Japan stunned by schoolgirl's murder

den4 · 4 Jun 2004

Seems like most kids I've seen in Japan are too focused on computer games, and that is not likely to be their fault, either, since there are really fewer places for children to play...unlike in other countries. Most cities I've seen in Japan, especially in and around Tokyo, are focused on making larger buildings for the population density, but there are fewer parks, fewer places where children can actually play, unlike 20-30 years ago (from what I've heard, listening to people who are in their 30's and 40's or older), and so the TV or computer has become their playmate...and there is fewer opportunities to interact with other children.
With fewer chances to interact, those kids aren't able to handle situations that ended up in a physical fight, decades ago, and kids just don't understand that killing is not the same as harming or fighting, until it's too late...
Yes, some may say that Columbine kids had plenty of space to play and so on, but, they, too, from my understanding, had severe problems with interpersonal relations with their peers and anybody else.
I don't believe that the computer game industry is at fault, but I do feel that certain kids, who have problems dealing with others, probably need supervision in making sure they understand the fundamentals of what is right or wrong, since I don't think such understandings can or should be taken for granted any more. Common sense is dead for many folks of all ages in this new millennia, and in order to avoid being a victim, people have to be vigilant and keep the hammer next to you just in case you see some psycho go on the rampage....

Riven · 4 Jun 2004

Riven put it's throwing axe on his bag, he has to cross a kindergarten on his way home *j/k*

stephenmunday · 4 Jun 2004

I agree with Golgo that this thing does not happen in Japan all the time.

However, it is the tip of the iceberg of a lot of violence that does go on in the schools and is never reported. My wife works in the public schools and knows of a number of fairly serious incidents of violence and damage to property that were not even reported to the school board. My wife was told to make sure she didn't tell any outsiders either. The fact that less serious incidents get covered up gives the false impression that everything is OK until something so big happens that the lid cannot be kept on it and the press / police get involved. In my wife's school district that occured when two boys decided to try to burn down the building containing the gas cansisters next to the school.....

(Fortunately for them they failed)

TZed9 · 4 Jun 2004

Riven said:
Your freedom finishs where other's one starts.
Too many things that lead this girl to act... but none to focus on.
Reading this thread just stoke me. Impossible for me to start thinking of any cause, I feel too sorry for this girl. She is the only one to blame, but also to feel feel sorry for. (Sorry hard to express properly in my poor english).

Why am I thinking of 'Battle Royale'?

Responsable parenting is key to avoid a child running wild, but the media also must act responsably. However, China's approach to censorship I do not condone.

den4 · 4 Jun 2004

Last I heard, on the news, that the girl liked to read the Battle Royale manga.....I guess she was one of those easily influenced into thinking that all her antagonistic feelings had to be dealt with extreme violence? Some kids really do need supervision, but how to separate those that are "normal" from those that have potential for going postal? :?
Yeah, yeah....define normal...(probably those kids that are not prone to violence to solve personal issues?)
But, despite the shocking nature of these violent kids, I figure that even if the trend seems to be on the rise (if we are to believe the news), they are also the exception to the standard.....maybe the adults need to find the nails that are sticking way out and find some therapy to hammer them back to normalcy? :?

dreamer · 4 Jun 2004

I think japanese scriptwriters should avoid mixing violence and school -.-

den4 · 4 Jun 2004

Sukeban Deka had high school girl gangs beating up each other, both in manga and in the tv series and films...although it was a good vs bad people theme.....

Be-Bop High School had guy gangs in high school uniforms running around beating each other up all the time in both the manga and films.....

It's only been recently that the news has picked up on kids that are actually so out of tune with reality that they actually commit crimes with no thought to their actions, aside for the want to get revenge for some petty, idiotic slight, that was once limited to fighting, rather than premeditated murder.....

kirei_na_me · 5 Jun 2004

Here's an interesting little tidbit.

Get this:

A Japanese minister has been criticised after he linked a murder committed by an 11-year-old schoolgirl to a rise in female assertiveness.

"This seems to show that vigorous women are increasing," said Kiichi Inoue, disaster prevention minister.

Japan killing comments spark row

Elizabeth · 5 Jun 2004

It's only been recently that the news has picked up on kids that are actually so out of tune with reality that they actually commit crimes with no thought to their actions, aside for the want to get revenge for some petty, idiotic slight, that was once limited to fighting, rather than premeditated murder.....

Are these psychological aspects ever really played up to any extent in the mainstream media, though? The only angles I usually see are of course the actual facts of the case as uncovered by the detectives & prosecutors, statements by the families involved, apologies, etc. (certainly not much in the way of independent investigative reporting) and for whatever reason detailed accounts of the suspect's demeanor. In this case I believe the girl looked hesitant, smiling slightly but spoke clearly in the appearance with her lawyer.

den4 · 5 Jun 2004

You're most likely right....
but the gaffes by the politicians remind me of the Incompetence poster at www.despair.com

Buddha Smoker · 5 Jun 2004

Golgo_13 said:
Yes, because some people confuse "freedom" with freedom to do whatever they want.

It all boils down to good parenting.

That's exactly my point about confusing the meaning of freedom.

I agree very much...it's the parenting that did most of this. Japanese parents don't discipline their children sometimes when need be and then it is possible that is leads to this situation.

sadakoyamamura · 5 Jun 2004

den4 said:
Seems like most kids I've seen in Japan are too focused on computer games, and that is not likely to be their fault, either, since there are really fewer places for children to play...unlike in other countries...

What have our kids been watching...

den4 said:
Last I heard, on the news, that the girl liked to read the Battle Royale manga.....I guess she was one of those easily influenced into thinking that all her antagonistic feelings had to be dealt with extreme violence?

or reading???

It seems that adults have become too busy to supervise the kids. Kids are very impressionable. I remember a local ad campaign with the slogan: What adults do children will follow. How could they know that doing harm to another person is wrong when the value of life was not taught to them. I also agree with den4 that kids who didn't have time to play with their peers would have problems in interpersonal relationships though not necessarily leading to violence and that is spoken from experience.

Buddha Smoker · 5 Jun 2004

I wouldn't say there are fewer places to play but they are just not encouraged to play outside like they use to. Electronics have become a way of life...after all....look how many people are using the Internet and alot of them are kids.

Glenn · 5 Jun 2004

Sorry if I make light of the situation, but these arguments seem to be cliche. For example, I am seeing the "where did you get this stuff?" "From you, alright? I learned it from watching you." And "it's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"

Of course, cliches become so for a reason, but these arguments strike me as being trite. Again, sorry to make light of a serious situation.

Buddha Smoker · 5 Jun 2004

Glenn said:
Sorry if I make light of the situation, but these arguments seem to be cliche. For example, I am seeing the "where did you get this stuff?" "From you, alright? I learned it from watching you." And "it's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"

Of course, cliches become so for a reason, but these arguments strike me as being trite. Again, sorry to make light of a serious situation.

I think you are right though...

Elizabeth · 5 Jun 2004

den4 said:
Seems like most kids I've seen in Japan are too focused on computer games, and that is not likely to be their fault, either, since there are really fewer places for children to play...unlike in other countries. Most cities I've seen in Japan, especially in and around Tokyo, are focused on making larger buildings for the population density, but there are fewer parks, fewer places where children can actually play, unlike 20-30 years ago (from what I've heard, listening to people who are in their 30's and 40's or older), and so the TV or computer has become their playmate...and there is fewer opportunities to interact with other children.

Bullying and social pressure has always been there, but from what I understand the collapse of the economy in 1990 especially seems to have spawned a host of additional problems from divorce to single parent families, domestic violence, drug abuse etc. which the game/cell phone culture has taken advantage of. It's pretty easy to imagine, really, at risk kids in these situations becoming addicted to a messaging keypad with only a handful of icons ('heart' for friendship/love ; 'tears' for angry, etc) to the point of serious reclusive and uncommunicativeness -- even in some cases unwilling to talk to friends on the same train or in the same building or of course only to virtual friends likely to never even meet.

Mana · 6 Jun 2004

Elizabeth said:
Bullying and social pressure has always been there, but from what I understand the collapse of the economy in 1990 especially seems to have spawned a host of additional problems from divorce to single parent families, domestic violence, drug abuse etc. which the game/cell phone culture has taken advantage of. It's pretty easy to imagine, really, at risk kids in these situations becoming addicted to a messaging keypad with only a handful of icons ('heart' for friendship/love ; 'tears' for angry, etc) to the point of serious reclusive and uncommunicativeness -- even in some cases unwilling to talk to friends on the same train or in the same building or of course only to virtual friends likely to never even meet.

i agree with the whole technology bit kids these days are less communicative in person they rather have their feelings expressed with msgs either thru phones or computers
but i also would like to point the finger at the education system for this matter but, i guess i cant blame all faults of juvenile crime to the education system :sorry:

ashuri2 · 7 Jun 2004

it never occured to me do this sort of thing when i was young for two reasons:
1. i'd have to go to jail with old, hairy scary guys.
2. on power rangers, they told us to never try this at home.
i got teased a lot when younger, but i never retaliated for the (dubious) above reasons and the fact that i was too scared to fight back. who knows what was going through this girl's mind? maybe she saw it as a fight of 'good vs. evil', and acted according to what she saw happen in such situations on t.v? when i was younger, i remeber doing some crazy things based on a weird way of thinking, and i followed t.v. alot despite the fact that i rarely watched it and my parents were strict...unreality is a seductive place to be, and i know i used to have issues wheni was little with seperating fantasy from reality.

Buddha Smoker · 7 Jun 2004

ashuri2 said:
2. on power rangers, they told us to never try this at home.

Or G.I.JOE for others..."Now you know, and knowing in half the battle"

Ruri-Ruri · 8 Jun 2004

What I found disturbing was that the girl planned the murder for a few days before she carried it out - she had time to change her mind. It's so difficult to try and guess why these things happen, there's usually quite a few factors involved and nothing you can just point a finger at.

Golgo_13 said:
Yes, because some people confuse "freedom" with freedom to do whatever they want.

It all boils down to good parenting.

I agree about the freedom thing. It can be so scary when someone's impression of 'freedom' becomes morphed. A while back in London some organisation called the 'White Wolves' planted nail bombs in areas where there were many black and gay people (one in a gay bar killed a straight, pregnant woman and her husband). After some of them were caught one member said "I don't like black people, I don't like gay people. It's who I am. I have a right to be myself".

Golgo_13 · 8 Jun 2004

Had this incident ocurred in the U.S., there would be trial lawyers all over the victims family trying to figure out who to blame and who to sue for millions of $$$ in damages (most likely the school board). I'm pretty sure that will not be the case in Japan.

Buddha Smoker · 8 Jun 2004

Golgo_13 said:
Had this incident ocurred in the U.S., there would be trial lawyers all over the victims family trying to figure out who to blame and who to sue for millions of $$$ in damages (most likely the school board). I'm pretty sure that will not be the case in Japan.

That is so true...can you imagine the coverage it would probably get?

Lina Inverse · 8 Jun 2004

Buddha Smoker said:
That is so true...can you imagine the coverage it would probably get?

Yes, I can
I don't think they would sue the school that much, they rather would sue some series the girl used to watch for it and have freaky headlines like,
"Violent cartoon turns innocent girl into a killing machine"

Jean-Francois · 8 Jun 2004

Liner Inverse said:
I don't think they would sue the school that much, they rather would sue some series the girl used to watch for it and have freaky headlines like,
"Violent cartoon turns innocent girl into a killing machine"

It is all because of MONEY!

Under a [highlight]contingent fee[/highlight] arrangement, many U.S. lawyers would agree to act on the basis that if the client is successful the lawyers will take as a fee a certain percentage of the proceeds of the litigation. That means there is no charge if the client is unsuccessful! A lawyer maybe motivated to take as many cases as possible and will be happy just to win one because a single contingent fee will cover his expenses in all the cases and oftentimes can leave him with a big sum of money. That窶冱 why there are so many lawyers going after deep pockets like McDonald and GM.

However, in Canada, contingent fee is prohibited in Ontario and Quebec except in the case of class actions, because it encourages unnecessary and even frivolous litigation. And although the Japanese justice system is under heavy American influence, contingent fee arrangement is generally viewed as unethical by lawmakers and the genreal public.

Buddha Smoker · 8 Jun 2004

Lina Inverse said:
Yes, I can
I don't think they would sue the school that much, they rather would sue some series the girl used to watch for it and have freaky headlines like,
"Violent cartoon turns innocent girl into a killing machine"

I think you are right and then she would get away with it and then they would sensor cartoons even more..

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