15-year-old boy arrested for beating ex-classmate to death in Gunma

Wednesday 23rd July, 10:18 AM JST

GUNMA —

Police on Wednesday morning arrested a 15-year-old youth for allegedly beating his ex-school classmate to death in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture. The boy was arrested for beating Satoshi Hoshino, 15, around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The suspect called an ambulance himself, police said.

According to police, the suspect kicked the victim’s face and head and left him in front of a local train station. Police said the victim’s friend was also assaulted and slightly injured, and there were several friends of the suspect in the area at the time of the incident. The suspect has not given any motive for the attack, police said.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 39 Total Comments Show All

USARonin at 06:59 PM JST - 23rd July

WMD, I think there would be some parents who would perceive any kind of 'defense' course as simultaneously bein' one of 'aggression'. They may not want their kids to participate which would be their parental right.

USAR
MeanRingo at 08:59 PM JST - 23rd July

Jon,

I'm sure he was angry. I'm sure he was Hella-angry. I'm sure he was so angry he wanted to kick the crap out of the kid ala Whiley E Coyote and the Road Runner. Which if you actually did on a human scale would cause death a hundred times over. I'm not blaming his actions on the TV. I didn't say the TV made him do it. All I said is that the TV desensitized him to the limits of what the human body can take. When you see a real fight it is not some Rocky movie. It is usually a scrappy, uncoordinated free for all. Not some 10-minute long bout that contains four comebacks as the opponent miraculously stands up to the punishing head blows being delivered. One boot to the temple can kill a man. Simple. Do you get that in the movies? NO. How boring would that be right?

I think this kid simply got carried away with his actions. Didn't realize when to stop and as a result is going to have one guilt-ridden conscience that will last at least until his parent up and move him to another prefecture to hide his and their shame.

And as for not knowing whether this kid hasn't watched TV or movies... come on now lil'Jon you can't possibly be so dense as to assume he's a media recluse. No media? Kids these days don't miss a beat when it comes to TV, Video Games and Movies. I mean really.
isthistheend at 09:34 PM JST - 23rd July

This just makes no sense at all. How many of us were in fist fights at 15. The worst of it in my day was a great big shiner to the loser. No xxxx deaths. But O.K. I admit it was more than two decades ago, Still, this to the death thing here is just becoming WAY OVERBOARD. Who is going to step up and take control of this country? The friggin LDP, the JDP, Governor Stonestomach? And I'm sure that tomorrow when I mention this to a student or two, they'll all say, "isn't it terrible? You just don't know what young people are thinking these days?" End of conversation. Why? Why not a protest, or a march or a demand that these things end prompto, for the honor of Japan, for the soul of Japan, and for the very future of Japan? May I end with a cliche that I wish will continue to yield some meaning as long as we inhabit the earth. "May God help Japan"."
nisegaijin at 11:12 PM JST - 23rd July

to sum it all up, I think Japanese need a role model. Think superman, spider man, batman, whatever. Do good for people, that should be the message. Just a random thought
usaexpat at 11:32 PM JST - 23rd July

I can give you his motive, he was a disturbed bullying little p*ssant who wanted to hurt someone. I wouldn't be too surprised if he ends up having a history of fighting and violence. I can't even imagine what I would do if this happened to my son, it's good the police got him before the victim's parents did.
lipscombe at 12:49 AM JST - 24th July

Pucker up Lips... I mentioned nothing about what motivated the murder. All I said was that if you see a thousand times someone get kicked in the head, you might start thinking that you can actually do it. Not motive. Learn to read

hahahahahaha what are you on? learn to read?? learn to think. dont tell me or anyone else what they might think. that's the flaw in the violence media debate. there is NO PROOF it is all speculation by people who don't think and ASSUME a lot. what if maybe you are right, I know you aren't but what if...how about the 99.99999% of people who watch wrestling and dont decide to kick someone in the head or already have the common sense to know that it will hurt someone? hmmm?
romulus3 at 01:06 AM JST - 24th July

This guy acted because he has no purpose and no future other than a 14 hour a day job with a declining company. What he needs is a sense of national pride instead of humiliation and something deeper than buying brand sh"t for a woman. Japan needs to go military again fast. These young guys need a sense of purpose. J-Pop and gay dangle earings is not cutting it.
KitsuneYoukai at 01:13 AM JST - 24th July

romulus3...I think theres more to it than that.
kjunluc2 at 06:23 AM JST - 24th July

****I've noticed that there are and exceptional number of 15 years olds making the crime section here.Mostly violent crime.
WilliB at 01:43 PM JST - 24th July

I think this story does not fit the pattern of the deranged, knife-wielding 15-year old. According to the news, the kid took the victim to the hospical himself when he collapsed. That is not your typical Akihabara lunatic.

It seems to me this was a teenage brawl that got out of hand. Not an excuse, but one should acknowledge the difference.
TheguyNextdoor at 02:35 PM JST - 24th July

To me, its a fight gone wrong. Still fishy story though, another article said the attacker and friends carried the victim to a nearby bicycle lot and call the ambulance saying "someone has collapsed".
kawaiitenshi at 01:35 PM JST - 28th July

i agree with teenage fight gone wrong. a dear friend of mine died at high school during a stupid fight over water balloons... one punch and that was it for him. if you manage hit someone in the right place, they're a gonner. I highly doubt this kid intended on killing him and was obviously concerned enough to call an ambulance. A typical psychopath would have fled the scene without calling for help. It's a shame the boy died, but imagine how this other boy feels.. he is going to live with this for the rest of his life... a simple mistake that he probably wishes never happened. with shows on tv like rookies... and the school yard fights they show with kids beating the crap out of each other... it's no surprise kids these days think i little bit of a bash is ok.
Blue_Tiger at 09:36 PM JST - 28th July

"Let's kill someone just for fun!"

A sad, pathetic sign of our times. Since life has no meaning, and there is no hope, then death is meaningless also, this ideology being reinforced by violent video games. horrible movies, and consequenceless values being spewed out over TV, in schools, and by the media at large.
WilliB at 02:04 AM JST - 29th July

Tiger, who said "Let's kill someone just for fun!"? I haven´t seen that comment anywhere in reports of this incident.
Blue_Tiger at 08:22 PM JST - 29th July

WilliB - that's the prevailing attitude these days with regards to all these killings.