Photo/Illutration Kamata Police Station in Tokyo’s Ota Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Panic flared on a Keikyu Corp. train servicing Tokyo’s Haneda Airport when a drunken sushi chef accidentally dropped a knife for slicing fresh fish.

It prompted a passenger to call the emergency police number around 6:40 p.m. on Aug. 26 to report that an individual wielding a knife was in the train car.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the 54-year-old sushi chef accidentally dropped his knife in his stupor and a startled passenger pressed the emergency call button, bringing the train to a screeching halt.

Train service resumed after 40 minutes or so. No one was hurt.

Officers at the Kamata Police Station in Tokyo’s Ota Ward said the sushi chef had three sheathed knives in his bag on the train, but for some reason dropped one.

The sushi chef told police he took the knives from his previous place of employment because he was moving to a different sushi restaurant.

Police said the man would not be charged with violating the swords and firearms control law because he had a valid reason for having knives in his possession.

However, officers cautioned him to be more careful in the future as they realized he had been drinking.

A male passenger in another car described the panic that ensued when the knife was dropped.

“A stampede was close to emerging as passengers fled from the scene,” he said. “But the man holding the knife did not become violent and calmly went with the police officers who appeared on the scene.”

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