Chuo professor dies in campus stabbing-(JAPAN)

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20090115a1.html

Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

University shuts gates, cancels day's classes
Kyodo News
A Chuo University electronics professor died of stab wounds Wednesday after he was attacked by a man in a building on the Korakuen campus in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, police and other sources said.

The culprit, dressed in black clothing and a black knit cap, fled the scene, according to the student who found the professor. The man appeared to be in his 30s, the police said.



Hajime Takakubo, 45, of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, was found bleeding from multiple wounds in a bathroom on the fourth floor of the university's No. 1 building. He was stabbed at least 10 times in the chest, back and hands.



A security guard called authorities at around 10:30 a.m., but Takakubo died an hour later, the police said.

The attacker was seen fleeing the building. No weapon has been found so far, the police said.

Takakubo, whose office is on the same floor as the attack, was scheduled to give a lecture at 10:40 a.m. He was an expert on electronic circuits for TVs and mobile phones.

"He was a gentle person and not the kind who has arguments with others," an acquaintance said.

A sophomore in one of Takakubo's classes said the slaying was a complete shock.

"He was always smiling and I have never heard that he was involved in trouble," the student said.

The university closed all three of its gates after the stabbing, and students appeared worried. A school official later announced to a crowd of more than 200 students that afternoon classes were canceled and the campus would temporarily close.

The Metropolitan Police Department set up an investigation headquarters at Tomisaka Police Station.

Takakubo was a member of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. He leaves behind a wife, who is also a university professor, and a son and two daughters. His late father, Toshikazu, was a legal scholar, according to a source close to the family.

In July 1991, Hitoshi Igarashi, an associate professor at Tsukuba University in Ibaraki Prefecture who translated "The Satanic Verses," the controversial book by Salman Rushdie, was murdered on campus.

In November 2000, an economics professor at Meiji University was attacked by four men on a street. He suffered a broken bone but survived.