The Saitama District Court has sent a 14-year-old boy who stabbed his 13-year-old classmate to death on July 5 to a family court where he will be tried as a minor.
The boy has admitted he stabbed his classmate, Kotaro Hongo, in the stomach. He told police he and Hongo began arguing about a textbook while studying together at his (the suspect’s) home in Tokorozawa. The suspect’s grandmother was at home at the time but apparently was unaware of what was going on,
Hongo staggered outside where he was found by another student who has come to join them to study for their final.
The head of the local education board said the school was not aware of any personal trouble between the two boys who both belonged to the school's table tennis club.
© Kyodo/Japan Today
9 Comments
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Yubaru
Right it's ok to name the deceased, even when they were a minor, yet his killer gets off with anonymity.
Pretty screwed up, seeing as all the kids and parents in that school know exactly who is guilty!
LB315
I thought you guys were adamant about everybody being innocent until proven guilty.
Nobnaga
for real he killed him over a text book ?? what kind of parent he have also is stabbing the only solution in japan those days !!
sensei258
You might as well tell the kid to go to his room for a week without his PlayStation for all the punishment he is going to get
mmwkdw
Forget the Adult comments here.. Kids have developed their own social structure, and when those within it, have broken rules, consequences happen...
However, Kids need to be introduced to the REAL world sooner nowadays, that if they do some things, that they themselves, are going to get into bigger trouble and be totally alone! Which Mummy and Daddy can't help them with. Period.
Welcome to the real World!
Kazuaki Shimazaki
Sadly, this 14-year boy would not be punished, while the 13-year old is dead. Yet another case that should get people to consider pushing the age of criminal responsibility downwards.
Fendy
It’s an extreme case of underdeveloped emotional intelligence in adolescence. In other words, an inability to control one’s strong emotions and negotiate socially under pressure. Most likely the 14-year old would have gotten what he wanted and would have limited social negotiation practice. He must have been felt pushed to his emotional limits beyond his normal experience and had difficulty understanding how to resolve the situation he was in. That being said, I don’t think being a member of the table tennis team helped him much to overcome these issues.
Kazuaki Shimazaki
He got pushed into Affekt (a mitigating factor) arguing over a textbook? I'll much rather take this as evidence of low counter-motivational force - hooliganism (an aggravating factor).