Hirotaka Hanamori is seen being transported through Naha Airport in Okinawa Prefecture on Aug. 28, 2021 after his arrest. (Mainichi/Shinnosuke Kyan)

       TOKYO -- The suspect of a sulfuric acid attack at a Tokyo subway station on Aug. 24 had met his targeted victim about a month earlier and complained about his past attitude, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned from a source close to the investigation.

       In the attack that took place at Shirokane-takanawa Station on Tokyo Metro's Namboku Line on the night of Aug. 24, a 22-year-old male corporate employee living in Tokyo suffered serious injuries when he was doused in sulfuric acid. A woman who was nearby also sustained a minor injury.

       University student Hirotaka Hanamori, 25, a resident of Aoi Ward in the central Japan city of Shizuoka, was arrested Aug. 28 on suspicion of battery. The male victim was Hanamori's former junior at a university in Okinawa Prefecture, and the suspect had apparently complained about his attitude at the time. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)'s first investigation division intends to look into the suspect's motives.

       According to the source, Hanamori made contact with the male victim on a street in Tokyo's Roppongi district around late July. As the man got on the train to go home, Hanamori followed him to Shirokane-takanawa Station, the closest stop to the man's residence. Throughout the entire time, Hanamori is said to have complained about the victim's past attitude when they were attending the same university. The two then spoke at a nearby park, after which they parted ways. While Hanamori entered the university a year earlier than the victim, they joined the same school club at the same time when Hanamori became a sophomore. The man told the MPD that he had upset Hanamori when he spoke to him casually as if he was his peer, and not his senior.

       As police also have information that Hanamori had visited the university in Okinawa Prefecture and asked his juniors about the victim prior to the acid incident, the MPD is looking into the possibility that he went through with the alleged act after meticulous preparation.

       (Japanese original by Kazuki Mogami and Maki Kihara, Tokyo City News Department)

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0