Tragedy in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture

Today a mother transporting three children to a kindergarten, one her own child, stabbed and killed the two children in the backseat of her car.

This is a sad, sad affair.

What is worse is we are going to be in for another round of bashing and pointing fingers at foreigners because the mother is originally from China. I'm not sure if she is now a Japanese citizen.

In other news a Japanese man stabbed a high school student in Onga Town, Fukuoka Prefecture today. I hope I've got that town's name correct.



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[Kinsao]

Nothing but bad news......

[godppgo]

This is sad, the mom probably will have to live through the rest of her life with guilt.

[RockLee]

Really, lately nothing but mental cases in the world.

Originally Posted by godppgo

This is sad, the mom probably will have to live through the rest of her life with guilt.

Sorry to be so cold, but I could care less about the mom. There are some countries where she would never have made it into custody alive.

What I really worry about is her child who was in the front seat and witnessed the horrid scene of her mother butchering two of her classmates. Now there is a child who is going to need some very, very good counseling, I wonder if she'll get it? And for how long? We could be looking at a lifelong problem there.

[Mars Man]

This is, indeed, very tragic, sad, and frightening news. It is important to wait and get more information before saying too much about it, but I do wonder about what may become of the media presentation.

When I read the article this morning in The Yomiuri Daily, I couldn't help but get the feeling that Japanese society's pressure on the bulk of Japanese people within this society had, beyond the control of any one person or group, created a climate which may well have contributed to this woman's cracking. Being of Chinese nationality or not should make no difference; but if the media is not careful, it could.

I say we have to consider the state of mind of the woman herself, and make every effort to sympathize with the aggregate of factors that gave rise to such a gross failure to control herself. Her personal history, her relation with her husband, her relation with people in her area--especially those parents who she would have had to deal with in sending her children to kindergarten. If we only focus on the child, who may well be left with a permanent psychological scar, not enough can be learned about the crime to help prevent any similar such tragedies.

I really, really hope that the Japanese media handle this one right. I sense some potential for a rash of further pressure on non-Japanese Asians living here--and there are a noticeable number. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[lastmagi]

Originally Posted by Mars Man

I say we have to consider the state of mind of the woman herself, and make every effort to sympathize with the aggregate of factors that gave rise to such a gross failure to control herself. Her personal history, her relation with her husband, her relation with people in her area--especially those parents who she would have had to deal with in sending her children to kindergarten. If we only focus on the child, who may well be left with a permanent psychological scar, not enough can be learned about the crime to help prevent any similar such tragedies.
I really, really hope that the Japanese media handle this one right. I sense some potential for a rash of further pressure on non-Japanese Asians living here--and there are a noticeable number. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Agree with you 100%. I just wish there was more attention on efforts to try to understand these kinds of cases, instead of leaving them as they are. There are just too many people being silent.

[Elizabeth]

When I read the article this morning in The Yomiuri Daily, I couldn't help but get the feeling that Japanese society's pressure on the bulk of Japanese people within this society had, beyond the control of any one person or group, created a climate which may well have contributed to this woman's cracking. Being of Chinese nationality or not should make no difference; but if the media is not careful, it could.

Did the article give any more insight into the woman's background beyond her (seemingly indifferent, unapologetic) confession and testimony in this particular case ? Stabbings and murders are of course an everyday occurance in the country unfortunately, which don't ever seem to get dealt with as a result of high profile media events. So I agree I hope it doesn't cause a backlash against Chinese but it isn't going to reform society either.

[nurizeko]

Man wtf?....why do people need to be so sick?....*sighs*

[Mars Man]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth

Did the article give any more insight into the woman's background beyond her (seemingly indifferent, unapologetic) confession and testimony in this particular case ? Stabbings and murders are of course an everyday occurance in the country unfortunately, which don't ever seem to get dealt with as a result of high profile media events. So I agree I hope it doesn't cause a backlash against Chinese but it isn't going to reform society either.

Not really. Only that her Japanese language ability was not so good, and that she had had trouble making friends with some of the other mothers or people in the neighborhood. It said nothing about one very important factor, her husband ! I know, from working with the Chinese and other non-Japanese Asian students at the uni, that even though we (teaching faculty in charge of and who support the International Exchange Center) try to get the Japanese students to mix a little more with these students, it just doesn't work very well at all. It seems, at least from my way of looking at it, that 'attention span'--for lack of a better way to present the idea--is what is missing. That could include the curiosity of finding out about other peoples, the willingness to spend the time needed to get to understand them; when one doesn't speak your language very well, you have to make a special effort to get to the heart of some things which, when taken at face value, seem rude or impolite. You have to listen carefully and ask for repetion, and so on. I noticed that by far, most of these Japanese nationals (the students here) can't or don't want to put out the effort--misunderstanding and a simple lack of friendship could easily occur. The non-Japanese could easily begin to feel disliked by the others--although it's not really that, just lack of attention span.

As a afterthought to that report, it did mention that there had been another stabbing. Some middle aged Japanese man had stabbed two Jr. High or Highschool girls--but no deaths. It was only some four to five lines in length.

[lastmagi]

Originally Posted by Mars Man

I know, from working with the Chinese and other non-Japanese Asian students at the uni, that even though we (teaching faculty in charge of and who support the International Exchange Center) try to get the Japanese students to mix a little more with these students, it just doesn't work very well at all. It seems, at least from my way of looking at it, that 'attention span'--for lack of a better way to present the idea--is what is missing. That could include the curiosity of finding out about other peoples, the willingness to spend the time needed to get to understand them; when one doesn't speak your language very well, you have to make a special effort to get to the heart of some things which, when taken at face value, seem rude or impolite. You have to listen carefully and ask for repetion, and so on. I noticed that by far, most of these Japanese nationals (the students here) can't or don't want to put out the effort--misunderstanding and a simple lack of friendship could easily occur. The non-Japanese could easily begin to feel disliked by the others--although it's not really that, just lack of attention span.

Interesting observation. It might be interesting to speculate on what one could do to increase the motivation for Japanese to try to get to know an "other." Especially seeing, if my various sources are correct, that Japanese society values homogeneity. Would it be possible to broaden the sense of community among Japanese? Anyone have any ideas?

I liked this article from Japantimes, because it shows some effort in trying to understand what happened, instead of just condemning the incident and leaving it at that. I'd certainly be interested in joining these support groups to help others, although I lack the skills and abilities. It also shows that not all Japanese are xenophobic nationalists, but can be willing to help out.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0060221a3.html

"Many foreign mothers (in Japan) raise their children with a sense of isolation and anxiety," said Midori Ito, who heads Kansai Lifeline, a group in Osaka that provides telephone counseling, mainly for people from Taiwan and China.

[Mars Man]

That was a nice article lastmagi san, thanks !!

There are those groups of people here in Japan, yes, but it is still kind of slow going in that, as you pointed out, Japan has never been much of a 'melting pot' in modern history.

I also teach some private classes here, and one of them is at a local NGO headquarters. They have delt mostly with helping those affected by the . . . uh,oh...help me Void, PRAZMATIC...I can't spell it...uh Chervenol?? The disaster of the atomic power plant. They also are doing some help with people who are non-Japanese asians, as well as giving some support to children in Iraq. But, like the article you provided brought out, a whole lot still 'slip through the cracks'.

With some follow up information on that incident: The mother in question had had a hard life in a very poor and rual area of China. According to that article in The Daily Yomiuri today, the relatives were very surprized, however that she had done such a thing. One of them is quoted to have said that she must have been forced into a corner.

According to her husband (and still no info on that relationship) she had been having insomnia for a couple of days or so and had not slept at night. It seems that she had been worried about her child's not being able to get along in society--again, as that article pointed out, possibly projecting her state into that of the child. It does seem she had been unstable, but noticable to no one. AND WHERE WAS HER HUSBAND? Is what I want to ask.
Where was the one who was supposed to love, care for, and look after their mate who was in a non-native place, and struggling to be on more equal terms with everyone?

[nurizeko]

Good question, Mars.

I admit once my girlfriend kicked me out while i was in Japan, i had no-where to go and i certainly didnt feel i could go to the british embassy and make an international incident out of it, so i had to sit there with my belongings and wait for her to calm down and bloody relise how utterly wrong and out of order she was to do that, she did, and yeah, my attitude towards her was sour for a good few days, but she convinced me she wouldnt be so utterly stupid again and, i love the woman too much to hold it against her.

Suffice to say i will be making sure the deeds to our future home is in my name.

I can only emagine how hard it musta been for the woman....still, it doesnt excuse her from the terrible thing she did....