Tokyo Stabbings
UPDATE: Looks like anime and otaku culture are going to get the blame...
"I came to Akihabara to kill. Anyone would have been fine (I dont care who I killed). I was tired of life" - the words of the person who killed 7 people in Akihabara yesterday.
UPDATE: The media have just found a post on the 2chan boards by somebody who said they were going to Akihabara to kill people with a truck and that they would use a knife if the truck got unusable - this post was made before the killings.
UPDATE: Photos of the killer at Japan Probe.
Its all over news in Japan and even across the world. The killer was Tomohiro Kato aged 25 who rented a 2 ton truck which he drove to Akihabara from Shizuoka which is situated 180 kilos from Tokyo.
He drove at about 70 Kph into the main crossing at Akihabara which is pedestrianized on a Sunday and hit 3 people. One of the victims was vomiting huge amounts of blood while another lay on the ground with a twisted body.
Kato stopped his truck and headed back to where the victims lay while stabbing 3 people on his way. When he got to the victims at the crossing, he got on top of one and stabbed them repeatedly. He also stabbed a police office her came to apprehend him.
Kato then ran into the crowds and stated to stab more people. A total of 7 people died and another 10 injured - most of these people were stabbed from behind and it looks like one was stabbed in the neck.
Witnesses said that Kato had a frenzy look on his face and that he looked like he was enjoying his killing spree.
An officer chased Kato down an alley and tried to apprehend Kato with a stick. Kato started to scream and shout until the police officer pulled out his gun and said "I'm going to shoot!" where upon Kato collapsed to the ground and gave himself in.
Killed in the incident was a woman aged 21, two men aged 19, 31, 47 and 74. The police are still questioning him as to why he drove many miles to just to kill at Akihabara.
The media have been digging into Kato's past to discover that he done well in school and was a sportsman. Apparently his father was a drunk who was violent to his mother. Kato also carried around a knife while at school.
Full news report below - news sources from todays TV, newspapers, 47News, Iza, JapanProbe etc. The person you see in the beige suit with glasses is the killer.
In January 2008, a boy aged 16 suddenly started to stab away at shoppers shouting "KOROSHITE YARU!" meaning "Im going to kill you!" Nobody died but had injuries to their arms and chest. The boy was arrested and later told police - "Anyone would have been fine - I just wanted to kill everybody."
In March 2008, a boy of 18 pushed a man in front of a train who died from the impact. The boy later said "If I killed somebody then I can go to jail - Anyone would have been fine."
Also in March 2008 a man went around stabbing people in a train station where one person died. When he was caught he said "Anyone would have been fine - I wanted to experience killing people."
The worst thing about these killings is the "just wanted to kill anybody" factor with no other particular motive and that they happen in broad daylight on innocent people going about their business.
I used to remember when living in Hackney London - I used to have to always look behind my back when walking around at night. And then I came to Japan - the land where the crime rate is so low that a man sticking icecream in a post box made prime time news.
Am starting to think a lot about what Japanese society is coming to. How do you feel living in your region? Do you feel safe? Can you walk around at night without constantly looking behind your back? Do these indiscriminate killings of late change your views of Japan in anyway?
