Today, Japan saw its worst crime to the day in the last seven years. Tomohiro Kato, a 25-year old auto worker, drove a rented truck into a busy intersection in Tokyo, taking down as many people as he could with the truck before he proceeded to jump out and stab every random pedestrian in reach before police overwhelmed him at gunpoint. My sincerest condolences go out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this killing spree, but it irks me to see that gaming can be tagged as the (il)logical primary reason for homicidal behavior on both sides of the Pacific.
Edit: BBC News has a much more level-headed article citing possible trends in Japanese society that could have contributed to Kato’s choice of actions.
According to the AFP article,
The bespectacled Kato reportedly had an interest in comic-book and video-game subculture.
...
In Japanese tradition, mourners left offerings including sweets, coffee, beer and—in a twist befitting Akihabara—comic-book images of action heroes.
“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.”
What the hell? Now we even have 14-year-olds spouting this crap? Is it not possible that Mr. Kato had some underlying mental problems that maybe played a slightly larger role in his act of destruction than an “interest” in comic books and video games? I can’t deny that some of the manga that comes out of Japan is pretty disturbing, and after a thorough investigation of the facts video games may turn out to have played a part in his actions, but until these suppositions are substantiated with evidence, it’d be nice if geeks weren’t being portrayed as the next wave of bloodthirsty maniacs. On the other hand, though, it’s difficult to understand why nobody would have warned the police about the approximately 30 postings that were made on internet message boards, detailing Kato’s actions even on the day of his rampage. We might not all be monsters like him, but apathy serves us no better.
AFP: Japanese killer wrote of stabbing spree on internet: police
Comments: (3)
on Mon, Jun 09th, 2008 at 11:01 PM
it should have read not only in India
on Mon, Jun 16th, 2008 at 12:06 PM
America! Great country!
on Fri, Jul 18th, 2008 at 04:16 AM
Excellent write up, very interesting read!
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Post Tags: gaming news murder
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