views. A translation follows:

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Dear Lower House Speaker Tadamori Oshima,

Thank you very much for reading this letter. I can wipe out a total of 470 disabled individuals.

I am fully aware that my remark is eccentric. However, thinking about the tired faces of guardians, the dull eyes of caregivers working at the facility, I am not able to contain myself, and so I decided to take action today for the sake of Japan and the world.