8-year-old girl in critical condition after being stabbed on Osaka street

according to her family, this woman quit her job (nurse) because she was bullied.

Agreed, this is a symptom of a system that is ill equipped to ID and address mental illness.

The extent and level of bulling in Japan is, in itself, a form of mental illness.

What is going on in Japan? In past couple weeks it seems every day I read of some poor child in Japan being stabbed by some lunatic adult! Sheesh.

In Japan it is unheard of to call police when something looks suspicious. Nothing will get done here until AFTER it happens. That's why conviction rates are at 99.6%, this way they have the evidence. Japan does not practice prevention, they only practice law AFTER the event when it's too late.

this is too much! child or adult stab....i hope they could find a way to stop these stabbing incidents.i wonder how safe it is to release from prison murderers out of insanity???

Mentally ill people going off the edge and committing violent acts might be unpreventable but.. was she inspired by the trend of knife attacks on schoolchildren in China happening recently? Hopefully that is not the case, or she could be the beginning of a Japanese copycat crime wave.

Charge the whole lot of the neighbours that stood there gocking. Typical and stupid. People are in lala land here thinking everything is perfect. What a sad world.

This is a weird story. Hope she survives.

it shocks me that this girl was stabbed RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER HOUSE. She wasn't walking home alone, she was with an adult (neighbor mom/friend's mom)and said good-bye a few seconds before she was stabbed.

i guess in this case, the best thing people COULD HAVE DONE was to report there was a suspicious woman standing on the same spot for a long time.. it's a shame that this could have been prevented and wasn't.

It's hard to think of a comment suitable for this kind of attack. Possibly just, watch ya kids closely is enough. Brrrr!

Oh man. Here`s another one.

Aside from the mental health issues these stories raise, the other issue in society is that these little kids on the street are easy-pickings for anyone wanting to relieve their issues.

My daughter has just started elementary school and I have been highly-pressured by everyone - other parents, other kids, the teachers and even my own daughter, to let her walk to and from school alone. She`s never really alone in that there are loads of kids out on the street too, and often adults watching them but I hate it and worry all the time, and it only takes one nutjob. Even if I am with her I may not be able to prevent it, but surely it can help.

The mothers had a meeting the other day about it because the groups they walk to school in are getting too large and at the meeting they asked my opinion. I said that in my opinion we should be getting together and taking it in turns as adults to take and pick up the kids. They just laughed at me, rolled their eyes and said "Oh, but shes from England, its really dangerous there!".

Not saying it isnt, but it sure as hell isnt Utopia here either.

Agreed, this is a symptom of a system that is ill equipped to ID and address mental illness. Instead we sweep it under the carpet or these people end up talking to fortune tellers or other people who have no clue how to treat them.

People in Japan are isolated in that they don't enjoy the resources of other countries to seek mental health care and advice.

I have nothing but disgust for people who harm children. But the system must take some responsiblity for the fact that this kind of thing is very common and there are no solutions out there to help prevent it.

I agree with you lovejapan21...why didn't someone alert the authorities that there was a women loitering for 3 hours, chain smoking? I bet she looked rather unstable leading up to the event as well. I am lucky that there is a neighbourhood watch in my community and if anyone saw someone like this I am sure they would be asked a few casual questions such as if she is waiting for someone or something like that. Then based on their behaviour either ignore them or alert the authorities. I guess this happens in larger cities where the feeling of community may be lessened for various reasons (people never seeing their neighbours because of their work schedules and so on). I hope the child can make a full recovery soon.

bboy30- yes, she has family in osaka and she was living with them. according to her family, this woman quit her job (nurse) because she was bullied. family said she was acting strange lately and wasn't talking at all.

wow, ashame.

does this lady have any family? did anyone have a clue that she is menatally ill, and needs help?

i hope the lil girl recovers!

**what's up with the neighbors? I see a bush manicured the wrong way and call in the troops. Dang it folks, take some pride in your community. that includes alerting authorities that a weirdo is standing in the same place for 3 hours smoking cigarettes One would hope the police would do something..i had a middle aged man living in his car, unshaved, in his robe, for 3 months, looking all suspecious when someone parked next to him on the 7/11 parking lot. Japanese people reported him to the koban, they questioned him, they said he is unable to go home for private or mental reasons, and has permission from 7/11 (since he buys meals there) to stay there as long as he likes...

According to j-news, the woman was a nurse, working at a hospital in Osaka until August last year. This girl walked from school with her friends and friend's mother and was stabbed right in front of her house. She was stabbed 5 times (back, chest, arm and head) and she was still conscious in the ambulance mumbling "mama, mama..". Breaks my heart.

Japan's crime records are all time high,most of them committed by women against kids(leaving kids inside car for pachinko,random stabbings etc.)

Seriously, RedUS?? You really think that "most" crime in Japan is committed by women against children?

Common sense should tell you that is not true. Remember that what you hear in the news does not reflect everything that is happening- they only print the more shocking, unusual crimes. Think a bit before posting, please.

Somebody needs to address the fact that mental illness is running rampant in this country. High suicide rate, rising taxe rates, lower wages, and piss-poorTV programs for the people out of work to watch.

So this woman was not only standing there all day smoking, but she was concealing a knife the whole time too?

what's up with the neighbors? I see a bush manicured the wrong way and call in the troops. Dang it folks, take some pride in your community. that includes alerting authorities that a weirdo is standing in the same place for 3 hours smoking cigarettes.

What kind of sick nut case tries to kill a child?

A person with untreated mental illness.

Well at least I hope the young girl grows up to think that smoking kills and she'll stay away from it. And hope the nutjob gets her ass kicked in jail.

wtf... so thats it? just walk out side and stab a child. i wonder what drove the woman to do it.. drugs? depression? japanese horror movies? insanity? there has to be an answer....

Japan's crime records are all time high,most of them committed by women against kids(leaving kids inside car for pachinko,random stabbings etc.) Japanese society is becoming selfish and its morale is certainly going down to hell.

Me too! Seriously, but without the pain and misery bit. Good luck to the girl and her family.

Fair call. I tend to get pretty angry when I hear of crimes against children. If these potential violent psychopaths can somehow be identified before they snap - and maybe treated/medicated properly /locked away for everyone's safety - maybe these tragedies will not occur as much.

KanjiHybrid - thanks for the kanji lesson.

What kind of sick nut case tries to kill a child? Long fall, short rope time.

I repeat - I wish this poor girl a full recovery and I hope this woman - mental illness or not - is locked away forever so she can harm no more innocent kids.

Me too! Seriously, but without the pain and misery bit. Good luck to the girl and her family.

I repeat - I wish this poor girl a full recovery and I hope this woman - mental illness or not - is locked away forever so she can harm no more innocent kids.

Nice one - how on earth do you even know she has a mental illness?

Er...she stood in the same spot in a street that wasn't her own for three hours, stabbed an eight-year-old stranger and then waited around till the cops arrived. What more do you need?

Now that is precisely the medieval attitude to mental illness that ensures incidents like this will go on and on.

Nice one - how on earth do you even know she has a mental illness? That's right, blame everyone and everything for heinous crimes, everyone except the criminal. Next you will be suggesting it is Japanese society at fault for this - or doctors for not prescribing prozac...pfft!

what the hell's going on here?

gents, 8 years old....

I wish her a painful and miserable remainder of her awful life in jail.

Now that is precisely the medieval attitude to mental illness that ensures incidents like this will go on and on.

All I have to say is that I hope the poor girl pulls through...

Old good days. Japan is not so safe anymore.

Poor little girl - let's all hope she pulls through.

As for the woman - I wish her a painful and miserable remainder of her awful life in jail. Hope she gets fed "special meals" by the other prisoners every dinner time.

Must be a mental case.

This is the second relatively young woman to stab a child in Osaka in the past week. The first one was the whacko mother who said, "Don't kill my daughter!" a few days back and suddenly stabbed the visiting friend. Fortunately, the child lived, and I hope this little one does as well.

Takuma1: "If you had all that time to watch Tamaki why did you not call the police at 2pm?"

This is one of the things I hate about Japan... you hear over and over again about how many of the neighbours heard screams, or saw this, or smelled that, but of course never bothered to come out and do anything about it or talk to anyone until the media cameras came along. In this particular case, I don't know what they could have done except perhaps approach the woman, since she was obviously a stranger and standing out there acting odd for a while, what she was doing, but you couldn't really call the cops for what she was doing.

"The suspect, identified as Setsuka Tamaki, remained at the scene until police arrived."

So now how did she know the police were coming? Did she call them herself while all the neighbours were watching it from behind pinched curtains? or did she assume someone would call and just waited?

I had a friend who lives not too far from where I used to and she told me the other day when she got home late at night and opened her front gate a snake happened to slither past her in a rush. She screamed at the top of her lungs and yelled 'Tasukete!! (help me!)' and not a soul came out to see what was going on. Now, it was only a snake, and she overreacted, but she said to me that had it been a rapist attacking her or some nutjob with a knife and she yelled for help, it would have been no different (how did the people know what she was yelling for?). She said THAT fact was far scarier than the snake, and she decided next time she if she was in trouble she was just going to scream 'FIRE!!!'.

Anyway, I hope the kid pulls through. This country is becoming very, very unsafe for children.

If you had all that time to watch Tamaki why did you not call the police at 2pm?

Umm, probably because people dont call the police just because they see someone hanging out. She is probably a local and has just hung out for hours before. The idea that this woman would then stab a kid would be too bizarre for a normal person to contemplate.

Sorry... that's, "approach the woman and ask what she was doing".

Boy, I really hope this child makes it through this with minimum scarring, both mental and physical. This is just wrong on so many levels.

Simply unbelievable. What else can you say?

Then again, if the media go into hyper drive on this story the worrying thing is that other loonies will surface and try to top this shocking incident.

Just a note to all those with children. Don't let them out of your sight.

Mental issues at play again. Someone needs to get some sort of social help in place, an actually ADMIT Japanese society has some serious mental issues within it.

Hope the little one recovers.

She was walking home with her friend and her friend's mom. The article is a little ambiguous saying that she was separated from her friend's mom. They were all walking together, but according to a TV news report, the victim was the last to enter the house, and that was when she was attacked. Also, neighbors did come out of their houses and stop her, and try to help the girl, while the woman just stood there staring. I feel sorry for the victim and her friend and friend's mom. Terrible case. The woman will probably just go to a mental hospital for a few years. and hopefully to get the help she needs.

This is getting way too crazy now. Stabbing a kid??!! Sorry, but that broad needs to be locked up for a very long time.

This is the kind of stuff that makes you wonder to let your kids out at night. Hope the lay never sees the light of day again after this

This stabbing children stuff is really whacko crap. I hope the poor girl pulls through. I hope the sicko never walks free again.

All I have to say is that I hope the poor girl pulls through...

Osaka. In all my years this specific ancient city keeps popping up on the crime scene times ten lately... S**t has hit the fan there over the last few years.

@shufu The majority of 8yo kids walk home alone in Japan.This kind of shit will soon put paid to it though

That poor girl! That lady is NOT smoking cigarettes if she just randomly stabs a girl walking home from school!

God... of all the random people to attack in Osaka why choose an 8 year old child? Lets hope this woman gets the mental health care she clearly needs, followed by a long and uncomfortable prison sentence and lets hope the little one gets better.

Takuma, Unfortunately people are very nosy in this country, and will be the first to look at something like this, but the last to help or do anything about it. Smoking cigarettes is not a crime.

But what interests me is ... You will notice it doesn't say that any of the neighbours actually helped the girl, just that they watched from their windows. Did none of them bother to help her? Or just watch while the poor little thing lay there terrified and bleeding? Did none of them think to restrain this madwoman?

Also gotta question an 8 year old walking home by herself too ... seems a little bit young to me. Should have had someone with her, a parent, grandparent, friend? Such an easy target...

An attack on an 8-year-old....you are 32!! WTF?? And chillin' smoking a cigarrete while waiting for her. What's happening to Japan's society...

This the end of the innocence

Neighbors said that Tamaki had been standing at the spot since noon, smoking cigarettes all the time.

If you had all that time to watch Tamaki why did you not call the police at 2pm?