News Stories

[Kinny Riddle]

This "Blog of Death" transcript is obtained from another forum, which in turn is obtained from a mobile phone website (one of those WAP/3G websites, I think) which the psycho allegedly posts his thoughts before beginning his rampage.

I'll try and translate to my best knowledge, will appreciate if someone can double-check.

Originally Posted by The killer himself

＜秋葉原通り魔＞携帯掲示板に予告
<Psycho of Akibahara> His forewarning in a message board

◇携帯電話サイトに書き込んだ内容（原文のまま）
◇Transcript from a mobile phone website (Original text)

午前５時２１分　秋葉原で人を殺します　車でつっこんで、車が使えなくなったらナイフを使います　みんなさ ようなら
5:21AM - I'm gonna go kill people in Akihabara. I'm gonna hit them with a truck, if I don't hit them, I'm gonna stab them with a knife. Goodbye everyone.

午前５時２１分　ねむい
5:21AM - I'm tired

午前５時３４分　頭痛が治らなかった
5:34AM - My headache's not going away

午前５時３５分　しかも、予報が雨　最悪
5:35AM - Weather report says it's gonna rain today. How great

午前５時４４分　途中で捕まるのが一番しょぼいパターンかな
5:44AM - It'll be the worst case scenario if I get caught while doing it

午前６時００分　俺（おれ）が騙（だま）されてるんじゃない　俺が騙してるのか
6:00AM - If I wasn't the one being fooled, then am I the one that is fooling people?

午前６時０２分　いい人を演じるのには慣れてる　みんな簡単に騙される
6:02AM - I'm used to being such a nice guy, fooling everyone

午前６時０３分　大人には評判の良い子だった　大人には
6:03AM - Got praised as a nice kid by the grown ups

午前６時０３分　友達は、できないよね
6:03AM - I can't make any friends, you know

午前６時０４分　ほんの数人、こんな俺に長いことつきあってくれてた奴（やつ）らがいる
6:04AM - Only a handful of people hang out with a person like me

午前６時０５分　全員一斉送信でメールをくれる　そのメンバーの中にまだ入っていることが、少し嬉（うれ） しかった
6:05AM - As I send this SMS to everyone on the list, I feel a bit glad to be still on this list

午前６時１０分　使う予定の道路が封鎖中とか　やっぱり、全（すべ）てが俺の邪魔をする
6:10AM - The planned road is being blocked. Just as I thought, everything is against me

午前６時３１分　時間だ出かけよう
6:31AM - I'll go once the time has come

午前６時３９分　頭痛との闘いになりそうだ
6:39AM - I seem to be having a battle with my headache

午前６時４９分　雨とも
6:49AM - As well as the rain

午前６時５０分　時間とも
6:50AM - As well as time

午前７時１２分　一本早い電車に乗れてしまった
7:12AM - I took an early train

午前７時２４分　３０分余ってるぜ
7:24AM - 30 minutes to go (before he executes his plan)

午前７時３０分　これは酷（ひど）い雨　全部完璧（かんぺき）に準備したのに
7:30AM - Such huge rain, even though everything's now prepared

午前７時４７分　まあいいや　規模が小さくても、雨天決行
7:47AM - Forget it. Though it won't be as grand as before, the plan will go on in this rainy day

午前９時４１分　晴れればいいな
9:41AM - It'll be great if it was fine

午前９時４８分　神奈川入って休憩　今のとこ順調かな
9:48AM - Taking a break in Kanagawa. Everything's gone to plan

午前１０時５３分　酷い渋滞　時間までに着くかしら
10:53AM - How crowded. Arrived before the planned time.

午前１１時０７分　渋谷ひどい
11:07AM - Shibuya is terrible

午前１１時１７分　こっちは晴れてるね
11:17AM - Now the weather's fine

午前１１時４５分　秋葉原ついた
11:45AM - Arrived in Akihabara

午前１１時４５分　今日は歩行者天国の日だよね？
11:45AM - So it's a pedestrian free zone today?

午後０時１０分　時間です
12:10PM - It's time

copy from MIXI

Seriously, just how much more sick can this guy get?

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by MakubeX2

Logically speaking, if he intends to kill lots of people as reported, he should target Shibuya. Not Akihabara. So why didn't he ?

I know i've quoted you before and i said 'does this look like the mind of a sane person' but heh heh, whaddya know~

It must have already crossed this mind~

午前１１時０７分　渋谷ひどい
11:07AM - Shibuya is terrible

Just a lil black humour on my end.

Anyways, no doubt this thread is gonna get flooded with the stabbing stories for a while, but I figured to add a lil colour to all this red and toss in some other news posts for peeps to discuss in here:

(still editing - digging for the online versions of some stories she read and discussed at work today)


edit:
here kinny~
http://www.fnn-news.com/en/news/head...N00134357.html
There's a video news headlines index on the bottom of that link, knock yourself out.

[Kinny Riddle]

A bit off topic, I must complain about youtube's trigger happy policy of deleting everything even slightly copyrighted with ruthless indiscrimination, meaning I'm struggling to find videos and newsclips concerning the stabbing incident that has not been taken off.

[TinyRedLeaf]

I would agree he is a sick man who needed help. I'm not sure if you meant the other "sick". For an outsider's perspective on modern Japan's claustrophobic society, I'd recommend Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation. Michael Zielenziger does over-represent the problem of social disjoint experienced by many young Japanese, but as long as you keep a broader perspective, you'll get a sympathetic insight into their suffocating world.

[Xellos-_^]

is this a protest against the US itself or is Korea really that afraid of Yandere-cows?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364484,00.html

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's president dispatched officials to Washington on Monday to try to calm weeks of public uproar over fears of mad cow disease.
The move comes ahead of reports that the beef issue could prompt a reshuffling of President Lee Myung-bak's Cabinet less than four months after he took office.
"It will not be easy, but make your best efforts to achieve what the people want," Lee told a delegation from the Agriculture Ministry and Foreign Ministry before they left for the United States.

[Ending]

@ Kinny Riddle: Same. YouTube is quickly becoming just another mainstream channel controlled by the big players. Did you know that they are planning of removing net-neutrality so that their customers can access only certain pages like YouTube, Warner, Disney... You know, BIG players. I find it odd that YouTube is among them.

That stabbing incident in Japan goes to the same category as the school shooting in Jokela, here in Finland. I.e: people with angst against everything wanting to go down guns blazing. They aren't sick, really, just insane.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Developing news on the tragic incident.

Declining morality is not the sole cause of Akihabara carnage

TOKYO (10 Jun 08): As stunned mourners placed flowers, sweets and comic-book images at a makeshift shrine, new details emerged about the disturbed young auto worker who wreaked havoc in Akihabara, the hub of Tokyo's comic-book subculture.

The assailant behind Japan's deadliest crime in seven years, 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato, worked on a temporary contract at an auto components factory in central Shizuoka prefecture, police said.

Kanto Auto Works, the company to which Kato was dispatched from a temping agency in November, said he had been working normally until going missing on Friday. "We've been told that his attitude at work was very good and that he didn't stir any problems in the workplace," said company spokesman Naoyuki Hashimoto.

Residents of Kato's hometown interviewed by Nippon Television said that he did well at school. "He was good both at studying and sports. He was respected in the classroom," one woman said.

Kato reportedly had a strong interest in comic-book and video-game subculture. In a school yearbook in which graduating students were asked to describe their personalities, Kato enclosed a picture of an action hero and simply wrote the word "crooked" in English, reports said.

He admitted to police that he had documented his journey on Internet bulletin boards in messages posted from his mobile telephone, a police spokesman said. "I'll crash my vehicle into people and if the vehicle becomes useless, I'll get out a knife. Goodbye everyone!" said one posting hours before the crime, as quoted by Japanese media.

Chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said officials would study whether laws could be tightened on possession of knives. Japan strictly controls firearms. "People say that public morality and relations between people are declining," Machmiura said. "But I don't think we can explain this case only by that."

Around the crime scene, overnight rain had washed away the blood stains from the streets of the neon-lit electronics district, where residents placed flowers and pressed their hands together in prayer at a makeshift shrine.

"I left coffee because I think that some of the victims will need coffee in the morning," said Ukyo Murakami, a 14-year-old boy on his way to school. "I'm afraid he did this because he played video games. But he should have known that in life, you can't hit the restart button."

Kazuki Homna, a university student carrying a backpack, said he was a close friend of one of the victims, 21-year-old Mai Muto, with whom he had spent time in San Francisco on a school exchange programme.

"She died not because of illness but because of a cruel tragedy," he said after placing flowers. "She was dreaming of working in the music industry but couldn't make it. I just can't find the words to say how sorry I am."

- AFP

[MakubeX2]

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/9...0892017jb4.jpg
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/1...1201387ug6.jpg
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/4...0962655fl3.jpg

Great. Now they have all the evidence that they need to pin that sociopath as an Otaku. Damaging and staining the term further.

Evidence 1 is about an article he wrote regarding a "Crimson Eyed Girl" saying "I'm not your puppet". Reminsence of Rei from EVA.

Evidence 2 headlines the perpetrator being a "Lolicon cum Speedster" based on various stuffs found in his apartment.

Evidence 3 shows a sketch that he drew on a survey form during his middle school grduation.

[yezhanquan]

Well, my local Chinese paper's lady in Japan (Fu Zhu Hui, if anyone must know), uses "influenced by XX subculture" to describe Kato. (I'm sure you guys know what the XX is by now.) I guess this is slightly better, but still...

[LiberLibri]

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

Well, my local Chinese paper's lady in Japan (Fu Zhu Hui, if anyone must know), uses "influenced by XX subculture" to describe Kato. (I'm sure you guys know what the XX is by now.) I guess this is slightly better, but still...

How curious it is that massmedia know the reason of the crime while the police is yet trying to clarify related facts

It is usual for schoolkids to say something silly under influence of anime and manga (or rock musicians, hollywood movies, football players, anything you like). His manuscripts in his teens have nothing to do with the crime -- possibly men in media also know it, but they are so eager to bash otaku culture.

I feel disappointed with the fact that media are reluctant even to touch the name of TOYOTA, the parent of Kanto Auto. The greatest advertisement patron reigns the infosphere.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

is this a protest against the US itself or is Korea really that afraid of Yandere-cows?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364484,00.html

Both. I consider the whole situation over here as simple madness.

[yezhanquan]

Originally Posted by LiberLibri

How curious it is that massmedia know the reason of the crime while the police is yet trying to clarify related facts

It is usual for schoolkids to say something silly under influence of anime and manga (or rock musicians, hollywood movies, football players, anything you like). His manuscripts in his teens have nothing to do with the crime -- possibly men in media also know it, but they are so eager to bash otaku culture.

I feel disappointed with the fact that media are reluctant even to touch the name of TOYOTA, the parent of Kanto Auto. The greatest advertisement patron reigns the infosphere.

Well, Miss/Mrs. Fu didn't bash the otaku culture. She placed it in the article just as a reference. Not many of the "average" folks can understand the subtleness and different shades in the "otaku" culture.

[Seditary]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Kanto Auto Works, the company to which Kato was dispatched from a temping agency in November, said he had been working normally until going missing on Friday. "We've been told that his attitude at work was very good and that he didn't stir any problems in the workplace," said company spokesman Naoyuki Hashimoto.

Residents of Kato's hometown interviewed by Nippon Television said that he did well at school. "He was good both at studying and sports. He was respected in the classroom," one woman said.

Now this is obviously a tragedy, but I can't help but think of the Lucky Star episode where Konata remarks that people who knew the criminal always say he was a good boy and surprised something like this would happen.

[yezhanquan]

Originally Posted by Seditary

Now this is obviously a tragedy, but I can't help but think of the Lucky Star episode where Konata remarks that people who knew the criminal always say he was a good boy and surprised something like this would happen.

Lucky Star is considered seinen precisely because of such observations. It's not just about random stuff, that series.

[FateAnomaly]

Seems like he got tired of being a nice guy. Somehow he makes me think of Fuyuki from minami-ke.

[teachopvutru]

^Or maybe because these people that claims to know him do not really know him well and pretend to truly know him while considering him a nice guy. And the feeling of isolation makes him commit crime. In that sense, these people drive him toward committing crime and should be convicted.
j/k

But yea, I wonder how a person can change from "respected, blah blah blah" to a "criminal" overnight, unless he/she has concealed his/her true self all along.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Seditary

Now this is obviously a tragedy, but I can't help but think of the Lucky Star episode where Konata remarks that people who knew the criminal always say he was a good boy and surprised something like this would happen.

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

Lucky Star is considered seinen precisely because of such observations. It's not just about random stuff, that series.

Before we all start using Lucky Star to profile mentally disturbed serial killers, I'm going to point out that no one would have described Seung-Hui Cho as a "good boy". Even if the observation does hold weight, it says nothing about the perpetrator, just that the average neighbour has no capacity to spot a potential murderer except in the most obvious of cases.

[Sephi]

Strange how news about this varies from place to place. On dutch sites i read that he was some member of the mafia... Didn't hear anything about that over here. Guess it was just made up...

This part caught my attention.

Chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said officials would study whether laws could be tightened on possession of knives. Japan strictly controls firearms. "People say that public morality and relations between people are declining," Machmiura said. "But I don't think we can explain this case only by that."

Hello mr Jack Thompson.
Every person has a knife in his house, how else do they expect people to prepare their food? Don't know why they look in to something like that to begin with. It's not like that being the cause of the problem. While they are at it, they might as well tighten the control on laundry detergent seeing the events of suicides using those products...

Meh, this world sure is twisted.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Sephi

On dutch sites i read that he was some member of the mafia... Didn't hear anything about that over here. Guess it was just made up...

The earliest news wires mentioned that Kato claimed to be a member of the yakuza (the Japanese mafia), so your newspapers weren't wrong. That claim has since been dismissed.

Originally Posted by Sorrow_K

Even if the observation does hold weight, it says nothing about the perpetrator, just that the average neighbour has no capacity to spot a potential murderer except in the most obvious of cases.

I think the problem is slightly deeper than that. It's not so much that neighbours can't spot a potential murderer. Rather, it appears that Kato had been able to hide his intentions by adopting the public persona of a well-behaved adult.

[X10A_Freedom]

Disgusting.

I'm also under the strong impression that "freeters" or temporary labour in Japan have very low social status and subject to stigma.

On The Times today:

The selection of Akihabara — a district famed as the cradle of modern Japanese youth culture — appears to have been a central part of the killer’s scheme. And in plotting his spree, Tomohiro Kato appears to have chosen people he considered most like him: the obsessive geeks of a subculture known as otaku.

Friends of Mr Kato described him yesterday as a typical Akihabara type — a cartoonist of reasonable talent who would “lose himself for hours in cyberspace”. When he went to karaoke, he would select the theme tunes of TV animations; when it came to women he would declare that he was “only interested in two-dimensional girlfriends”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4094961.ece