July 12: A Murder in Kobe

I have found it interesting to follow the recent case of a child murderer in Kobe, Japan. Most people know Kobe for its famous beef or for the fact that it had a big earthquake a couple years ago. I remember watching the television news in the States at that time. They explained how the local residents were so quick to help each other and always waited in line patiently when there were relief materials or food being handed out. This is often the perfect image that Americans get of Japanese people.

Japan has a relatively low murder rate (yet a high suicide rate) and is generally thought of as a rather safe country. Women can venture out alone most places (though they may get some strange offers). Foreigners can travel without worrying about violence or pick-pockets (though regular prices often seem a rip-off). Children can commute to school by subway, bus or foot and their parents needn't worry too much. However, in the case of one Kobe junior high school student, the commute home turned out fatal.

Many people have put together the Tokyo subway gas attack, recent murders, and other stories, and come to the conclusion that Japan is no longer the safe haven that it once was. I am not one to comment on the safety, past or present, or Japan, but I find the discussion to be interesting. The Japanese media jumps all over every little news story that comes up, so it is hard to judge actual volume sometimes. Another interesting case recently features a woman who murdered someone fifteen years ago and fled from the police ever since. She was caught just a couple weeks before the statute of limitations on her case was up. The news cameras followed her and her police caravan all the way across the country to the jail. She fell down a couple times and one could hear her crying under her shrouded head as she was shoved around by reporters. I don't know if it reminded me more of Jesus Christ or O.J. Simpson.

Anyway, the media is total blocked out of the case of the Kobe Murderer because the boy (15) is a minor. This leaves the media to speculate about his motives and punishment. The first thing that came out was the boys interest in horror films. Supposedly he has a rather extensive collection of Hollywood and Japanese videos in his room. Many people said that the influences of violence on TV and movies has influenced this child. It has been rather popular in the States as well to blame crime on movies like Friday the 13th and whatnot. I find the comics, TV shows, and movies in Japan to be more violent, pornographic, and generally a bad influence for kids. Furthermore there are few restrictions on TV content, movie rental, etc. Kids are exposed to lots more violence than they were before which has to at least plant a few bad ideas in a few bad seeds.

And this kid was definitely a bad seed. He is accused of killing at least one other girl and beating a few others. Before that, he would often kill cats and other animals with his friends. He reportedly often talked about his interest in killing, which makes one wonder what took the police so long to find him.

But he is only fifteen and can only be sent to a juvenile correctional center for three years maximum. Despite the fact that his crime resembles that of a forty-year-old serial killer from South Dakota, he is treated as an innocent boy. They already have a number of psychologists working on a plan to "reform" him. This a word we seldom hear in the US when it comes to criminals. We still often use the word correctional center in place of jail many times, but nobody really believes that one can reform a criminal.

It seems to me that, like many criminals, this boy's life is already over. One magazine went against societal law and printed the boy's picture, name, and history for the nation to read. Before this, everyone in his neighborhood knew it was him. News travels fast in Japan and it seems there is nowhere for him or his family to hide. It is that kind of hopelessness that leads people to commit crime in the first place.

At any rate, I don't have any great advice or discovery about this case. I just find it interesting how naive many people are about the complexity of the problem. Japanese people have too much free time and money these days which lead to a lot of changes in the society it seems. It is an interesting phenomenon to watch, but even I don't know where it is going.