A high school student in Kawasaki was rushed to a hospital on Monday morning after he was stabbed from behind with a blade, police said.
The Kanagawa Prefectural Police said the 16-year-old student is conscious, and that they are pursuing his assailant, who fled the scene, on suspicion of attempted murder. An investigative source said the suspect is believed to be male and a minor.
The student was walking to school at about 8:20 a.m. when he was attacked with a knife around the back of his head in a residential area in Kawasaki's Asao Ward.
There were no signs of an altercation before the incident, and an eyewitness reported seeing the attacker leave the scene on foot, police said.
The assailant was described as wearing a black down jacket and a white hoodie, according to police.