Talk:2008 Akihabara massacre/Archive 1

Anniversary of Osaka elementary school attacks
It's just a horrible coincidence, but these attacks took place on the anniversary of the Osaka school massacre. Worth mentioning in this article? Some of the news services have noted the "connection." --Do Not Talk About Feitclub (contributions) 11:30, 8 June 2008 (UTC)


 * The article 2008 Tokyo knife massacre (now merged into this one) mentioned it. Was it a coincidence, or did the perpetrator select the occasion? I haven't seen references to a statement by him. But it's possible. Fg2 (talk) 11:33, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The perpetratr hasn't said anything that relates to the Osaka massacre. --staka (T ・C) 03:34, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * True, but various news articles are mentioning it, so it's in the article. It's a pretty big coincidence, too, if he didn't plan it this way. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 05:42, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Coordinates
Are the coordinates correct in the article? Looking at the satellite view, these coordinates show the intersection of two streets with vehicle traffic, not a pedestrian street crossing a vehicular street. I've only been to Tokyo (and Akihabara) once, so I'm not familiar with things there. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 19:52, 8 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Don't know about coordinates, but the street was closed to traffic on Sunday (hokoten). It's normally open to traffic. Fg2 (talk) 20:47, 8 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Aha. So the intersection shown in that link above is the correct one? ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 20:58, 8 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Hmm...I'm beginning to this the coordinates are not correct based on some of the images shown in this series. Look closely at the intersection paint markings and compare them to those found in the satellite view of those coordinates. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 21:23, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I take that back. After closely examining the photos in the Mainichi Shinbun references, this is the correct intersection. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 02:15, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Type of truck
Based on this image, I believe the truck used was an Isuzu Elf from Nippon Rent-A-Car. It looks very similar to this image (just add a longer cargo space). Should we add this into the article? ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 21:22, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * No, the image has the name of a company, "Sagawa", that I'm sure does not want to be associated with this horrible event. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 21:35, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I wasn't recommending putting a picture in the article. Just mentioning that the truck was an Isuzu Elf delivery truck. The photo on the right is only for comparison. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 21:41, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Sure, it's a little bit of original research, but the crime scene photo is pretty clear. People will want to see how big the truck is. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 22:13, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I think the only OR is the model, and even that's iffy since the photo, as you wrote, pretty clearly matches the one I found on Commons. If nothing else, we could put that is was an Isuzu truck if we don't want to push the boundaries. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 01:34, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I've blurred the logos on the truck so it may be usable in the article now. What do you think? ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 02:24, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * In my opinion, no, people can just link to the Isuzu Elf article. The picture of the area is more informative than a truck parked next to a wall. I won't revert you, though. Phlegm Rooster (talk) 03:26, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I think I agree that the link to the article about the truck is likely good enough. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 05:41, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Looks like someone has the picture of the actual truck! - Mailer Diablo 15:22, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Context
There have tragically been two other incidents of random killing recently in Japan, one in Sasebo. Shouldn`t these be mentioned?Andycjp (talk) 03:22, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Only if the news stories talk about it. Perhaps links to the articles could be placed in a "See also" section, though. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 05:40, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * From a verification & OR perspective, we should only write about Japan's recent epidemic of knifings or outbreaks of knife violence or the like insofar as we can source our statements. (The bar is set very high for drawing conclusions in articles such as this. For a reason why, see the wrangle over gun control in just about any article about a shooting in the U.S.) Adding other Japanese knife attacks or particularly significant foreign knife attacks into a "see also" section doesn't have the same problem, so I'm cool with that. How many such things have happened recently? --Kiz o r  04:11, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Useless?
Is it useless to put information about idol events that was held, even after the massacre? --staka (T ・C) 04:23, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Why would they be mentioned? ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 05:41, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I just thought it was odd for them to have events even after the massacre has occured.. --staka (T ・C) 12:07, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Well, people need to move on with things, and allowing a terroristic act to have as much impact as the perpetrator likely wanted it to only gives in to his will. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 02:52, 10 June 2008 (UTC)


 * This was not terrorism. 81.157.42.138 (talk) 05:22, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Terrorism is a pretty general word. from the wiki article..."Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war." So this can be debated.--Ryudo (talk) 18:25, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Edited into sections
Should this article be edited in sections? It seems almost large enough to have sub-sections for the stabbing itself, the victims, community reaction, coinciding with Osaka massacre date, etc.

70.137.178.252 (talk) 23:48, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes it should, and I've added section headings. —Lowellian (reply) 01:21, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. Though I put the sections in a more appropriate order. 70.137.178.252 (talk) 01:24, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Nonsensical
This makes no sense: "It was also suggested that Kato's missing work clothes from his work factory earlier this month, thinking that he was dismissed from his employment as a result, may have triggered the attack" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.14.217.184 (talk) 00:09, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I have cleaned up the grammar. The source is a Japanese language article, and it appears the original poster had limited English skills. Most of the information about this incident will probably be in Japanese. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.71.5.46 (talk) 00:53, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Two-ton Isuzu Elf rental truck
Japan is metricated. Surely it's a two-tonne truck ... i.e. 2,000 kg rather than 4,480 or was that 4,000 lb. J IM ptalk·cont 01:51, 10 June 2008 (UTC)


 * It's being reported as "two ton", so thats what's in the article. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 02:50, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Blog?
Does anyone have the link to the blog of the suspect? Here's a picture F (talk) 09:24, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
 * If the shooting incidents over the last couple of years are any indication, it's been taken down fast. --Kiz o r  12:00, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

The article says he "posted messages on Internet forums", so it seems it wasn't a blog, but a public forum. Some rumors are that the forum was 2channel. No source I have been able to find has named the forum. It seems the source of the quoted text attributed to the attacker are the police records of the posts. Certainly the original posting have been taken down. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.71.5.46 (talk) 05:41, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Japanese law, inquiry
Now, the legal process:Prosecutors' inquiry, Kato, 25, was transferred from police custody to a holding cell at the Tokyo prosecutors office, for interrogation and preliminary investigation. During the inquiry, he was cooperative, but unapologetic, and has at times cried. Police seized from his apartment empty packages of knives, their receipts and one club. Japanese law allows the suspect's police custody for 2 days and eventual transfer to prosecutors, for filing charges or release from detention within 20 days.ap.google.com/article, Japan stabbing suspect cries during interrogationnews.scotsman, Knife rampage suspect in cell--Florentino floro (talk) 12:13, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Early life and education
I added this causal factor of this massacre: Kato was an excellent student at a top high school, and leader of a tennis club in middle school. However, he started to act violently at home when he enrolled at Aomori Prefectural High School. As mediocre student, then, his class rank was down to 300 (of 360 students), and he failed university entrance examinations, eventually having thereafter trained as auto mechanic. By November, 2008, as a "freeter" (temporary worker) he was informed of the termination of his temp job contract at the auto parts factory in central Shizuoka prefecture. Kato told the police that he was mentally sick and prosecutors planned for his mental examination. He posted these messages: "I don't have a single friend and I won't in the future. I'll be ignored because I'm ugly. I'm lower than trash because at least the trash gets recycled."abs-cbnnews.com, Japan massacre suspect said he was ugly, lonely Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Kato's massacre was "the worst case of its kind" since World War II "in terms of the number of deaths."sfgate.com, A bloody rampage shocks low-crime Japannews.bbc.co.uk, Japan seeks answers on knife attack


 * I think one of your dates is off, as November 2008 hasn't occured yet167.7.17.3 (talk) 13:15, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

The weapon
The type of weapon he used has been quite a contentious issue. It was initially reported as a survival knife but that was incorrect, the day after the incident the Police corrected this and explained it was in fact a double edged knife: a dagger. A survival knife is what Rambo made famous and they generally do not have narrow double edged blades. It was not a samurai sword - a Katana either. --xenolithe (talk) 13:40, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Samurai sword or survival knife?
According to the paragraph in the beginning, he stabbed at least 18 times using a samurai sword. However, according to the infobox, he used a survival knife. Which one is right? --Hamster X (talk) 13:48, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The Melbourne Herald Sun even says he had two knives, a survival knife and a smaller one. (Lord Gøn (talk) 21:02, 10 June 2008 (UTC))