Actor Killed by Prop Samurai Sword

Tokyo cops aren't sure if it was an accident or murder
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2016 3:31 AM CST
Actor Killed by Prop Samurai Sword
Actors use replica samurai swords to re-enact the Battles of Kawanakajima.   (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

Police in Tokyo are investigating a bizarre incident that sounds like a plot rejected by a detective show for being too clichéd. NBC News reports that 33-year-old theater actor Daigo Kashino died on Monday after a 28-inch replica samurai sword pierced his belly while he was practicing for a sword fight, and police aren't sure whether it was an accident or murder.

According to the Nikkei, people in the rehearsal area didn't notice anything had happened until they heard Kashino's groans and saw that he had been pierced by the prop sword. (Student actors dressed as ninjas caused a campus lockdown at Arkansas State University.)

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