Killing of Satomi Mitarai
Template:For Template:Expand Japanese Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short description Template:Infobox civilian attack The Template:Nihongo,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> also known as the Nevada-tan murder, was the murder of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, Template:Nihongo, by an 11-year-old female classmate referred to as "Girl A" (a common placeholder name used for female criminals in Japan).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The murder occurred on June 1, 2004, at an elementary school in the city of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture. The murderer slit Mitarai's throat and arms with a box cutter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Reactions to the incident included Internet memesTemplate:Specify and discussions about lowering the age of criminal responsibility in Japan. The killer's name was not released to the press, as per Japanese legal procedures prohibiting the identification of juvenile offenders;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Nagasaki District Legal Affairs Bureau cautioned Internet users against revealing her photos.<ref name=":0" /> However, members of the Japanese Internet community 2channel read a name on a classroom drawing believed to be made by Girl A, and publicized the name on June 18, 2004.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Murder
On June 1, 2004, Girl A murdered her 12-year-old classmate, Satomi Mitarai, after luring her in to an empty classroom during the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Girl A had slit Satomi's throat with a box cutter, but Satomi stood up and attempted to resist. Girl A then slashed Satomi's arms, leaving a notably deep cut on her left wrist, and after a short scuffle, Satomi collapsed to the floor. Girl A reportedly watched her bleed out on the floor to ensure her death. Girl A then returned to her classroom, her clothes covered in blood.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The girls' teacher, upon seeing Girl A covered in blood, had initially thought she had hurt herself. Checking her arms and hands for wounds, seeing that she was unharmed, she demanded for an answer. Girl A allegedly said "It's not my blood. It's not me." Her teacher then stumbled upon the body and called the police.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
After being taken into custody, Girl A was reported to have confessed to the crime, saying "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police officers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She spent the night at the police station, often crying, and refusing to eat or drink. Girl A initially mentioned no motive for the killing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Shortly afterward, she confessed to police that she and Mitarai used to be close friends, but their relationship soured and eventually ended as a result of messages left on the now deactivated chat room site Cafesta.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Girl A claimed that Mitarai slandered her<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> by commenting on her weight and calling her a "goody-goody".
On September 15, 2004, a Japanese Family Court ruled to institutionalize Girl A, putting aside her young age because of the severity of the crime.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She was sent to a reformatory facility in Tochigi Prefecture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Nagasaki family court originally sentenced Girl A to two years of involuntary commitment, but the sentence was extended by two years in September 2006, following a psychological evaluation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On May 29, 2008, local authorities announced that they did not seek an additional sentence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Because of her issues with communication and obsessive interests, Girl A was diagnosed after the murder with Asperger syndrome.<ref name="kusanagi_atsuko">Template:Cite book</ref>
Reaction
The killing provoked a debate in Japan whether the age of criminal responsibility, lowered from 16 to 14 in 2000 due to the 1997 Kobe child murders, needed to be lowered again.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Girl A was considered to be a normal and well-adjusted child before the incident,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which made the public more anxious.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Members of the Japanese Diet, such as Kiichi Inoue and Sadakazu Tanigaki, also came under criticism for comments made in the wake of the killing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Inoue was criticized for referring to Girl A as genki (vigorous, lively), a word with positive connotations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tanigaki was criticized for referring to the method of killing, slitting of the throat, as a "manly" act.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Girl A became the subject of an Internet meme on Japanese web communities such as 2channel. She was nicknamed "Nevada-tan" because a class photograph showed a young girl believed to be her wearing a University of Nevada, Reno sweatshirt,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with Template:No wrap being a childlike pronunciation of the Japanese honorific suffix Template:No wrap, generally used to refer to young girls.
Akio Mori cited this case in support of his controversial "game brain" theory,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which has been criticized as pseudoscience.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Girl A was reported to be a fan of the death-themed flash animation "Red Room",<ref>Template:Cite news Wayback Machine copy.</ref> a claim used in support of the theory. It was also known that Girl A had read the controversial novel Battle Royale and had seen its film adaptation, which centers on young students fighting to the death.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On March 18, 2005, during the Okubo Elementary graduation ceremony, students were given a graduation album with a blank page in honor of Mitarai's death on which they could put pictures of Mitarai, Girl A, or class pictures containing both girls.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mitarai was posthumously awarded a graduation certificate, which her father accepted on her behalf. Girl A was also awarded a certificate, as one is required in Japan in order to enter a junior high school and the school believed it would aid her "reintegration into society".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
- Murder of Aiwa Matsuo, a 2014 murder in Sasebo
- 2007 Sasebo shooting, a 2007 mass homicide in Sasebo
References
External links
- "Japan schoolgirl killer 'sorryTemplate:'" – BBC News, June 3, 2004
- "現代リスクの基礎知識 第62回〜長崎佐世保女児同級生殺害事件" – Nikkei Business Publications June 10, 2004 article on the murder Template:In lang