Yasuaki Uwabe was born in 1964 in Shimonoseki, located in Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture. He was the son of two educators, Masakazu and Keiko Uwabe, and early in life, he excelled academically. His performance remained strong until high school, after which he experienced some academic struggles. Although he failed his initial attempt at university entrance exams, he successfully passed on his second try and was admitted to Kyushu University, one of Japan’s prestigious national institutions. There, he studied architecture and graduated in 1989 with a degree from the Faculty of Engineering.

Following his graduation, Uwabe began working at an architectural firm in Fukuoka. In 1991, he became certified as a first-class architect, a professional milestone in Japan. However, despite his qualifications, he struggled to maintain steady employment. Due to what would later be recognized as severe social phobias, Uwabe resigned from his position and continued to experience difficulty functioning in professional environments that required interaction with others.

In 1993, he married and attempted to establish his own architectural firm. But just a few years later, in 1997, he abandoned the venture, citing deteriorating mental health. The business failed to succeed, and Uwabe found himself increasingly isolated and financially unstable. Desperate for work that required minimal social contact, he applied for a loan, purchased a light truck, and transitioned into the delivery industry. This career change initially brought him some success, but things soon unraveled.

In June 1999, Uwabe’s marriage ended in divorce. That same year, his delivery truck was lost in a flood caused by Typhoon Bart. The loss of the vehicle meant the collapse of his business, and the financial institution that loaned him the funds demanded repayment. Uwabe appealed to his parents for help, but they refused to bail him out.

On the afternoon of September 29, 1999, at approximately 4:25 p.m., Yasuaki Uwabe carried out a meticulously planned act of mass murder at Shimonoseki Station in his hometown. He rented a car and drove it directly into the station’s east entrance, targeting unsuspecting commuters and pedestrians. As he crashed through the entrance, he struck at least seven people, two of whom died instantly.

The vehicle eventually got stuck, at which point Uwabe exited the car wielding a large kitchen knife. He continued his rampage by climbing the stairs toward the second platform. There, he attacked people at random, stabbing them on the staircase and on the platform itself. In total, he stabbed seven more victims. Several were critically injured, and three more ultimately died from their wounds, bringing the death toll to five. Another ten individuals sustained various injuries.

Uwabe was subdued at the scene by a combination of a station employee and a railway police officer. He was arrested immediately. During questioning, he told authorities that he had become consumed by bitterness and despair. He stated that nothing in his life ever seemed to go right, and he had long contemplated suicide. However, rather than die in silence, he wanted his final act to be one that inflicted as much damage on society as possible. He believed that mass indiscriminate murder would be the most effective way to express his rage. He even admitted to choosing a car over other weapons so that he could "kill more people."

Authorities also learned that Uwabe had been inspired, at least in part, by another mass stabbing that had occurred just three weeks earlier in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, where a 23-year-old man had stabbed two people to death and injured six others. On the morning of the attack, Uwabe reportedly asked his father to help him purchase a replacement truck, but was once again refused. This final rejection appeared to have pushed him over the edge.

During his trial, Uwabe underwent psychiatric evaluation and was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder. His defense attorney argued diminished responsibility based on this diagnosis, stating that Uwabe believed he was being persecuted by society. However, a second psychiatric assessment concluded that he was mentally competent and fully responsible for his actions. The Yamaguchi District Court agreed with the prosecution, and in September 2002, Uwabe was convicted on all counts and sentenced to death.

Uwabe appealed the ruling to the Hiroshima High Court, but in June 2005, the court upheld the original sentence. He filed a final appeal to the Supreme Court, which rejected his case in July 2008. On March 27, 2012, Japan’s Minister of Justice, Toshio Ogawa, signed his execution warrant. Two days later, on March 29, 2012, Yasuaki Uwabe was executed by hanging at the Hiroshima Detention House.