10-year-old boy detained for torching Nagoya temple

Wednesday 04th November, 08:15 AM JST

NAGOYA —

A 10-year-old boy was detained by police on Tuesday after he set Nagoya’s famous Saishoji temple alight, burning the building to cinders and injuring two women who were in the area at the time.

According to police, a local resident saw the boy inside a barrier at the temple watching the fire with a happy expression on his face. Police said the boy has admitted to lighting the fire himself. He was quoted as saying: “I wanted to see things burning.” There was no one inside the temple at the time of the fire.

The fire burned about 800 square meters around the temple, including part of a nearby nursery school, and took about seven hours to extinguish. Saishoji is located in the center of an area of small, winding roads, making it difficult for police to access the fire and temporarily putting nearby homes in danger.

Saishoji is a temple of the Otani sect of Shin Buddhism, and the temple building itself was constructed in 1487.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 51 Total Comments Show All

Mexicanish at 03:13 PM JST - 4th November

This kid sounds like a pyro! ... There's no fixing that really, except to teach him to control his urges. The fact that he is 10 years old is not an excuse. I knew full and well about consequences when I was 10. Is it b/c my mother used corporal punishment? Probably. I was terrified to do anything wrong...

In any case all children should have some fear of doing bad things. He deserves to be punished and not just get a slap on the wrist b/c he's 10.
Kronos at 03:44 PM JST - 4th November

This kid is most probably a pyromaniac. Should get professional help.

Shame about the temple. But the Buddisht monks should not get upset too much. After all, it is not about worldly belongings, right?
nandakandamanda at 05:27 PM JST - 4th November

The monks won't get upset Kronos, we hope. It's you and me who are crying...
Icantbelieveit at 05:46 PM JST - 4th November

I hope the parents have to pay for this.　　In accordance with Japan law logic...Let me see, oh yes...I am 50 percent at fault for the automobile accident I was in where a guy t-boned my car, because if I hadn't been on the road, the accident wouldn't have happened!
Apply this logic to this case...if the parents didn't have a child, the temple would have never been burned down. Sounds right to me, break out the hanko!
bokudayo at 06:14 PM JST - 4th November

I don't know for sure, but he'll likely get off very easy - even for a kid. Apparently he is mentally handicapped.
thethudelh at 08:16 PM JST - 4th November

>

"What did you do today honey?" " burned down a 500 year old temple, just to watch it burn. That's how I roll. Now where is my juice box woman?"

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHH!
bushlover at 09:16 PM JST - 4th November

[“I wanted to see things burning.” ]

So pour gasoline on this idiot and start flicking your bic. That'll teach him how nice burning things can be.
ca1ic0cat at 10:22 PM JST - 4th November

Pathetic kid. What do you do with somebody like that when they hit 21?
glycol57 at 12:06 AM JST - 5th November

Interesting how there is an article in JT right now about the "self-centered zombie" generation .... those who just assume that their own immediate wants and gratification takes precedent over everyone and everything else. This kid wanted to see something burn, so he set it on fire. Why would anyone get upset ? HE is the center of the universe after all ... what HE wants comes FIRST, right ?

What's he going to be like at 15 ... at 25 ? Rape robbery mayhem and murder ???

Seems Japanese kids may be taking after their American counterparts. The USA is full of sociopathic little ME-monsters these days at every level of society. And yes it's rape, robbery, mayhem and murder every day in the news with a picture of some punk with that "Why are you messing with ME ?" look on his face. Perhaps there's something to be said for the application of a stout branch to the backside of errant narsissic youths - before they're too old to learn.
TheQuestion at 01:46 AM JST - 5th November

If I had done that my dad would have whooped my ass then have made me help rebuild it. No counciling, none of this understanding crap, just punishment and hard work. The human mind responds faster to negative stimulation than most psych stuff anyway, it may have turned me into an abrasive dickhead but at least I've never burned anything down or killed anyone.
mnemosyne23 at 01:50 AM JST - 5th November

What the heck was a ten year old boy doing alone in such a place? What time of day was it? Even without deliberate intent, it's entirely likely he might have damaged something irreplaceable just by running around and bumping into things, something ten year old boys (and girls) are known to do. As it is, he deliberately burned this priceless building to the ground. I can't even imagine what a satisfactory punishment might be.
bdiego at 04:58 AM JST - 5th November

Well in ancient Japan he'd have gotten the death penalty. If you're old enough to burn, you're old enough to burn.
Infernus at 01:08 PM JST - 5th November

bdiego, I think it should happen that way.

All this he's only ten crap. When I was ten I knew not to play with fire, as well as the difference between right and wrong. He obviously doesn't care and the fire could have spread even farther given the right conditions. Plus there was two women that were injured. As he gets older the crimes will just become worse. Its like trying to convince a weed in your garden to stop growing when its just poking out of the soil.
hypnotized at 08:49 PM JST - 6th November

A typical ten year old kid here has never even heard of Mishima Yukio, let alone read him.
More likely a Beavis and Butthead fan.... Fire!!! Cool! Fire!!! Sugoi!!!
Laguna at 04:08 PM JST - 9th November

I should have invited him to my neighborhood. The local shrine mafia cut down a 200-year old zelkova that my late father-in-law had cared for during the decades of shrine abandonment just so they could build a useless 六角堂. What a waste. Don't pretend that all of these priests/monks care anything about anything but money.