Bloggers respond to the Akihabara killings
How have Japan’s English language bloggers responded to the killings that took place in Akihabara yesterday? Here are a few excerpts from notable posts:
Adamu of Mutantfrog Travelogue commented on the police response (a comment I wholeheartedly agree with, if reports about the police officer’s actions are accurate):
Apparently a policeman chased this man with his baton — and actually parried with him as he ran and apparently was still stabbing people — and only drew his gun AFTER Kato had put down the knife. Three words for the Japanese cops — SHOOT TO KILL!
Marxy predicts an “Otaku Moral Panic”:
They already found some anime-style drawings from the suspect — something extremely ubiquitous among almost everyone in Japan — but the images will point the blame squarely at “pop culture.” (Will his middle-school tennis club picture lead to a crackdown on clay courts nationwide?) That being said, I don’t think this guy chose Akihabara just because it’s a “popular area,” as if Shinjuku or Ikebukuro would have sufficed. There will be some kind of link.
Patrick Macias has also written about the media focus on otaku morality:
The timing could not have been worse. The energy was already flagging in Electric Town as the area was slowly becoming a police state in the wake of crackdowns on street idols and cosplayers (the TV is now praising the already-elevated police presence in the area, saying there would have been more mayhem if not for them).
Danny Choo has posted a list of recent random stabbing attacks, expressing concern over such crimes:
The worst thing about these killings is the “just wanted to kill anybody” factor with no other particular motive and that they happen in broad daylight on innocent people going about their business.
Debito used the occasion to bring attention to a store in Akihabara that has a sign stating it will not sell knives to minors and foreigners. It wasn’t long before Debito edited the post to tell readers he had convinced them to change the sign:
I mentioned that there are many different types of NJ in Japan, and not all of their customers are simply leaving afterwards. He said that they don’t mind selling to NJ with addresses in Japan as long as they present ID. I said that that’s not what the sign out front says, and suggested he change the sign to reflect what he just told me.
Information about the reaction of some Japanese bloggers can be found at Global Voices online, where Chris Salzberg has written a very informative post.
All our updates about this story so far:
- Stabbing rampage in Akihabara [Tokyo]: 7 people killed
- Tomohiro Kato – Akihabara Killer
- Bloggers respond to the Akihabara killings
- Fuji TV focuses on Akihabara killer’s love of anime
- ‘Wanted’ video targets Akihabara idiots
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Interesting, but I have to say some of these comments are just ridiculous, like the guy complaining about the emergency response.
Criticizing the expertise of the treatment on the site based on a few photos, and what is worst, without knowing the real clinical condition of the patients(for starters most likely the severity of the wounds would be different for some victims, if you get stabbed in the heart or near a major artery, it is unlikely you will survive, and that is common sense) is just stupid. Come back with a medical degree and the full report on the conditions of each victim throughout the incident and then we can talk about what should have been done…
Perhaps they need more practise on stab victims, but where are they going to find them? It’s just that they have no experience in stabbings, hardly their fault.
I would love it if there were some investigation into the emergency response time. Nobody knows if it was a factor, but I think some might suspect it is. Perhaps more people with severe wounds could have been saved.
Not much can be done about lack of experience with such wounds (well, they can practice on animals, but the animal rights groups would go nuts), but we know Japan is in a health care crisis, not enough staff or funds, bureaucratically stupid allocation of resources.
A big factor is all the recent stories about the terrible medical response in Japan after bank hours. Stories of ambulances being turned away at several hospitals after hours, until the patient dies. Nobody is held responsible. On a Sunday, were the Tokyo paramedics and hospitals staffed and operational at a level that would match most other large cities in the developed world?
Could more have been saved? I’d bet yes.
You’re right, we don’t know. We probably will never know, because such an investigation would likely be embarrassing to the government.
Leave it to Debito – a horrible tragedy, and the first thing he does is find a way to yell “Look at these racist bastards!” really bad timing – but par for the course with him, unfortunately.
There’s at least one photo floating around of a gaijin-looking person trying to help one of the wounded. It would make for a good counter to “gaijin crime” BS.
“Gaijin 50 times more likely than Japanese to try to help someone bleeding to death” would be a good headline.
A tip from Debito org
http://www.debito.org/?p=1437#comment-140511
No comment From Debito, and when he does not like a comment, he either adds his comment or he bans the comment.
Did something happen to Debito a long time ago in Japan, for him to dislike the country?^.^;
“Did something happen to Debito a long time ago in Japan, for him to dislike the country?”
It’s not Japan, it is him. I suspect growing up he was that annoying little turd that always got beat up and recess and had his lunch money stolen, but no-one (not even the teachers) cared because he was such an obnoxious little snot. So he decided to run away and re-invent himself, but people still gave him trouble. So this time he decided it was because he was a foreigner, and thought “I’ll show you all! I’ll become a Japanese and re-invent myself again!” So he did – and people still gave him trouble because he was still the same sad, pathetic turd he was before.
He has not yet learned that the problem is not Japan, or the Japanese, or his employer, or his parents, or anyone else – the problem is HIM.
And a message from Debito org on Akiba killing
tp://www.debito.org/?p=1727#comment-162972
It seems that their Japanophobia is obvious.
Strange enough, they say they are promoting a positive image of gaijin.
No kidding. I urge everyone who can read Japanese to look at this:
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kentanakachan/e/e66e2bb48f2728ed92175707188cd45d
Read the comments. Debito and the Debitards are doing an outstanding job of getting foreigners hated. Someone needs to break it to him: You aren’t being discriminated against because you are a “foreigner”, or because you are white, you are being discriminated against because you are a complete and total asshole.
I respect that guy as an individual, not as Gaijin. “Gaijin 50 times more likely than Japanese to try to help someone bleeding to death” is a racist headline.
Only Asahi reported that way. Other media reported the police dew his gun and Kato put down the knife.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/tonchamon/archives/51941008.html
”convinced” is too strong a word. I called the shop before he called. The clerk was nice and explained what he meant;he was quite willing to change the sign if he knew what he wanted to say in English.
Don’t be Japanophobia. Just ask.
Don’t project bias. I guess it is not out of hatred that the posters of this kind , if any , are doing it.
Don’t expect good English of average Japanese.
Even Debito does not bother to write in Japanese and block the Japanese comments without the sign “English only” (it would be good tactics for the Japanese who really wanted to block gaijin; Just block them no matter what without posting the sign.)
As i read the post i thought the part about Debito was a joke. It had to be, right?
No such luck.
What a dumbass.
Totally. It made me feel even less respect for Debito. -_-
“Dumbass” is about right. Granted, the sign was not phrased clearly enough but holy bad choice of timing…
He says he got the photo of the sign on May 24th, but did nothing. Then this tragedy happens, and he seizes the (wholly inappropriate) moment to launch a crusade. And it was a crusade that didn’t need to be launched! One phone call and the situation was resolved!
But did he make the call first? Of course not. He grandstanded, asked others to do it, then finally did it himself in a self-promotion opportunity designed to get the adoring masses (some of whom I strongly suspect are sock puppets) to get all doe-ey eyed and coo “Oh Debito, you’re so cool! You’re our man! Bless you for standing up for us!”
And that’s the really sad part – given the chance to do things the right way, talk things through, or build bridges, he will choose the confrontational way just to make it “about him” and get people to look at him.
EVERY
SINGLE
TIME
I have dealt with two shops with “Japanese only” (before Debito get contact with them) . The both cases were quite easy to deal with.
Some people project “whites only” into “Japanese only” but I think the implications are quite different. The former is from race hatred which might result in attack on non-whites entering the place, The latter is from a matter of convenience:I don’t want to deal with people who speak only English, nitpicking, demanding too much. Imagine you have to explain the law and practice to some of Debito’s fan type of people who speak only English/speak little Japanese and have little knowledge of the rules and practice in Japan—that’s quite a job.
Of course, that does not justify the sign with Engrish, but we need to understand background to resolve the issue.
Sure we need to raise consciousness, but if Debito’s fans want to raise consciousness among Japanese people, they need to talk to Japanese people in Japanese.
“English only” does not settle “Japanese only”
Rejecting Japanese comments and Japanese people does not help.
A little tip might be appropriate:If they speak in Japanese in a way some of them speak on his blog, there will be huge backlash against them.
LB says
Well he is acting like a child again.
tp://www.debito.org/?p=1727#comment-163059
I’ve invited Debito and Debito’s fan again and again to an open forum. They have never come. I am sure Debito and his fans have seen his comment.I’ll invite them again. My blog is available. I welcome them.
Has anyone noticed that New York Times has been displaying a “JAPANESE ONLY” sign for a Japanese restaurant?
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/travel/27frugal.html?pagewanted=2
See the section of “WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK” in the above page. You’ll find the “JAPANESE ONLY” sign that NYT is displaying for Bistro Zuzu in Kyoto.
Maybe Debito should make a phone call to NYT.
James –
I was wondering where all the angry commenters were coming from.
I was never “blaming” the rescue workers for the death toll. I was trying to understand how so many could die after being stabbed by a 13cm long dagger blade.
As it turns out, the television networks are now reporting that emergency medical services had some of the country’s best trauma doctors on the scene soon after the stabbing spree–so my argument–that most EMS folks do not have trauma experience–was not relevant to the incident.
How could you miss the World Net Daily out of your round-up?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=66593
I’m glad the police didn’t shoot, as I’d rather see him brought to justice, and I wonder if the police would have hit anyone else, given that it was a busy street.
The stabber should, have after being publicy beaten to a pulp by a karateka, be then hacked in twain with a samurai sword. Put in on international news too. Hanging him is simply too good for him.
Shoot to kill is very dangerous (de Menezes, Alpizar, etc) and it has not saved any lives in recent past as far as I’m aware. Bad idea, very bad idea.