Japan knife attack

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,5331631.story

TOKYO -- A lone attacker rammed a truck into pedestrians, then slashed his way with a survival knife through Sunday shopping crowds in one of Tokyo's most popular neighborhoods, killing seven people and wounding 10.

Police quoted Tomohiro Kato, 25, as saying he came to the Akihabara district, a canyon of computer and electronics stores, vowing to "kill people."

"I am tired of the world," the part-time worker in an auto parts plant reportedly told police after his arrest. "Anyone was OK."

Kato reportedly drove a rented 2-ton truck from his hometown of Susono, about 60 miles southwest of Tokyo, arriving in Akihabara around noon. The area, renowned as the center of Japan's anime and manga culture, is particularly clogged with shoppers on Sundays when its streets are closed to vehicles for "Pedestrian Paradise Day."

The assailant plowed the truck through a major intersection, knocking down at least three people before striking a taxi and stopping. Witnesses said the attacker then fled the damaged vehicle, furiously stabbing one of the injured pedestrians and a policeman who came to the aid of the victims.

He then bolted down a side street, stabbing others as he went and triggering confusion as thousands of shoppers surged to either escape the rampage or to get a closer look. Television footage showed the intersection littered with sneakers and bloody clothing.

The dead were six men ages 19 to 74 and a 21-year-old woman. A policeman ended the frenzy by knocking the knife from the attacker's hands with a nightstick. But the assailant did not surrender until the officer drew his gun. Video posted on Japanese websites showed a man identified as Kato, wearing a black T-shirt under a white suit and bleeding slightly from a head wound, with his hands raised. It then showed the policeman pushing him into a fetal position against a wall and sitting on his legs while using his radio to call for help.

Japan's recorded murder rate remains extremely low, but the country has been unsettled by other recent knife attacks. A 16-year-old boy attacked shoppers with knives in Tokyo in January, injuring two. In March, a man already wanted on murder charges stabbed eight people, killing one, outside a mall in Ibaraki prefecture north of the capital. Both are in custody.

Akihabara is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan, attracting those who are obsessed with video games, animated characters and cafes where young women dressed in maid uniforms serve coffee and conversation to young men.

The nature of the neighborhood ensured the killings received blanket media attention, spawning almost instant video images and blog reports.

Japanese media also reported they had discovered anonymous postings on a cellphone network bulletin board from someone vowing to "kill people in Akihabara." The person reportedly posted a series of messages leading up to the attack. The last entry was posted just after noon.

"It's time," it read.

[sanjuro_ronin]

We don't need no stinkin guns !!

[SoCo KungFu]

I don't think they do. That is one of the very reasons I actually liked living in Japan.

I can't speak for things in recent events since its been a little over a year since I moved back to US now. But I can say that at the time I was there (early 2003 - late2006) this type of thing was rather rare.

To put it like this: In the US when someone gets shot or stabbed. You barely ever hear about it. Its just the norm. You might see it on local news. But doesn't get too much attention. And when it does people aren't shocked. Its pretty much expected that something like that would happen.

The opposite was true over there. Whenever something like that happened the whole freak'n country was talking about it. It would be all over the news and the night time talk/comedy shows (Don't know how to describe them, sorta like "The View" meets Jay Leno meets MXC).

Although contrary to belief, you actually CAN own some firearms in Japan. Sport and hunting rifles I do believe are legal. Just nothing that could be carried concealed. Its just such an incredibly painful process to get one that most people don't bother. In Okinawa if I remember right;

It was a day for application...by that I mean a day to do all the papers. I think it was a week before you were "approved." I say "approved" because all that did was get you into a safety class. Which was 3 days long. Afterward you then had to do more papers. And once those had processed you could then purchase a gun. But....you then had to file with law enforcement. You had to show all the proof and documentation that you are authorized. Plus you had to submit blue prints of you home and they had to clearly display where the gun was being stored. Also they had to show the location of the ammunition. And they had to be stored in separate locations. I don't remember exactly if that meant separate rooms. Furthermore if at any time you were to move one of the items, you had to resubmit new blue prints. And to top it off you became subject to random search by law enforcement at least twice a year to ensure everything is as you said it was.

Personally I couldn't get one even if I wanted to since I wasn't a Japanese citizen. If I had brought one over I'd have had to lock it up in the base armory the whole time. Not that I care though. I will say that its the only place I lived where there are still school kids walking home 8 o'clock at night. I could walk around the neighborhood, Miko and I could go to one of the "lookout" points up in the hills or whatever and really I never had a single problem of so much as even a negative glance from anyone....save other Americans there (and I don't mean that to sound like I'm bashing my own people, its just how it was). I mean there is still the usual petty crimes. And they have some issues with sexual predators. I don't know any stats, just that tended to top the news. And I think suicide mighta been higher. But hey I'm a firm believer in if you wanna kill some people...start with yourself.

I will say this though, there is a reason why myself and so many other people I know have said, that if I ever have kids that's where I'd raise em.

[Mr Punch]

We don't need no stinkin guns !!

So, what are you suggesting? Arming and training the whole populace? I think you're overestimating the competence of the average person. This is one of the busiest areas of Tokyo esp on its pedestrian only day.

The guy crashed his truck, which everybody naturally thought was an accident, then walked down the street cutting people, which you probably couldn't see from even two or three metres away if it was the usual crowd density. Plus, as everyone knows, this is the safest country in the developed world. You could translate that into a nation of sheeple, which isn't necessarily far off, but you could also take it for what it is: I can tell you it's great being able to walk anywhere at night without looking over my shoulder. Plus again, there are very very often performance artists and candid camera style media stunts in this land of cosplay and fantasy, so I'd hazard a guess that a few people thought it was a gag until too late.

Given LEO wisdom on the difficulty of using a gun effectively on a knife wielder in that range (ie: the knife wins), plus any stats you want to look at on bystanders getting injured, add a lot of confusion, shock, incredulity: and what, you want some Joe-san to pull a gun on him and whoever gets in his way or happens to be behind him?

Nobody'd be crying if the police had've had to have wasted him (although he said he wanted to die so rotting in Japan's prisons would be better - and these are not like the cushy prisons we have in the UK and prob in Canada) but I think they handled it right in the only reasonable conclusion to this incident. Shame they couldn't have done it faster, but that's not their fault for once.

Good luck with your logic.

[Mr Punch]

I will say this though, there is a reason why myself and so many other people I know have said, that if I ever have kids that's where I'd raise em.

Not me, mate. The racism's far too ****ty. As is the group mentality/pressure to conform stuff. I'm taking my babes home.

[unkokusai]

Not me, mate. The racism's far too ****ty. As is the group mentality/pressure to conform stuff. I'm taking my babes home.

The "group" thing is overblown, and you'll find racism anywhere and everywhere.

[Mr Punch]

Yeah, I agree, but it's still there.

And yeah, racism's everywhere, but here it effects me! LOL

Plus, it's more institutionalized than in the UK. For example, I can't get a real job as a teacher over here (I'm always an assistant teacher) because the teaching union doesn't allow foreigners to take the tests to become teachers and they don't recognise any other country's teaching certificates (imagine that! Foreign language teachers being from a native-speaking country!). Sooo, I can never get promotion, can never get a pay rise, never get increased holidays, never get more than a one-year contract (thus will not be able to buy a house), and will never get bonuses like the Japanese English teachers here most of whom can't even speak the language!

For me to become a property owner here would take major hoops.

I'm not even mentioned on my wife's family register except in a little footnote where they would put pets...! And that's despite British registry offices keeping the same information as required on the kouseki touhon.

There are many many other examples, which are prevented in law in the UK, so my wife will not have the same kind of trouble.

Apart from that, 'halfs' are looked on as freaks over here, even now with increased exposure in the media, whereas mixed race kids in the UK have way less of a problem.

[unkokusai]

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/e....02/index.html



http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/ap...wrence.ukcrime



http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2002w...niversities%3F



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1299713.stm



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3885213.stm



http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents...bullying.shtml




Maybe it would be easier to just say you'd rather live here or there...

[sanjuro_ronin]

So, what are you suggesting? Arming and training the whole populace? I think you're overestimating the competence of the average person. This is one of the busiest areas of Tokyo esp on its pedestrian only day.

The guy crashed his truck, which everybody naturally thought was an accident, then walked down the street cutting people, which you probably couldn't see from even two or three metres away if it was the usual crowd density. Plus, as everyone knows, this is the safest country in the developed world. You could translate that into a nation of sheeple, which isn't necessarily far off, but you could also take it for what it is: I can tell you it's great being able to walk anywhere at night without looking over my shoulder. Plus again, there are very very often performance artists and candid camera style media stunts in this land of cosplay and fantasy, so I'd hazard a guess that a few people thought it was a gag until too late.

Given LEO wisdom on the difficulty of using a gun effectively on a knife wielder in that range (ie: the knife wins), plus any stats you want to look at on bystanders getting injured, add a lot of confusion, shock, incredulity: and what, you want some Joe-san to pull a gun on him and whoever gets in his way or happens to be behind him?

Nobody'd be crying if the police had've had to have wasted him (although he said he wanted to die so rotting in Japan's prisons would be better - and these are not like the cushy prisons we have in the UK and prob in Canada) but I think they handled it right in the only reasonable conclusion to this incident. Shame they couldn't have done it faster, but that's not their fault for once.

Good luck with your logic.

LOL !
Interesting take on the few words I posted, way off of course, but an interesting take.

[sanjuro_ronin]

In the old country we have a saying, if you don't have a dog, you go hunting with a cat.

This incident proves two things, you don't need a gun to cause some serious mass killings and never under estimate a bladed weapon.

[Scott R. Brown]

....never under estimate a bladed weapon.

...or a car!

[sanjuro_ronin]

...or a car!

Car-Fu for the win, try to pull guard on a Subaru and see where that gets you !

[jdhowland]

Not me, mate. The racism's far too ****ty. As is the group mentality/pressure to conform stuff. I'm taking my babes home.

I know an American-Japanese couple who left Japan simply so their bairns would not be subject to the Japanese public school system. This was a boon for martial arts in the U.S. This man may be the only person authorized to teach Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu outside of Japan. Quintin Chambers, a menkyo holder in Shinto Muso Ryu, was also happy to relocate his English-Japanese family to Hawaii because, as he told me, "Their critical thinking is zero." Neither of these Japanese-European-American couples can be accused of belittling Japanese culture. They are simply well aware of perceived shortcomings and were willing to relocate to give their children the best tools for creating their futures.

As to the question of how one man can stab so many people with a knife: was it because Japanese people are more passive? I don't think so. The crowded conditions as mentioned above certainly had a lot to do with it. Did people approach the truck because they thought there had been an accident? Did they rush in to help the victims? Did they stand still, uncomprehending? All of the above?

I've heard a couple of Alaskans say that such a thing couldn't happen here. If you haven't been convicted of a felony or domestic violence crime you don't need a permit to carry concealed here, and many people carry weapons in their vehicles on a daily basis. Also we don't have crowded streets anywhere in our state. But could a similar situation happen here? I'm sure it could. We become conditioned to the norms of society, not its aberrations. This is where martial arts training has real value in modern times. It trains us to make quick decisions in dangerous circumstances.

Be well.

jd

[sanjuro_ronin]

I know an American-Japanese couple who left Japan simply so their bairns would not be subject to the Japanese public school system. This was a boon for martial arts in the U.S. This man may be the only person authorized to teach Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu outside of Japan. Quintin Chambers, a menkyo holder in Shinto Muso Ryu, was also happy to relocate his English-Japanese family to Hawaii because, as he told me, "Their critical thinking is zero." Neither of these Japanese-European-American couples can be accused of belittling Japanese culture. They are simply well aware of perceived shortcomings and were willing to relocate to give their children the best tools for creating their futures.

I have heard and experienced similar views from friends and colleges that trained in Japan.

As to the question of how one man can stab so many people with a knife

Because he wanted to and was able to, just that simple.


People don't need guns if they want to go on a killing spree, of course if this was in Great Britain there would be an uproar to ban knives !

[unkokusai]

I have heard and experienced similar views from friends and colleges that trained in Japan.

If you turn on the evening news, are you going to hear about the tornado that ripped through a midwest town, or the nice calm sunny day enjoyed by a town somewhere else?