OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a 56-year-old man for allegedly damaging a a seat for West Japan Railways practice on Thursday, studies TV Asahi (Mar. 20).
At round 7:30 p.m., Masaaki Hanagata, an organization worker, allegedly used a utility knife to slash the seat on a JR Yamatoji Line practice between Kyuhoji and Kashiwara stations.
Upon his arrest, Hanagata admitted to the fees. He stated, “I’ve done it 50 to 60 times before. I was angry about the frequent delays and cancellations, and the difficult-to-use design of the trains.”
According to the police, JR West Japan had contacted them a couple of sequence of incidents involving broken practice seats.
Since 2022, there have been about 300 related incidents on West Japan Railways trains, primarily on the Yamatoji Line.
Police are persevering with the investigation to find out if Hanagata was behind these different incidents.