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2004 Japanese murder From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The "Sasebo slashing" (Japanese: 佐世保小6女児同級生殺害事件, Hepburn: Sasebo shōroku joji dōkyūsei satsugai jiken),[1] also known as the Nevada-tan murder, was the murder of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, Satomi Mitarai (御手洗 怜美, Mitarai Satomi), by an 11-year-old female classmate referred to as "Girl A" (a common placeholder name used for female criminals in Japan).[2] The murder occurred on June 1, 2004, at an elementary school in the city of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture. The murderer slit Mitarai's throat and arms with a box cutter.[3]
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (November 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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| Sasebo slashing | |
|---|---|
Okubo Elementary School; the site of the murder (pictured on March 11, 2011) | |
| Location | Okubo Elementary School, Higashiokubocho, Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan |
| Date | June 1, 2004 |
Attack type | Murder |
| Weapon | Utility knife |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Victim | Satomi Mitarai, 12 |
| Perpetrator | Girl A, 11 |
Reactions to the incident included Internet memes[specify] and a discussions about lowering the age of criminal responsibility in Japan. The killer's name was not released to the press, as per Japanese legal procedures prohibiting the identification of juvenile offenders;[4] the Nagasaki District Legal Affairs Bureau cautioned Internet users against revealing her photos.[5] However, members of the Japanese Internet community 2channel read a name on a classroom drawing believed to be made by Girl A, and publicized the name on June 18, 2004.[5][6]
On June 1, 2004, Girl A murdered her 12-year-old classmate, Satomi Mitarai, in an empty classroom during the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.[7] Girl A returned to her classroom, her clothes covered in blood.[8] The girls' teacher, who had noticed that both girls were missing, stumbled upon the body and called the police.[9]
After being taken into custody, Girl A was reported to have confessed to the crime, saying "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police officers.[10] She spent the night at the police station, often crying, and refusing to eat or drink. Girl A initially mentioned no motive for the killing.[11] Shortly afterward, she confessed to police that she and Mitarai had quarreled as a result of messages left on the Internet.[12] Girl A claimed that Mitarai slandered her[13] by commenting on her weight and calling her a "goody-goody".
On September 15, 2004, a Japanese Family Court ruled to institutionalize Girl A, putting aside her young age because of the severity of the crime.[14] She was sent to a reformatory in Tochigi Prefecture.[15] The Nagasaki family court originally sentenced Girl A to two years of involuntary commitment, but the sentence was extended by two years in September 2006, following a psychological evaluation.[16] On May 29, 2008, local authorities announced that they did not seek an additional sentence.[17]
Because of her issues with communication and obsessive interests, Girl A was diagnosed after the murder with Asperger syndrome.[18]
The killing provoked a debate in Japan whether the age of criminal responsibility, lowered from 16 to 14 in 2000 due to the 1997 Kobe child murders, needed to be lowered again.[19] Girl A was considered to be a normal and well-adjusted child before the incident,[20] which made the public more anxious.[21]
Members of the Japanese Diet, such as Kiichi Inoue and Sadakazu Tanigaki, came under criticism for comments made in the wake of the killing.[22] Inoue was criticized for referring to Girl A as genki (vigorous, lively), a word with positive connotations.[23] Tanigaki was criticized for referring to the method of killing, slitting of the throat, as a "manly" act.[24]
Girl A became the subject of an Internet meme on Japanese web communities such as 2channel. She was nicknamed "Nevada-tan" because a class photograph showed a young girl believed to be her wearing a University of Nevada, Reno sweatshirt,[25] with "-tan" being a childlike pronunciation of the Japanese honorific suffix "-chan", generally used to refer to young girls.
Akio Mori cited this case in support of his controversial "game brain" theory,[26] which has been criticized as pseudoscience.[27] Girl A was reported to be a fan of the death-themed flash animation "Red Room",[28] a claim used in support of the theory. It was also known that Girl A had read the controversial novel Battle Royale and had seen its film adaptation, which centers on young students fighting to the death.[29]
On March 18, 2005, during the Okubo Elementary graduation ceremony, students were given a graduation album with a blank page in honor of Mitarai's death on which they could put pictures of Mitarai, Girl A, or class pictures containing both girls.[30] Mitarai was posthumously awarded a graduation certificate, which her father accepted on her behalf. Girl A was also awarded a certificate, as one is required in Japan in order to enter a junior high school and the school believed it would aid her "reintegration into society".[31]
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