What do you think is causing the recent spate of random stabbings in Japan and how can society address the problem?

Wednesday 30th July, 07:55 AM JST

Latest 15 of 40 Total Comments Show All

pointofview at 03:19 PM JST - 30th July

I just hope that some foreign worker/teacher etc. doesn`t encounter such a horrific situation. I wonder what would happen then. I also wonder if you defended yourself and actually disarmed the attacker would you be punished for hitting them or injuring them. This is Japan.
chinpira at 04:09 PM JST - 30th July

Cleo-

No, definitely not any sicker. Murdering any innocent by-stander is pure evil no matter what the method. My point is that in Japan many suicides affect innocent by-standers by accident and are a bi-product of the suicidee's chosen method. However in some cases the only reason for the killing is to then turn themselves straight into the koban to be processed with the hope of receiving the death penalty. The links you provide are not so, the difference is that these people wanted to take out a few people before they go. This often not the case here, the killing is a means to an end.

So in direct response to this poll: 1. People determined 100% to commit suicide need a clean method to end their lives with zero impact on others. 2. There needs to be a stronger deterrent aimed at people who commit mass stabbing or any other murder spree.... hanging is not a deterrent for this group.
tkoind2 at 04:12 PM JST - 30th July

Japan is suffering a national mental health crisis and has no structure to address it. Psychological care here still carries a strong stigma and the resources available are very limited.

There are many reasons for this mental health crisis. Some obvious causes are: 1. Overwork and work stress 2. Lack of work/life balance 3. Lack of protection against work related abuse and ill treatment. 4. Increasing number of working poor. 5. Increasing economic and financial strains. 6. Diminished employment security and stability. 7. Social pressure to suppress stress rather than seek positive outlets for it. 8. Declining social fabric and increasing alienation and isolation of individuals in Japanese society. 9. Increasing number of people who are disenfrancised. 10. Declining interpersonal interaction as more and more people turn to computers, cell phones and media rather than social connections.

How to fix it? 1. Address labor laws to improve working conditions and employee protections. 2. Legislate and enforce work life balance measures. 3. Improve mental health care awareness and information sharing with the public. 4. Provide a stronger mental health care structure and system with better resources for people to turn to. 5. Fund and support more community and neighborhood outreach and other programs to get people reconnected with communities. 6. Teach employers and others how to recognize danger signs. 7. Don't ignore the problem. Resolve it.

economics and the rising number of working poor, long hours for overworked employees and t
Farmboy at 06:13 PM JST - 30th July

Well, let's start with the idea of suicide as an honorable act, and then branch out, asking if taking your children with you when you commit suicide is also honorable. Some people strongly believe so. Now how about taking strangers with you? Is that honorable, too? Is there a case when suicide is not honorable? When is that? How about murder in itself? Is it ever justifiable?

Now maybe in Japan's history, suicide might have made sense as an act to avoid dishonor to one's family, and maybe murder could be justified in some way as well, but I don't think that line of thought can be argued very well in today's society.

Still, I'm afraid that when people are frustrated, upset, disappointed, and so on, suicide will seem like a good idea, and if killing yourself is a good idea, I don't think it's much of a moral leap to kill others, since both ideas require one to not see the ultimate effects of one's actions, which affect many people besides oneself.

And then, people need something to live for as well, but that's another story. Society will address these problems when society has reached its limit. This will be some time off, I'm afraid.
some14some at 06:19 PM JST - 30th July

tkoind2: great explanation, now even if they follow half of it crime rate will go down drastically. Unfortunately i do not think it happening now or in near future.
umioso at 07:37 PM JST - 30th July

I believe that Japan is a high-stress society. Far be it from me to suggest that Japan should make drastic changes but, that being said, Japan should make psychological help easily available in the form of anger management hot lines. Group therapy for people who are "stressed out" is a good deterrent. These ideas are only effective if the stress-challenged person wants and SEEKS help. Co-workers and neighbors could also be made aware of symptoms of excessive stress when they see it.
yabits at 07:50 PM JST - 30th July

Conditions in Japan are very much like the conditions of this thread of posts on the topic. There are three general categories:

1) Those who care enough to look at the issue, analyze it and discuss it. They are the ones who believe that there is something inherently off kilter with Japanese society and that conditions can be improved. (I hear many Japanese say in passing that their society is "sick.") 2) Those who live in denial of any inherent problems within the society, and who are fatalistic as to the causes, and so totally absent from any potential remedy -- and even resistant to any positive steps taken to suggest remedies. 3) The people who are so nihilistic, cynical, or turned-off that they would never even give the time of day to this or any other such discussions. (The non-posters, and the kinds who do the stabbing as well.)

Societies have all three types at all times, but I think the problems come when those in groups 2 and 3 start to significantly outnumber the first group. And the key to that increase is the attitudes of people in Group 2, and how much they are able to influence others to their point of view. Just as an individual must examine his or her conscience and reflect on behavior (hansei), society must also have a vehicle for doing the same. The people in the second group will resist such measures because such things are an admission that there are deep flaws within their society, and to suggest such a thing would be perceived as an "insult."
helloklitty at 08:14 PM JST - 30th July

Passive-aggressive country - nothing direct - let everything boil over
kokuryu at 02:12 AM JST - 31st July

Overall, Japan's society is crumbling from the inside outward. The forces of change being exerted by the younger people in Japan are running into a wall of opposition by the older people living in Japan. A new Japanese society and a new Japanese language are both evolving and wanting to be born. This change has been noted by the officials and people in power in Japan, and they have attempted to clamp down on it, similar to the past mass executions done in order to control the tide of society and people in Japan, where whole towns just vanished overnight, rather than that the new age is causing spot people to vanish out of the blue. This void is noticed by society on a subliminal level, as the corruption of police and officials reaches new heights, and the general xenophobia that exists against all non-Japanese ethnic groups combines to make an era where "Japanese citizens do no crimes" and everything is scapegoated to anyone non-Japanese that happens to be in the area. This heightened sense of being able to "get away" with anything because they are Japanese, coupled with the heightened "useless people" syndrome where anyone with disabilities, who fails at anything, or otherwise is not generally liked by the "popular" crowd is automatically "useless" and deserves to die or be killed, has spawned a new era in Japan where it is slowing becoming acceptable to actually kill off those people feel are "useless" or "unwanted" - which could be anyone, because each person has their own list of who is "useless" and "unwanted". This backpressure created by the government is now feeding upon society itself and the corrupted infrastructure that currently supports it. It is something that cannot be sustained, and will probably overflow into full scale mass deaths around the country before something has to fail and fall. The current power structure has to end abruptly - either through it's own destruction, or by mass resignations, followed by a purge of all corrupted officials everywhere in Japan, and new leadership has to arise from the youngest generation in Japan to fill the void. The current Japanese language has to also be allowed to evolve to it's fullest, which will create a new blended language that will probably become a fad language that could itself evolve into a universal language that everyone in the world can use.

But I doubt very much that this positive outcome will happen - absolute power corrupts absolutely, and those in power do not want nor desire any change unless it gives them more power - and Japan is a society that inherently worships such power and power structures, which will give rise to it's ultimate downfall.
solarbuster at 08:20 AM JST - 31st July

Society has always had crazies and always will, however Japan is changing no longer do Japanese have a job for life. No longer are people staying in their own community and this is the biggest problem. The system of support that came from living in small units with one person as a community leader is breaking down as young people seek the same independance as Westerns have. This means stress levels rise and people who have border line mental problems succum to the extra pressures. They are no longer protected from harsh reality by friends and neighbours who have always made allowance for their "strange" behaviour. The school yard bullies are no longer stopped from picking on them by older kids because parents no longer teach their children that they have responcibility towards the community. These "strange" people turn inward and fantasy takes over their lives. To make matters worse when they do some crazy act the law sends them to some doctor who puts them on medication and then pushes them back into society with no one making sure that they keep taking their pills. Some of these people put back into society are so dangerous that parents after spending years pleading with authorities the lock their children away, have tried to kill their own kids or asked some one else to do it for them. A massive amount of money and a completely new way of handling mental health issues is needed along with new laws to bring mental health services up to scratch. Until this is done the problems will continue as more and more people with border line mental illness tip over the edge of no return. Not through fads but by the ignorance and fear of mental illness of politicians who keep throwing the problem in the too hard basket instead of providing better services to society.
stubar at 02:33 PM JST - 31st July

Confining this to the "recent stabbings" greatly undermines the larger problem of similar crimes that have occured for decades. The problems and causes are: Poor family relationships caused primarily from over work, "idol" culture and the obession with the sexualisation of girls, especially young ones and exploiting them on tv,and thirdly the unwillingness of people to help those with problems or recognise individuality, excluding them from the rest of society.
LIBERTAS at 06:38 AM JST - 1st August

A dysfunctional, immature society which places more value on designer goods than human life. Japan is a place where the only acceptable emotion displayed is anger. Endless repression of the individual for the good of the corporation doesn't work. These displays are a breakdown of the social contract. Solution: radical reform. But first you have to admit you have a problem! And Japan will never do that. It believes that it is a perfect, unique, chosen race and people. Like the other one!
jadedsun at 05:14 AM JST - 3rd August

I live in the UK, and knife crime is increasing day by day here. The Government has tried Knife and Gun Amnesties, increasing police on the streets, targetting known gang members and yet nothing is working. The only way, in my view, to cut down knife crime is to severely increase the jail sentence from a standard 18 months to 5 years minimum without a chance for getting out of jail early. Increase the discipline and strictness in prison so that the offenders would think twice about doing something that bad again to end up there. We've thought of bringing back National Service in this country, as in the early 20th century when it was first introduced, crime amongst youths fell dramatically. If it was introduced as a compulsary measure to anyone who is seen as a menace to society or anyone who can't be bothered to get a job, then hopefully it will deter them from doing what they are doing now and motivate them into making a new life for themselves.
Saicook at 09:56 AM JST - 3rd August

Totally Agreed with jadedsun. removing the death penality,and replacing it with life sentence is a good medecine for the mentality (sickness?) that chinpira was talking about. sorry for the short comment.
retirednavygaijin at 01:53 PM JST - 23rd August

What do you think is causing the recent spate of random stabbings in Japan?

Uhhhh, lack of guns?