A 19-year-old man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of using what appeared to be a hammer to attack an elderly couple outside their home in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, earlier in the day, police said.
Kunio Yamaguchi, 70, and his wife Choko, 68, reportedly sustained head and arm injuries but were fully conscious.
The attack occurred around 7:30 a.m., while Kunio Yamaguchi was taking out the garbage at the couple's home.
According to police, the teenager, armed with an object resembling a hammer, suddenly struck Yamaguchi around the head. Hearing her husband's screams, Yamaguchi's wife ran outside and was also attacked, police said.
The youth was arrested about two hours later in the town of Shigaraki, in the same prefecture, about 20 km away from the site of the attack.
Officers apprehended a youth who resembled the description provided by police in Otsu. They said he admitted the attack during questioning.
The youth was said to be an unemployed resident of Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture. He is being held on suspicion of attempted murder and police are trying to determine his motive.
The case appears similar to an attack on May 1, in which a 17-year-old youth was arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 64-year-old housewife after he broke into her home in Aichi Prefecture.