Photo/Illutration Police officers confront an actor playing a lone-wolf attacker brandishing an iron pipe during an emergency response drill in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward on Jan. 10. (Keita Yamaguchi)

Tokyo police held an active-attacker drill at the University of Tokyo on Jan. 10 in the lead-up to nationwide entrance exams, in response to a stabbing rampage there last year.

In the scenario, an actor playing an attacker armed with a bottle grenade and an iron pipe showed up in front of the main gate of the university in the capital’s Bunkyo Ward, where exam-takers normally gather.

During the demonstration, the man threw off security guards and attempted to enter the exam site.

After receiving a call from a university employee, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Motofuji Police Station arrived at the school and snared the man with a sasumata--a two-pronged pole weapon that has been used for nabbing criminals since feudal times.

The scenario was created in the wake of the stabbing spree that occurred at the university on Jan. 15, 2022, where three people were injured by an attacker armed with a knife just outside of campus.

A 17-year-old high school student who lived in Nagoya was later arrested and charged with attempted murder.

The Motofuji station said its officers will be on the alert during this year’s entrance exams and will work closely with the university to protect students.

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