Diago Kashino, a 33-year-old Japanese actor, has died after being stabbed in the stomach with a samurai sword during a stage-play rehearsal in Japan.
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A police representative told CNN the actor was pierced in the abdomen “with a sword-like object” during an action scene in a rehearsal session for a “jidaigeki” drama (a genre based on the Edo period of Japanese history) at a studio in Koto, Tokyo.
The other actors reportedly heard Kashino groan and turned to discover him hunched over — but no one saw what happened.
Police are now investigating whether his death was an accident or a criminal act.
Jidaigeki dramas portray the daily lives of samurai, farmers, and ninjas during Japan’s Edo period between 1603 and 1868.
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