While the motivation of the assailant remained unclear, Japanese officials have urged increased security around Japanese schools in China.

A 10-year-old boy attending a Japanese school in southern China has died after being stabbed on his way to class on Wednesday, according to Tokyo’s foreign minister, in the second knife attack near a Japanese school in the country in recent months.

Uchinada, Ishikawa Pref./Tokyo, Sept. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday urged China to clarify the circumstances surrounding the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, southern China, the day before.

Japan's ambassador to Beijing has asked for more security for Japanese nationals in China after a 10-year-old Japanese boy was killed this week in a knife attack that was the second to target school students.

The attack on the 10-year-old boy was the second such incident in months amid a social-media campaign that has stirred up anti-Japan sentiment in China.

A 10-year-old student at a Japanese school in China died Thursday after being stabbed on the way to school the day before, Japanese officials said.