This story broke over the last week and now we know more of the facts, I wanted to take a look at it and offer some fresh insights on it. This will not be a comedy post at all - this is a serious issue and it needs to be treated as such.
The Facts
At about 12:30 p.m. JST, the assailant attacked a crowd with his vehicle, running over three people, then stabbing at least 17 people using a dagger (initially erroneously reported as a survival knife), killing seven people.
This is lifted from the Wikipedia article, which uses various news sources as references. Whilst I am aware it’s not professional to use Wikipedia I am going to in this case as it does give a good general overview of the facts.
The assailant, Tomohiro Kato, posted messages on an internet forum stating things like “I’m going to kill people in Akihabara” and so on.
Blog Response
7:10 To Tokyo posted this update quite soon after the news broke (explaining why the title is ‘5 dead’ not 7) and was originally the best article I could find on the subject. He explained something I’d not heard of before called “Daredemo Yokatta attacks” which literally means ‘Anyone is good’ - the idea being the assailant had no particular targets and just wanted to kill randomly.
One part of the article in particular struck me;
I don’t fear becoming the victim of an attack most of the time here in Tokyo because I’m confident in my ability to take care of myself. It’s like I told Spartancus one time on a crowded Tokyo train with a tense atmosphere, “If someone comes at me, he’d better have a lot of heart because I do.”
I wanted to post this again because it’s important - whilst we need to learn from the massacre and accept that Japan is not this amazing “100% safe” country, Japan should not plunge into a climate of fear.
It seems other people agree, too. A nice message and an excellent recap on what is one of the most horrific stories of the year.
My Opinion
How do you write a take on such a horrific event? I guess you look at the facts and try to draw what you can from it. So that’s what I’ve done here - if you think any of them are wrong please comment - I am very interested to see what people are making of this news story.
1. Whilst I agree 100% with 7:10 To Tokyo’s view that you shouldn’t live in fear of an attack, it seems that, with these Daredemo Yokatta attacks on the rise, something needs to be done. It seems impossible due to the nature of the attack - you can’t protect the victim, because you have no idea who the victim is going to be. So perhaps:
2. These internet threats, which have been posted more than once before attacks, need to be taken a lot more seriously. Sites like 2channel and so forth should have some sort of system for people to report posts they think could hold some darker meaning. I am aware this challenges the point of the anonymous posting feature 2channel offers, but it may be a necessary step.
3. That said, I’d hate for the net, or the sites, to get a reputation for housing killers. There are many more well-adjusted people out there - let’s not jump to conclusions.
4. I hope the Akihabara Massacre goes on to be remembered not as a tragic event but as something we can learn from - in every country in the world you need to be continually aware of who’s around you. Japan is not some overly safe country where nothing bad happens.
So there you go - I hope this article is useful. I want to spark some discussion, which is why I added my own opinions at the end. Please use the comments section of Japan Is Doomed if you’re interested - I will get back to you.
