The victims — a train conductor in his 20s and two male passengers in their 20s and 70s — were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Tetsuya Sakagami from a nearby fire department told AFP.

The 37-year-old male suspect was armed with three knives when he was arrested at Rinku Town station in the Osaka region, local police told AFP.

He was arrested for attempted murder and has already admitted to carrying out the attack on Sunday morning, police said, adding they were still investigating the motive.

Violent crime is rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world’s toughest gun laws.

But there are occasional stabbings and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe last year.

In 2021, a 24-year-old man allegedly stabbed a passenger and started a fire on a train in Tokyo on Halloween while wearing an outfit resembling comic book villain the Joker.

A verdict in that case is due to be handed down on July 31.