A 13-year-old boy slashed a classmate with a kitchen knife at a junior high school in Hiroshima on Friday, causing minor injuries to the victim, the local education board said, in the second knife attack to take place in a Japanese school this week.
The boy said after being seized by a teacher that the attack, which took place around 8:15 a.m. in one of the school's restrooms on the third floor, was indiscriminate, according to the education board in the western Japanese city. He likely brought the knife with him from home.
The victim, a 12-year-old boy, suffered minor injuries to his left arm and other parts of his body. The two boys were alone in the restroom at the time.
Another student in the vicinity notified the teacher of the incident and the police were called.
The attacker did not have any problems at school, nor did he appear to have been bullied, according to the education board. A school counselor was dispatched following the incident.
"We take this very seriously. Our priority is to support the student who was attacked, as well as those who may be feeling mental unease," an official of the board said.
The incident comes just days after a knife-wielding 17-year-old entered a junior high school in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, and attacked a teacher who tried to stop him from going into a classroom.
The suspect said he "wanted to kill anyone" just to see what would happen, according to police.
Schools in Japan have improved safety measures since a 2001 incident in which an intruder at an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, killed eight pupils and wounded 15 others, including two teachers, in a stabbing rampage.
But while most schools have crisis management manuals in place, challenges remain around the introduction of costly measures, such as hiring security guards.
Related coverage:
Teen arrested in Japan school attack wanted to experience killing
