3 dead after samurai sword attack at Tokyo shrine

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Three people died at a Japanese Shinto shrine, in which a man used knives and a ceremonial samurai sword to kill two women and then himself, police said Friday.

Officials said Nagako Tomoika, 58, head priestess of the Tomoika Hachimangu shrine in Tokyo's Koto district, was stabbed in an ambush Thursday by her brother, Shigenaga Tomoika.

Police say the 56-year-old attacker then stabbed his wife before killing himself with the sword.

Nagako Tomoika's unidentified driver was injured, but survived, Tokyo Metropolitan Police said.

Authorities said security footage shows Shigenaga Tomoika and his wife hid in a nearby building and awaited the head priestesses' arrival. After she left her car, she was slashed with the 28-inch-long sword.

The Tomoikas' father served as chief priest of the shrine until Shigenaga succeeded him. Police said the attacker was dismissed from the position in 2001, and his father returned to the position until Nagako was given her position. The changes in leadership were a source of tension in the family, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbum reported.

Shigenaga began sending threatening mail to his sister and was arrested in 2006 for attempting to blackmail her, The Japan Times reported.

The shrine, established during Japan's Edo period in 1627, has close links to the sport of sumo wrestling. It sponsors the annual Fukagawa Hachiman festival, which is one of Tokyo's three major historical festivals highlighting the Edo period.