9-year-old girl assaulted on way home from school in Hyogo

Wow. He's tough,

This is the kind of people that the J-Cops should focus all their assets on. Setup a trap and catch this lunatic maniac before it happens again. What a sicko!

Physical violence against anyone is bad enough, but this.... A little Islamic sharia punishment is in order. Catch this misfit and cut off his hands so that he can't pick up things to strike children with anymore. You think I'm kidding? I'm not.

girl did not suffer serious injuries but was badly frightened.

++ I don't let my son walk home alone from school. Badly frightened -- of course!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure her classmates are also frightened, parents/grandparents need to either walk with the kids or give them a ride... Japanese people need to start carpooling so that there aren't hundreds of cars by school. Know your neighbers and cooperate!!!

From using public transit here I have come to the conclusion that Japan's mental health wards are the public streets. Sad for both the sufferer and the unsafe general public that has to be wary of them.

Japan's mental health wards are the public streets

Roger that. I've seen some interesting nutters on trains, and in train stations. God love 'em.

I want to see the follow-up headline: 30-40ish Male Thug Struck Repeatedly and Hard by 9-year-old's Father

I vouch to patrol the area myself. watchout dude, here i come

What the heck is wrong with some people?

Once that guys in jail, things are gonna go in his stomach....

Lucky that wasn't my son or daughter. The police would have to arrest two people. But knowing the J-police, he'd probably get off with just a warning after being released from the hospital, while I'd probably spend a year in jail.

It's time to setup some colored lights in the streets to reduce the desire to beat children, whatever color that may be~

There are so many cowards in Samurai Japan

What a bozo, sounds like he was bullied in school and still thinks he is in school.

@ fishy: I agree, when parents of kids these days were kids... say 15-20 years ago, I don't think this sort of thing used to happen nearly as often. Japan is not as safe as it used to be, and I think parents need to be more careful than they used to be.

Given that in the past 2 months there have been similar incidents in the same area, why on earth are these kids still walking home alone?

Even if this was a one-off, it could possibly have been prevented by the same old argument that always crops up on here - young kids are too young to be walking to and from school alone. It is not safe. Make sure your kids get to and from school safely. It`s common sense!

For the meantime children in that area will need to be accompanied to school by adults. This will have all sorts of positive consequences that go beyond protecting against this particular man.

Neighbors should be urged to report any suspicious behavior by anyone fitting that profile. Police should temporarily turn their attention away from proper bicycle registration and catch this criminal.

kirakira25-young kids are too young to be walking to and from school alone.

There have also been cases of guys hitting women in the face with baseball bats and slashing them once most anywhere on the body and running away. So, is it now not safe enough for anyone to walk alone, or should we just chaperone the women? Always walk in groups-no matter what?

This is the third such incident and the first two happened in different places. One off incidents happen a couple times a year at each school with varying degrees of seriousness. Usually there are no clear repeats so the next town is not notified. When it happens in the next town, they don't know its a repeat and the first town does not hear about it. By the third, it makes the press and everyone is on alert. But most cases disappear.

Probably a lot of incidents could be avoided by kids never being alone. But at what cost? Buy a bus? Make parents drive kids to school? You would get more ruptured livers that way. Traffic accidents happen too. Make the parents always walk with the kids? How many man hours of work do we lose that way?

And basically Japan is still pretty safe, and its partly because everyone keeps going on like it is and does not give in to paranoia. However, kids do usually walk in groups of other kids. Enough is enough. Perfection cannot be attained.

real manly men in japan eh ? picking on little girls

Loser. Hit me with a stick kunero, I'll shove it where the sun don't shine.

@investigator - no, of course you can`t protect everyone from every possibility. But I still think elementary school kids are too young to be walking to and from school alone. Sorry if you disagree with that.

what the hell is wrong with people... i teach elementary and if i caught someone trying to hit one of my little crazies i don't think i could control my temper. what a pathetic, weak, little man

So some nutter gets his jollies hitting school kids in the stomach? Sure sound like the same guy in all three incidents. I sure hope they catch him before his violence escalates.