crime

Man arrested over knife attack on 8-year-old girl in Yamaguchi Pref

60 Comments

Police in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Tuesday arrested a 23-year-old unemployed man over the knife attack on an 8-year-old school girl in the street on Monday. The suspect, who was identified as Masahiro Yamada, lives about 100 meters from the scene of the attack, police said, adding that he has denied the allegation.

Meanwhile, NHK reported on Tuesday night that a knife which might have been used in the attack was found in the suspect's home.

The girl was attacked at around 3:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon. A 74-year-old woman called police and reported seeing a man running away from a girl who was lying on the ground. Emergency services rushed to the scene to find the girl who had been slashed about a dozen times in the face with a bladed weapon. She was taken to hospital, where she is in a stable condition, police said Tuesday.

A primary schoolboy who had been walking with the girl told police the assailant was around 165 cm tall, roughly 20 years of age and dressed in white.

© Compiled from news reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

60 Comments
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Sicko...pick on a poor little girl. 'wearing white'? Maybe a hospital worker or a nearby food processing facility?

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Unbelievable! What a POS.

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I have a 7 year old daughter. Oh how I would love to spend 5 minutes with this sad, pathetic excuse of a man. Just five minutes....... JCops, please, please find this POS fast.

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Why do readers always come onto these threads and say what they would do the perp if they had 5 minutes with him?

tokyokawasaki, how do you know you could take him? He might tear your throat out. Just because he attacked a girl doesn't mean he is a weakling. One of the meanest bullies I knew at school picked on smaller kids, but he was no weakling. He was a tough brute.

This guy in Yamaguchi is sick in the mind. He may even believe himself to be justified in doing what he did. I often wonder what make a person flip like that.

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Agree with Smartacus, sometimes not sure who is more worrying the Criminal or some posters here.

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8-year-old primary schoolgirl who appeared to have been slashed across the face several times with a bladed weapon

Unbelievable. How ANYONE can hurt a little girl's face is beyond my imagination.

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A very sick person - I've never understood why some choose to take their anger out on children.

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Why do readers always come onto these threads and say what they would do the perp if they had 5 minutes with him?

Because tokyokawasaki is a father of a little girl himself, is rightly horrified by what has just happened and is simply venting - is that not obvious?

Yes, you are right, the guy probably is sick and needs mental help. But right or wrong I can understand tokyokawasakis reaction as a mother of a 7 year old myself. Hes entitled to say what he feels, as is anyone else.

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This parasite MUST be locked away forever, let's all hope the cops manage to find him and use their "special techniques" to extract a confession. Won't hold my breath though.

I just hope the poor little girl is OK.

He might tear your throat out. Just because he attacked a girl doesn't mean he is a weakling.

A 165cm little man who picks on girls? Not one man I know would be scared of this weak coward.

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If anybody slashed my daughter's face, I'd make sure to slash the person's face AND MORE. Because the guy didn't kill the girl, he probably wouldn't be locked away for very long, and as a mother who has a daughter, I would NEVER forgive anybody who leaves a scar on my girl's face.

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@ smartacus at 10:01 AM JST - 25th January Why do readers always come onto these threads and say what they would do the perp if they had 5 minutes with him? tokyokawasaki, how do you know you could take him? He might tear your throat out. Just because he attacked a girl doesn't mean he is a weakling. One of the meanest bullies I knew at school picked on smaller kids, but he was no weakling. He was a tough brute.

Basically what you're saying is "if you see such a perp doing something so barbaric to a child on the street, just bail and run, call the cops but don't go close ... because he might be big and strong, just like your bully at School.

tokyokawasaki has a child and if you're a real man, you'd protect your child no matter what the consequences. In-fact he would go further and protect any child for that matter in such a case. I would do the same!

It won't matter who's child it is. And if that means you might be weaker of a person than the perp creep and have your throat cut out off, so be it. If you loose your life trying to save another innocent life, isn't that what bravery and courage is all about ?

But I can understand you might be scared of these big strong guys like your bully in School. I used to be bullied at School too. That was till the day I decided to stand up for myself and fight back. I never looked back.

Hope this poor girl gets well soon.

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@ fishy at 10:45 AM JST - 25th January If anybody slashed my daughter's face, I'd make sure to slash the person's face AND MORE. Because the guy didn't kill the girl, he probably wouldn't be locked away for very long, and as a mother who has a daughter, I would NEVER forgive anybody who leaves a scar on my girl's face.

I'm real glad some of us here think alike!

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Smartacus - Why do readers always come onto these threads and say what they would do the perp if they had 5 minutes with him?

Because being a father of a 7 year old girl, my heart goes out to her parents. If that had been my daughter, I know it would haunt me for the rest of my life. I know I would not care if I lost or got hurt myself if I was fortunate enough to meet this POS face to face. Also, picture in your mind seeing a man slashing the face of a innocent little girl... Any decent man would not hesitate to jump in and retaliate.

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While I feel for the guys and gals(got the be equal) here for wanting to hurt him, same time if you were given the chance there is a high likely-hood you would be in the cel next to him(for assault, etc) and your children in goverment care never allowed to see you again..

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Is it only a Japanese thing? You should never, never scar a girl's face. I was surprised to discover the depth of feeling about this here. It's one of the biggest no-nos. This perp was probably kicking back against the system in the strongest way he could imagine, but anyone attacking him and doing him physical harm in the process of tackling him would probably be warmly regarded in Japan.

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I agree with bengoshi -Zenny was well out of order by comparing people angry at this incident with a child attacker. How about condemning the attack Zenny (and maybe even a little sympathy for the child), rather than just attacking other posters?

Moderator: Readers, this ends discussion on what you would you do to the suspect. Please post something more pertinent.

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The guys were NOT talking about defending the attack reread the posts, they wanted 5-min PRIVATE time to hurt him, etc.

Apples & Oranges. Nuff said.

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It's an uncommon for power to pick its much,Power in its many forms is 'normally'exercised/wielded on the weak or the subdued. Look around you and see a society that is aching to spit its bile on...you guessed it, any weakling in the vicinity.

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oops,sorry,should be "..to pick its match....."

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Psychological madness is increasing everyday in Japan. It does not show good future.

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There's many reasons vigilante justice is against the law in most countries. "An eye for an eye and soon everyone will be blind." There's no defending the actions of the man who slashed the girl, but there could be mitigating circumstances that we don't know yet.

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What a horrible man, I am so happy that she had a school friend to help her in this situation, imagine if she had being on her own, although the boy was shocked, he must have helped her to stay calm and perhaps even called out for help, he will also be traumatised by this, but I think he is already more of a man than the perp

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One of the reasons my daughter will not walk to school alone or with classmates until she is old enough...

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slashed across the face several times with a bladed weapon

Slashed on her face and neck 15 times, not several times.. according to Sankei... my mouth dropped open.. The girl needs emotional help to recover.

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Take it easy on Tokyokawasaki, peeps. He was just expressing his shock and horror at what happened, and as a father of a girl the same age to boot. There's no telling what he would do for sure if left alone with the person -- it's hypothetical.

Regardless, no one is denying that the perp in question is a sick individual, and will hopefully be caught and locked up. Aside from the being dressed in white part, it'll be hard to catch anyone based on the boy's description. It's hard to tell how reliable one so young can be; while I've no doubt some will refute this, it's hard for a person that age to tell the age of someone. Height can be verified through comparison, assuming the boy remembers clearly.

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Oh, man! What a disgusting act! And, it seems to happen so regularly in Japan. My daughter is an extremely beautiful child model and this has been my biggest fear living in the island asylum. I hope they catch this sicko quickly. One can only hope he will receive his come-upance in the Emperor's Hilton.

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Here is my take on this, either this man is mentally handicapped or is just a violent man, who has no respect for human life. Sure the little girl survived the attack but she is now scarred for life and will have to live with that fact for the rest of her life because someone decided to attack a defenseless little girl.

Bullies are one thing to worry about in this life but in order to evolve as a species we must learn to respect each other, and to help and stand up for those who can't defend themselves.

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mentally disturbed or not. if he has the chance, he would do it again.

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The guy's GOT TO BE seriously sick to slash the girl's face/neck 15 times..

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The guy who slashed the girl actually spoke to the 74-year-old woman who called the police while running away.. He went up to her and said that there is a girl lying on the street and then ran away, according to Japanese news.. So, probably the information (age and height) was from this woman and the boy.. And when the girl was found, there was a black plastic bag to cover her head and face..

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This poor little girl and what her family must be going through.

I am going to explode if they catch this sicko and he blurts, "I was frustrated about my situation."

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I feel so sorry for this poor innocent little girl. Her facial wounds may heal but can you imagine, just a little child, minding her own business and some idiot fool coming up with a knife?? Horrible!

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A grown man hurts a little girl... Oh it is Japan, this thing happens all the time, but it is a safe country.

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I really hope the little boy aides in catching this cowardly and fingers him. Then, hopefully he"ll get a GPS ankle bracelet so he won"t do this to another young child.

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Then, hopefully he"ll get a GPS ankle bracelet

This is MAD!! Funk the bracelet, he should rot in jail for this. What can possibly motivate a 20 year old boy to slash a little girl 15 times in face? Total maddness!! He should have no place in society.

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Thoughts and prayers for the child and the witness' I hope they find the person who did this and never let him out again

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alohajapan at 02:52 PM JST - 25th January A grown man hurts a little girl... Oh it is Japan, this thing happens all the time, but it is a safe country.

What happened to this little girl here in Japan is very horrific. It's really sad.

But to clarify your comment. Such violent crimes against Children are not unique to Japan. Horrendous crimes such as this can take place anywhere in the world against children.

Kidnappings, abduction, rape, torture, murder of children is very common and frequent in some of the most developed countries on the planet, especially the United States.

I hope they catch this evil being soon.

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Yes I agree with you - These types of cases 'slashings' are rare in the U.S. Of course abductions, rape, murder is more common over there.

In any case it just goes to show there are sickos walking around everywhere on the planet. Could be in your neighbourhood, maybe mine.

I just hate when they do such things to children who aren't able to defend themselves and fight back. Can't stand it.

Moderator: Readers, please note that references to other countries are not relevant to this discussion.

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You are right southsakai - could be in your neighbourhood, maybe mine.

So how do we protect our children? They walk to school in groups - great - but a group of 6-7 year olds is no match for a guy with a knife.

I think the point alohajapan is making is that unlike other places Japan claims to be a safe country.

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miamum at 04:06 PM JST - 25th January You are right southsakai - could be in your neighbourhood, maybe mine. So how do we protect our children? They walk to school in groups - great - but a group of 6-7 year olds is no match for a guy with a knife. I think the point alohajapan is making is that unlike other places Japan claims to be a safe country.

You know if only I had the answer for that. I wish but unfortunately I don't.

It's real true what you say, even though the children walk to School in groups, it's no match for sickos like this with a knife.

Thing is these guys strike at random, any place at anytime so it's real hard.

Sometimes I think the only thing that can help is a prayer even though I'm not religious.

I guess we can all be a little vigilant though, watch out for others. Take action when things are not right. Won't guarantee to stop the problem but I guess we'll feel more secure knowing we're more aware of things and always looking out.

About alohajapan and what he said, yes my bad I know he meant good.

Watch your backs my friends and always look out for others! You just never know when something like this might happen right in front of you one day.

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Looks like the cops made an arrest.

News showed them carrying boxes out of an Apartment.

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First it was China that had reports of men slashing children with knives. Now it's Japan. What's happening here? Is there a "slash a kid" virus going around Asia?

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There are a lot of crazies around and not much preventive policing- we went to the local police to report a creepy guy following our kids to school everyday, they said they couldn't do anything about it until he actually did something!

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Seems to me an average of around one a week of these crazy loons. the question is how/why do they become crazy enough to do this to a child? I hope the cops have got the right guy and the courts deal with him severely.

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HJSLLS: "First it was China that had reports of men slashing children with knives. Now it's Japan. What's happening here? Is there a "slash a kid" virus going around Asia?"

First it was China? This thing has been happening around the world for ages, but if you want to go back to attacks on little children in schools Japan goes back further than the recent spate in China; in 2001 the nut-job Takuma attacked and killed a number of students at an elementary school, causing the schools in Japan to close the meter high gates as a 'security precaution'. The person who committed the Akibahara rampage some years later was said to have wanted to copy it to an extent, I believe.

Japan has a word for what happened in this case, it's: 通り魔, to which there is no adequate translation save 'random attacker' or 'slasher', which has a much wider meaning. Yes, it's messed up, but in other nations it would be a gun or something else -- it's not limited to Japan, China, or Asia. Now that they've got a suspect, I hope they can find some closure for the poor little girl and if it was indeed the man who did it, they give him some hefty jail time.

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No doubt Best News of the day! Thank God this nutjob has been caught.

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Yet another nutter.

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if i ever see one of these knife attacks, i'm gonna turn into the incredible hulk

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Ube is just down the road from where I am. This kind of thing almost never happens here. Yamaguchi has one of the lowest crime rates in the country. Glad they caught this loony and hope the girl recovers quickly!

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thank God she is alive and in stable condition. The suspect is denying it, any idea how they came to find him?

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It is a little odd that he is denying it. Usually these Japanese sickos are willing to admit to their crimes in order to get apathy from the courts. I only hope they have the right loon.

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I would say that southsakai is correct for there are crazies in other countries & not just Japan. Pity about the small girl no matter what. I hope she recovers well.

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This evidence sounds pretty shaky. I hope they got the right guy. The only witness is another kid, and the knife "may have been used in the attack." If there's no DNA on the knife, then this guy could very well be a scapegoat.

twenty cuts to the face. This poor little girl will never have a normal life. Such a shame.

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In most places the police will tell you they can`t do anything until the suspect does something.

I am concerned just because I thought elementary schools were supposed to be locked up during the day but twice now I have popped into my daughters school and just wandered right in, the gates unlocked, main doors open, and no-one on reception. Can`t protect them from crazies like this at all, in or out of school.

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gaijinfo: my first thoughts too. And a knife that "could have been used in the attack" - show me any kitchen NOT containing one of those!

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gaijinfo at 06:41 AM JST - 26th January twenty cuts to the face. This poor little girl will never have a normal life. Such a shame.

Actually if the knife was good and sharp then if correctly handled there will be minimal scarring which can be cleaned up in a few months with a further procedure. There's every chance that if they bring in a professional plastic surgeon this girl will (physically at least) make a full and complete recovery.

Psychologically... well, that's another story entirely.

As for the arrest, well finding physical evidence shouldn't be a problem. Head wounds produce a LOT of blood, even just a split eyebrow, and that should leave plenty of evidence on clothing, the knife, the attacker's fingernails, and splash residue in his hair. Unless he went home, burned his clothes, cut and cleaned his fingernails and then cut his hair short there should be plenty of evidence.

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I am with Frungy.

If she gets a good surgeon she should have minimal or no physical scarring. After healing might need to recut sections with a laser and heal.

If that is the guy and if he was wearing white it should show blood-spatter pretty clearly while he was talking to the lady.

Unless he cleaned the knife shortly after there would be fingerprints, DNA, etc on it.

Also japanese consider a bruise an Injury with a broken collar-bone being a major injury, etc. Not sure how bad those cuts were some might be small.

Also noticed that the accident reporting varied widely with the number of slashes from 12, 15 or 16 being reported. Some said there was a boy that witnessed others said that she was alone.

Videos from the accident scene showed that it happened next to a house and mentioned that she had a Bohan-Buzzer(Batteries might be empty as is common).

Also she seemed to have moved from the area where the attack happened to where she found. Still wondering what the black vinyl meant that her head was covered with.

Waiting for more reports.

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Zenny-

Also japanese consider a bruise an Injury with a broken collar-bone being a major injury, etc. Not sure how bad those cuts were some might be small.

I heard that there were a couple of stab wounds on top of a dozen slashes... aweful..

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Some said there was a boy that witnessed others said that she was alone

she was walking home with the boy and this happened shortly after (like less than a minute) she said good-bye to the boy.

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8 years old? Jesus Christ.

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