TOKYO - Three men were injured on Jan 3 in a stabbing incident and taken to hospital, after a woman wielded a knife on a train at Akihabara Station in Tokyo, Japanese police said.

The police received an emergency call at just before 11pm local time (10pm Singapore time) saying the woman had inflicted injuries with a knife on the Yamanote loop line, one of the busiest transport routes in the city, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said.

The woman was taken into custody and the condition of the three injured men was unknown, the spokesperson said.

Kyodo news agency reported that none of the victims had suffered life-threatening injuries.

Public broadcaster NHK initially reported that four people had been stabbed.

East Japan Railway Company said the Yamanote loop line was briefly suspended due to “trouble on the train”.

Akihabara, traditionally home to retailers of electronics and gadgets, is a major tourism hotspot in Tokyo and has become synonymous with video games, comic books and outlandish fashion. REUTERS