The Stabbing in front of Tokyo University: A year ago, a brilliant boy planned to kill indiscriminately.
For about a year, I’ve had a desire to harm someone.
A, 17, a high school sophomore who stabbed three people in front of the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Agriculture (Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo) on the first day of the National College Entrance Examination on January 15, told the police.
The incident occurred at 8:30 a.m., just as students were beginning to gather for exams, when A took a kitchen knife out of the inside pocket of his school uniform and slashed a 72-year-old man living in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, and a high school student in Chiba Prefecture from behind one after another. Yasuo Watanabe, owner of Takasakiya, a liquor store near the scene of the attack, told this magazine, “I heard the sound of fire engines and ambulances.
Yasuo Watanabe, owner of Takasakiya, a liquor store near the scene, told this magazine, “I heard the sirens of fire engines and ambulances, so I went outside the store to see what was going on. I went out of the store to see what was going on. I found one person on the campus and one person lying in front of the gate. Four or five police officers were calling out to him, looking concerned.
Huddled in front of the guard room on the left side of the gate was a young boy in black clothes and glasses. He had no facial expression. He didn’t answer any questions from the police officers who rushed in.
I think he stayed like that for about five to ten minutes. Then I heard a loud voice of a police officer who had lost his nerve, saying, “Where did you come from? I heard a loud voice of a numbed police officer saying, “Where did you come from? The boy still didn’t answer. The officers had no choice but to take the boy by both sides and drag him to a nearby police station.
A is said to have stated his motive for the crime.
He said, “I wanted to study at the University of Tokyo to become a doctor, but I lost my confidence about a year ago. I decided to kill someone and commit seppuku to carry the guilt.”
The reason for the “broken heart”?
A went to a private school that was the best in Aichi Prefecture. Every year, about 60 students are admitted to Tokyo University and Kyoto University.
The school has about 440 students per grade. About 400 of them are internal students from junior high school, called ‘nairai students,’ and the remaining 40 or so are ‘ambulatory students’ who enter from high school. A is one of the remaining 40 or so students who entered from high school as a “foreign student.” Uchirai students have a higher status within the school, but A studied hard and was in the top 50 in her first year of high school.
A’s goal was to enter the University of Tokyo’s third class of science, which is said to be the most difficult entrance exam in Japan. The course has a capacity of about 100 students and allows students to enter medical school. However, in his second year of high school, A’s grades plummeted to below 100.
In the second year of high school, however, A grades plummeted to below 100. In light of this situation, in September last year, a staff member told her that she would not be able to enter the University of Tokyo’s Risa, and she stated that this “pronouncement” broke her heart.
Around this time, A seems to have started planning indiscriminate murder cases. The details of his plan were tremendous.
He had a number of weapons in his possession at the time of the crime. A knife with a blade of 12cm that slashed three victims, a small tool knife, and a 20cm foldable saw. The bag contained 11 plastic bottles and jars filled with flammable liquid. What was found at the crime scene was a bottle of nutritional drink that was filled with flammable liquid and had an igniter inserted. In other words, Molotov cocktails.
In fact, A spread the liquid and set fire to several places, including in front of the ticket gate of Todai-mae Station on the Namboku subway line. He told the police, “I tried to set fire to the train by spreading liquid, but it didn’t work. Not only did he cut down the students, but he also tried to kill a lot of people by causing explosions in the train car.
Why did a brilliant student at one of the most prestigious schools in the country become so desperate that he planned to kill a large number of people? The police are investigating the detailed motive.
Director of Photography: Shinji Hasuo