Around 25 sickened in spraying incident in Tokyo's Ginza district

TOKYO — Around 25 people were injured at a luxury shopping complex in Tokyo on Monday after a man sprayed a substance inside, police and fire department officials said.

Tokyo police spokesman Yusuke Koide told AFP that a man sprayed a substance around an ATM on the ground floor of the Ginza Six building. A fire department official said "around 20 people were injured" after a report of a "smell."

The road in front of the building -- located in the touristy and upmarket shopping district of Ginza -- was blocked off following the incident, and fire trucks lined the street.

But shoppers continued to come and go from the building using side entrances.

An AFP reporter at the scene saw two people on stretchers being put into an ambulance, while firefighters and officials dressed in hazmat suits brought people from the mall into specialized trucks to examine them.

Public broadcaster NHK said the injuries appeared to be light.

One 70-year-old woman who was at the mall told the broadcaster that her throat started "stinging and hurting" as she approached the ATM.

"By the time I arrived, the commotion had already started, and I thought there might have been a small fire or something. Once I went into the ATM corner, my throat felt scratchy, almost numb."

Japan remains shaken by the memory of a major subway attack in 1995 when members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas on trains, killing 14 people and making more than 5,800 ill.

On March 20, 1995, five members of the Aum cult dropped bags of Nazi-developed sarin nerve agent inside morning commuter trains, piercing the pouches with sharpened umbrella tips before fleeing.

© 2026 AFP