A woman in her 40s and a man in his 50s were injured Friday night after a female acquaintance allegedly stabbed them at the Rihga Royal Hotel Tokyo in Shinjuku Ward, police said. Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested Aiko Kobayashi, 58, at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder.
The man called emergency services at around 9:30 p.m. to report that he had been stabbed, and both victims were taken to hospital by ambulance. The woman suffered injuries to her right eye and both shoulders that are expected to require about two weeks of treatment, while the man’s injuries were minor.
Kobayashi admitted to the allegations and told investigators, “I don’t remember why I stabbed them.” According to the police and other sources, she allegedly used a small knife she had brought with her and stabbed the woman in the back of the head. Investigators believe some form of dispute may have been behind the attack and are looking into the motive.
Police said the three had previously been involved in a dispute related to a marital relationship, a detail that gives the case its shape but not yet its answer. The attack took place at a restaurant on the first floor of the hotel, which is about 500 meters north of Waseda Station and near Waseda University, in a part of Tokyo that is usually busy with students and visitors.
The arrest leaves investigators with a narrow but urgent task: determine what led the acquaintance to bring a knife into the hotel and turn a private dispute into a public attack.
