Reaction
The murder sparked an ongoing debate in Japan about 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. The killer was considered to be normal before the incident, which made the public more anxious.
Members of the Japanese Diet, such as Kiichi Inoue and Sadakazu Tanigaki, came under heavy criticism for comments made in the wake of the killing. Inoue was criticized for referring to Girl A as genki (vigorous, lively) due to the word's usual positive connotations. Sadakazu Tanigaki was criticized for referring to the method of killing, slitting of the throat, as a "manly" crime.
Akio Mori cited this case in support of his controversial "game brain" theory, which has been criticized as "superstition". The killer was reported to be a fan of the death-themed flash animation "Red Room", an assertion used in support of the theory.
At the March 18, 2005 Okubo Elementary graduation, students were given a graduation album with a blank page on which they could place pictures of Mitarai, the killer, or class pictures containing both in honor of Mitarai's death. Mitarai was posthumously awarded a graduation certificate, which her father accepted on her behalf. The killer was also awarded a certificate, as one is required in Japan in order to enter junior high, and the school believed it would assist in her "reintegration into society".
Read more about this topic: Sasebo Slashing
Famous quotes containing the word reaction:
“In contrast to revenge, which is the natural, automatic reaction to transgression and which, because of the irreversibility of the action process can be expected and even calculated, the act of forgiving can never be predicted; it is the only reaction that acts in an unexpected way and thus retains, though being a reaction, something of the original character of action.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“An actor must communicate his author’s given message—comedy, tragedy, serio- comedy; then comes his unique moment, as he is confronted by the looked-for, yet at times unexpected, reaction of the audience. This split second is his; he is in command of his medium; the effect vanishes into thin air; but that moment has a power all its own and, like power in any form, is stimulating and alluring.”
—Eleanor Robson Belmont (1878–1979)
“Sole and self-commanded works,
Fears not undermining days,
Grows by decays,
And, by the famous might that lurks
In reaction and recoil,
Makes flames to freeze, and ice to boil.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)