Akihabara rampage foretold but lost among myriad messages on Internet site

TOKYO —

To most of Japan, the deadly stabbings in Tokyo were an incomprehensible act of sudden and indiscriminate violence.

But to readers of an obscure website called “Extreme Exchange, Revised,” the attack in a popular shopping district that left seven dead Sunday was foretold.

The suspect sent messages saying he wanted to kill somebody, anybody, and apparently hoped to be stopped. But his words were lost in a million postings.

Police refused to comment on how, or when, they learned of Tomohiro Kato’s postings. But Japanese news reports Thursday said the suspect told prosecutors under questioning that he deliberately hinted at his bloody plans on the Internet in the hope someone would see them and stop him.