Suspect in stabbing of book shop clerk says he did it on impulse

Thursday 24th July, 03:54 AM JST

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spudman at 12:56 AM JST - 24th July

How do you retaliate first? Wouldn't that be initiate?
TPOJ at 12:57 AM JST - 24th July

Being a drone for Japan Inc, is much better I think than being a peasant in some 3rd world nation or in the US. But I don't read about them doing the same thing striking out against innocents because they can't handle it.

There's no pressure to handle stress in the 3rd world. You're surrounded by a horrible situation, but it's not an atmosphere of constant expectation, arrogance, spectacularly awful interpersonal communication and thinly veiled contempt.

People don't live in test tubes. A dirt poor person who gets enough to eat and doesn't die of exposure has a decent chance of happiness. A person with a good salary and a family has a decent chance of having a nervous breakdown. Warm blooded mammals (humans included) do not live in a state of constant comparison: their day to day, minute to minute thread of existence decides their mental state, not their ability to be objectively better off than some other person.

I have a (Japanese) friend back in the States who said that Japan was "an entire country of Kentucky." His point was that, like the backwoods of that state, it was very mentally isolated from the outside world: it was AWARE of it, but it wasn't really OF it. It's in many ways a stagnant culture: surface changes occur all the time here, but (for example) the Royal Family still firmly believes that the woman is to blame if she doesn't produce a male heir, despite the fact that science has known better for God knows how many years.

Ironically, for a country with the working hours and stress it has, Japanese culture is awe inspiringly lazy when it comes to questioning it's surroundings. There are eventual consequences to that degree of culture-wide laziness, such as clinging stubbornly to laughably outmoded cultural norms while desperately trying to be a functioning part of a world that left those norms behind (in some cases) centuries ago.

When I first heard McArthur's quote about Japan being a nation of 12 year olds, it sounded glib and insulting. Not so much now. This doesn't apply to every single person, obviously, but when looking at the default culture...the culture people fall back on when they don't have much of a personality...it's embarrassing. Japan is a fantastic place full of brilliance, potential, and ability. But for as long as it allows the lowest common denominator to posses the cultural mindset, it's only going to rot.
Alphaape at 01:15 AM JST - 24th July

TPOJ thanks for the comments. I don't necessarily agree with you statements that peasants in 3rd world nations are happy just to "wallow in poverty" I am sure it is stressful trying to find the day's bread or not overthrowing the ruling and middle classes for a piece of the pie. But I get your point on general attitude about Japan. In addition to the McArthur quote, a more recent one was that Japan was "moving slow in the fast lane." Many modern technical advances are taking place here, but they are slow to get to the general public or the public is slow to accept the changes. I guess with the advances many nations have made in mental health issues, this would probably apply to Japan. But, I am glad to see that they are not relying on the "magic pill" as we tend to do in the US.

I hope that these events, as tragic as they are will open up the society to be more willing to work on mental health issues, so that maybe these stabbings will decrease. I think that it is funny when we read reports of some maniac in American going "postal" with a gun, and how some deride the us mentality of "clinging to our guns" as an abnormal obsession, but when a tragedy such as this one and the others that have happened, all of a sudden they don't want to discuss the resons for the pent up agression.
TPOJ at 01:26 AM JST - 24th July

I don't necessarily agree with you statements that peasants in 3rd world nations are happy just to "wallow in poverty" I am sure it is stressful trying to find the day's bread or not overthrowing the ruling and middle classes for a piece of the pie.

That's not what I'm saying. They're not happy, obviously, but they're not in a constant state of being bottled up. Even under brutal regimes, they aren't required to spend 10 or more hours a day being insulted, mentally brutalized and derided only to go home to family and friends who have no interest in truly communicating with them.

Ambiguity is a killer. For all the myriad tragedies of day to day life in the 3rd world, ambiguity and cognitive dissonance are not big concerns.
omarbabilon at 02:21 AM JST - 24th July

"Being a drone for Japan Inc, is much better I think than being a peasant in some 3rd world nation or in the US. But I don't read about them doing the same thing striking out against innocents because they can't handle it." At first i would like to know if you have lived in a "3rd world country", and how long, because in the so called "3rd world countries" there are people who is not poor too, even have porches or lamborghinis, do you have one?, also people who have a MBA or PHD and have 250 m2 houses, something that would be japanese people's dream house, and i am not talking about drug dealers or dictator relatives, i am talking about normal people who only doesnt live in europe or north america, then i guess maybe you are maybe ignorant about this point, because everybody is not poor, miserable, ignorant or look like indian in the "so called 3rd world countries", visit someday argentina, chile, brazil, mexico, peru, panama and lets talk later. Anyway, despicting your ignorance about "poor and miserable countries" the point is japanese society doesnt have enough values and you can notice anytime and everywhere, here you can be consider valuable if you get something that can show the others you have more than them, a culture plenty of subcultures, where people want to be released of a strict prison made of rules and custom not fixed to a modern and changeable world, a country where your company or your boss (as new shogun) is more important than your family, a place where men chase schoolgirls (same age than their daughters) to have sex, where women are second class citizen, with lower salaries than men, used as sex objects to porno and sex bussines (not allowed by a trcky law), a society where children never receive lve from their parents and learn not to touch or kiss them..., this is Japan a place where you have to keep the rule and you are not allowed to be yourself, because like a giant ant-hill you must follow the others and do the same as the others ALWAYS. This is enough to get crazy isnt it?.
Smythe at 04:32 AM JST - 24th July

Using a few words from omarbabilon's post being "--being a peasant in some 3rd world nation or in the US.--" is so hard to fathom.

What I am seeing is a lot of people in strange mind compared to the rest of their country people. Obviously very, very moody, to mentally effected in some way. along with the excissive use of knives.

Still in Canada we have the famous Gun Control that is not worth a darn for almost anyone can obtain a gun illegally & being probably much like this chap they end up shooting one or several people even though in many cases they do not know them, such as at school, or who knows if they are in anyway sort of related to the one shooting.

YET interesting thing is a LOT of people, here in Canada, are using knives. For many years in my different lines of business I carried a single blade folding/lock knife to cut this or that at work or even at home.

What one does about one that is mentally disturbed, a bit, I really do not know, nor does anyone else for often they are storing their moods inside of them & they are not obviouse. Then are the police to throw them in jail for their thinking or moods?

Think of the famous words of "Road Rage" that often flare up upon drives yet otherwise they are 100% normal till that flare up which can cause the injury or death to others through their "rage".
Alphaape at 08:28 AM JST - 24th July

All I can say is that this is a major problem, and I bet some young PhD candidate out there would have a field day working on his dissertation about the rising knifing problem here. But I would wonder if he is going to a Japanese Univ. would the results of his study get published or if he is a foreigner, would they be dismissed as just some outsider who didn't understand the uniqueness of Japan.

Moderator: Readers, please stay on topic.
tkoind2 at 09:48 AM JST - 24th July
Fukuda where have you been mate? Why do you need someone to explain this to you when the answers are being published in every paper in the country and the culprits are being quite clear about what is motivating them. Are you really that clueless?
1. People are frustrated with their repetitive faceless lives.
2. People are over worked, underpaid and stressed out.
3. There are no outlets or support structures for these people to turn to.
4. Societal issues cause people to repress these problems leading to some of them snapping at some point.
5. Social alienation is isolating people so that even peers and family members do see these things coming.
6. Hopelessnesss has become a primary Japanese life experience and people simply don't do well when feeling hopeless.
Now none of this justifies what has been happening. But is certainly and clearly explains it. So Fukuda since you can't seem to wrap your mind around the concept, I doubt you have solutions either so here are some for free.
1. Do more to secure work life balance for people so that they can have lives outside work.
2. Improve and enforce labor standards so that people have better working experiences.
3. Develop social programs to give people ways options to turn to for help. This should include social work support, improved psychiatric resources and options for people to take paid time off to decompress when suffering from severe stress or depression.
4. Start a campaign to make it ok to seek mental health care and counciling. People need this but they need society to say it is ok too.
5. Start a campaign to get the message out that acting out in this way does not help but harms other workers who are suffering the same stresses.
6. Get the press to stop glorifying these guys. If their names are suppressed and not widely shared, they will not have the associate fame and copy cats will not have the associated encouragment.
Try those for a start and phone me if you need some more ideas.
kirakira25 at 10:55 AM JST - 24th July

tkoind2 - there`s no need for me to post because you just summed up everything I have been thinking, saying (and arguing with my husband with as of last night!)

WHY???? is this concept so difficult to grasp? Maybe because, as someone else said, this is a nation of "kentucky" - being in such an isolated culture maybe they can`t see the wood for the trees?

Ive been saying to my husband for ages now that Japan has a growing mental and social health crisis. It always cued big arguments about how we are no better in the west. I dont necessarily disagree with him, but at least we can stand up and acknowledge it and try to do something about it instead of pretending it doesn`t exist.

Last night he came home and said "Yknow, Im really starting to think Japan has a mental health crisis brewing!" OMG!!!!!
TPOJ at 11:06 AM JST - 24th July

Ive been saying to my husband for ages now that Japan has a growing mental and social health crisis. It always cued big arguments about how we are no better in the west.

GAH! This "argument" drives me nuts.

No, we're not better in the West. So? That gonna make your problem go away?

As much as Japan wants to be seen as a leader, you'd think they'd want to, you know, lead in something, not wait for everyone else to fix their domestic problems before working on their own.
norinrad21 at 12:22 PM JST - 24th July

so this guy decides to kill someone because of trouble at work and with his family? WOW
lilalia at 02:00 PM JST - 24th July

So long the justice will not move faster this cases will increase. For the 8 years ago similar crime, the japanese justice needed 8 years to finish the trial. (death sentence, but for 8 years that criminal was happy living, eating ... enjoy his crazy life, happy to see the sun and enjoy his killers memory. So long they will move slowly, some crazy people will do it again and again. The question is how nobody could see that somethig is wrong ?

for TPOJ - this is te japanese education system, telling to the children every day that japanese nation is the best in the world... so they start to belive it. Don't blame your husband for this aspect. He is the product of the education system, just same as the killer one, he is also a product of the educational system ... they have to learn to respect at first any humans rights to have a life not to protect only pets... (or other animals that are existing in kindergartens) But, I don't thing that in this world we can find "the best nation", any nation has good and bad aspects.
kinniku at 10:17 PM JST - 25th July

I am sick of hearing "anyone would have been okay", "I wanted to cause my parents trouble" and "I wanted to be famous". I think the news media should refused to make a spectacle of these people. Mention their names and that is it. No more interviewing parents, relatives or friends of these suspects. They don't deserve the attention.
jeancolmar at 01:14 AM JST - 26th July

I have been writing it here for months: There is knife-wielding maniac epidemic in Japan and getting worse. It is not only happening here (as BBC recently noted in its piece centering knife crime in the UK). But that is small comfort for anyone (especially a woman) who must spend any time in public. So what are the authorities doing? Nothing, except hanging more people, as if that is going to prevent anything.
Blue_Tiger at 09:34 PM JST - 28th July

Interesting phenomena: job frustration, so let's vent on 17 innocents in Akihabara; family frustrations, so let's vent on two innocent women at a bookstore. At least in the states, when someone goes postal, they target the focus of their frustrations. This doesn't justify what happens in either country, but it does make it more believable and understandable (to a degree) in the States....