TOKYO METRO PASSENGER PEPPER SPRAYED OVER MASK DISPUTE

A Tokyo Metro passenger was pepper-sprayed in the face, according to an emergency call made by staff at Hanzomon Station in the capital's Chiyoda Ward, the Kazuki Mogami reported for Mainichi Shimbun.

The victim, who appeared to have been exposed to the spray is in his 40s, and described having pain in his eyes and face before he was sent to hospital, where he was apparently found to have sustained minor injuries. The man who is thought to have sprayed the victim appeared to be in his 30s and escaped the scene of the attack. The Metropolitan Police Department's Kojimachi Police Station is pursuing his whereabouts on the basis of his suspected involvement in an incident causing injury.

According to the police station, the two men did not know one another, and had gotten into a verbal argument on a train on the Tozai Line after the victim cautioned the other man to "wear your mask over your nose," among other statements.

The pair then got off the train at Kudanshita Station, where they struggled with one another on the platform until the man suspected of causing injury sprayed the other with pepper spray. The sprayed man then immediately got onto a train and alighted at neighboring Hanzomon Station, where he reported his condition to staff.