Abe says he is outraged over stabbing rampage

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday described a fatal stabbing spree in Kawasaki as harrowing, adding that he is outraged and will take all necessary measures for children's safety.

Fine, but just what are you going to do? If it's like the law about disciplining children, then do us all a favor and dont waste our time with needless gestures.

Something concrete! Yet I highly doubt that you even realize that you yourself are at the roots of the problem!

Yubaru, out of curiosity, what could he/his government do to protect children from every nutter with a knife? And also how is he at the root of the problem? Care to expand. I mean, I loathe most everything Abe stands for too, but I fail to see how he could have prevented this, barring mass institutionalization or a national mobilization of mental health practitcioners.

Tragic. My condolences to the friends and families of all injured and all killed.

Abe can do nothing to curb this other than enforce draconian security measures, and let's face it, Japan just doesn't have the manpower or finances to do it!

What is Abe going to do about it? Nothing and nobody can stop a nuthead if he wants to go on a rampage. These people are beyond any treatment and a menace to society. What do you do with cockroaches?

why attacker is not named? or described ? something is fishy.

And also how is he at the root of the problem? 

The break down in society stems from a lack of economic growth, stable income, and lack of viable employment opportunities.

Abenomics has made companies richer, but it has not helped the average person on the street, who have seen their real income get smaller, and forces far too many to work longer in positions that have to potential to grow in.

There is no way he can assure the safety of all children in Japan.

However he can do things to lessen the despair, but to do that, he would have to listen to people outside of his own party, and put policies in place that actually mean something, and quit with all the BS gestures.

@jcapan - Yubaru, out of curiosity, what could he/his government do to protect children from every nutter with a knife?

Well, they could start with taking mental health care seriously. At present, the standard treatment for mental or emotional disorders is, "Here's a bag of antidepressants and come back next month for more." There was a report released a few years ago stating 27% of Japanese adults have some kind of mental or emotional disorder (diagnosed cases only). Yes, this statistic is comparable with other countries. However, the treatment for these disorders is not on par with other countries. Abe stating he will take steps to protect children is just lip service. Japan does have a relatively low violent crime rate compared to some other countries, but it is also higher than some countries, specifically the Nordic countries, for example. It doesn't take much research to realise the majority of violent crime in japan is against children or women. Add to this the major increase in child abuse and you see a pattern emerging. Japan's economy is falling apart and society is suffering both economic and emotional pressure. This is leading to a major increase in cowardly violent crime against those who cannot fight back. So, come on Abe! You've been promising to fix the economy for a decade and it's only getting worse, which is resulting in all these random attacks on the defenceless. How are you gonna fix this one Mr. Lip Service?

No one knows what they would do in such a situation. It's silly to think you would. These things happen very fast and sudden, and often people are left still trying to figure out what they are seeing by the time the incident is finished.

What can they do? The government is inept. They cant fix anything. Obviously banning knifes wont help. Metal detectors on every streetcorner? Perhaps this should be a question that the entire community needs to be involved with.

This all comes down to mental health and to be aware of your surroundings. Of course not 100% possible but being aware is a big plus.

I feel extremely sad for the victims and their families but especially for the surviving kids who now have to carry a huge mental scar for life.

why attacker is not named? or described ? something is fishy.

He shouldn't be named. He should be forgotten. He deserves no infamy. Remember his deeds, forget his person.

I don't know the name of the NZ shooter either, and I'm happy about that. Let these people die unknown.

Yeah we're all outraged mate. This crazy lunatic would've had problems for decades yet no one acknowledges it? Ticking time bombs walking all around this country and everyone turns a blind eye, well this is what happens.

The break down in society stems from a lack of economic growth, stable income, and lack of viable employment opportunities.

We're on the same page here. Though I'd say this transformation predates Abe--he's only hastening reforms begun under Koizumi, and much to my chagrin continued by the fools in Minshuto during their brief stint. That said, while increased insecurity and poverty lead to higher crime rates, I'm not sure it can account for acts of sheer lunacy like this. Something about correlelation and causation comes to mind. Absent some hard data, I'm of the mind that most of the heinous crimes perpetrated by the unemployed (unsure if that's the case here as yet) are a result of mentally unstable individuals who couldn't find work b/c of their condition, not b/c of a lack of growth.

I'm not saying their place in the economy doesn't play a role but IMO there's a more fundamental failure on the part of society. They have been neglected, untreated and left to fend for themselves. Naturally, as a result, it's nigh to impossible to find stable employment. And ultimately I don't think we can lay all of that at the feet of Abe. Should crimes like this lead to a reckoning, sure, but on the part of Japanese society writ large. Abe, should he choose, could lead such a change.

Rest in Peace to the poor girl Hanako-chan and the innocent man. Perhaps he tried to help the girls. I pray all the other victims to recover physically and mentally. I am just as outraged as PM Abe over this disgusting and despicable man.

Nothing more Abe can say. Is he going to ban all knives? Then ban forks, too. Then chopsticks since they are pointy enough to be used as a weapon. Swords. Toothpicks. Make all residents undergo psychological assessment?

This crazy lunatic would've had problems for decades yet no one acknowledges it? Ticking time bombs walking all around this country and everyone turns a blind eye, well this is what happens.

mental health issues are largely undiagnosed due to the face saving culture here, and even if people do look for help the shambolic mental health care system just throws meds at them....

What can they do? The government is inept. They cant fix anything.

agreed

We need more info on the attacker. Unfortunately, nothing can bring those fatal victims back. Nothing justify his actions. But this is another case to be studied. As stated here, mental health and social issues must be addressed more seriously. Since childhood, people in this country are trained to be repressed and submissive. Sooner or later, they explode.

Abe...will take all necessary measures for children's safety.

The usual knee-jerk meaningless stock cliche parroted ad nauseam by clueless pols in the aftermath of all such senseless tragedies. Anyone with half a brain knows that when a person runs amok causing mayhem the answer to the question "why" invariably involves investigating a rat's nest of complex causes that lie in the psychopathy of individuals and their damaged social ties that have left them alienated and adrift in a dog-eat-dog society. There is nothing Abe can do to stop such random acts of violence except start by allocating more money for mental health treatment and working towards the egalitarian goal of putting a more human face on the operation of Japanese capitalism.

I'm sad and sorry this happened. The families of the victims must be in shock. I hope the news media won't sensationalize the perpetrator and will just leave his name and picture off the air. Who were the hero's who did something to help? Publicize their stories so others will know what to do.

ban knives! (already illegal)

ban walking with knives! (already illegal)

random police checks on the sidewalks! (already happens)

metal detectors that see through your clothing in public places! (already installed in certain train stations)

sometimes you can't legislate crazy away. you can however keep people who are mentally unstable on meds or in institutions if they are dangerous to the public. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this guy was known to police or mental health institutions and had a history of dangerous interactions with the public and in particular women and children.

People preparing for violence by arming themselves with two knives - is this becoming more frequent?

There was a killing in Aichi just last weekend, a man murdered an acquaintance, a planned attack, with two knives. It's a worry - copycat crimes and self-harmings are quite common in Japan, as they are elsewhere of course.

When I start thinking about what the best thing to grab and throw or lunge with is, if I were witness to such an attacker... it's not a great way to go about one's life. But, be prepared and all that.

Yaburu. You can't blame the economy and job opportunities on this. This guy was a maniac and needed to be in an asylum. He was mentally Ill.

Paradox box is probably right. The police must have had a record of this guy's behavior. You don't just go from 0 to 10 out of no where.

And the "safe Japan" just crumbled in front of their eyes.

Abe might be rather outraged about this happening while guests are in the house.

My 70 year old heart goes out to poor little Hanako Kuribayashi, just 11, a six grader, killed in this senseless random attack. May the angels of Caritas send her on her way. God bless.

There are evil people in the world. And there are crazy evil people. The odds of stopping everyone of these people from killing is quite low.

According to NHK News tonight it seems like the killer was a "hikikomori" person...

Something concrete! Yet I highly doubt that you even realize that you yourself are at the roots of the problem!

We don’t even know who the attacker was or why he did this yet, so isn’t it a bit premature to be demanding concrete action? We have no way of knowing what concret3 actions would help until we understand the facts.

Actions speak louder than words, what is abe gonna do about this "outrage"

Much more needs to be done by the authorities to investigate, understand and help Japanese who have fallen through the cracks of rigid and unforgiving social norms that expect and require everyone to belong to a group, conform and obey or else! Hikikomori feel besieged by society's pressure to succeed academically, conform to groupthink and live as workaholics and so their withdrawing themselves body and mind from society is a self-defense mechanism to cope with extreme levels of stress and anxiety. Needless to say, the vast majority of hikikomori would never resort to the violent solution of the knife-wielding killer.

Kanagawa prefectural police only confirmed the death of sixth-grade schoolgirl Hanako Kuribayashi, 11, from Tokyo. Hospital officials at a televised news conference confirmed the 11-year-old's death as well as that of a 39-year-old man, saying both of them had been slashed in the head, chest and face.

This is awful, beyond words.

Very sad, how can we stop this kind of attack to happen again?

When are you people going to grow up? There are no guarantees of your safety. Japan, thought of as a "safe country" but victims of the Tokyo subway sarin attack along with countless instances of random violence, Norway, thought of as a"safe country" but Andesr Bleivek killed 77 and injured 319. New Zealand last month 49 dead but a "safe country".

Sometimes there are signs of mental illnesses and sometimes people just go over the edge. Yet people blame society, the government &ect.

One thing I learned a long time ago, stay vigilant, you probably can't stop it but you can react.

If I was around and anything like this happend, I would do my best to get the attacker away, even if that means sacrificing my own life.

In general Forget what Politicians say following these event - it's mostly superficial meaningless small-talk in order to appear as being caring.

True thoughts go out to the effected Families. I need say no more, as were I to be in their position, words simply don't help.

And he SHOULD be outraged, but I gotta say, I've never heard him get this vocal about such crimes in the past... methinks there is some relation to the timing and positive media coverage of him with Trump. I mean, what can he do, really? There are already laws against carrying knives/swords. What vow could he possibly make to improve safety? Is he maybe going to stop SUGGESTING train companies and other places install security gates and then leave it up to the company, and instead move towards legislation that would make it required by law? He most certainly will not. He might suggest such a plan, but would never move towards actually implementing it.

They should add a law like metabo law that every adult should pass a mental check every year.

The suspect, named as Ryuichi IWASAKI is being shown pictured in a junior high school graduation photo...so that he has not been photographed in nearly 40 years?

Very sad, how can we stop this kind of attack to happen again?

The only way to stop attacks like this, is to remove freedom and have a society of governmental control, where everyone is monitored all the time to make sure they are not planning attacks or carrying weapons.

The question is, is that a price we're willing to pay for absolute freedom? I'm not.

It's silly to think that we can stop these kinds of attacks as humans. There will always be fringe nutters who will go off and kill people. It's part of being human.

That's why we should try to create inclusive societies to bring people in as much as we can, making people members of a community, so that less people will do things like this.

But we'll never eliminate it. And you're only going to stress yourself out if you think that there is a way to, that we just aren't doing. There isn't.

The burden is not on society to appease people in order that they don't go around killing folks.

Then these attacks will continue.

Just because one does not feel included doesn't give them a license to kill.

Who is talking about giving anyone a license to do anything? No one gave this nutter a license to do this attack, and yet he did. Your comment denies the reality of the situation.

You act like this is something we choose. It's not. Disaffected societies produce more people who act out in murderous ways. That's fact, not opinion. It's quantifiable through numbers. Therefore people who manage risk look at how to manage that risk, not some political "people need to take care of themselves" attitude. It's that attitude that created the absolute failure of a war on drugs that tried to attack an issue through morality an legality, without addressing reality. The fact is, people will do drugs, regardless of whether they are illegal, or some people are moral. If you want to deal with drugs, you need to accept that and deal accordingly. Same with nutters like this who kill people - to deal with this situation, people need to accept the reality that there will be more of them in a disaffected society.

The burden is on society whether you want to accept that or not. It's a burden a society chooses, it's just there. It's like saying "I never asked to breath, so I'm not going to do it anymore". Um... ok.

The problem is that by denying the reality of the situation, you promote an environment in which more attacks like this will occur, rather than accepting the reality of the situation and working on an effective way to deal with it.

I don't like the idea of holding society accountable for the actions of a sicko

Which no one is doing. Risk management is not about holding people accountable, it's about mitigating a problem.

Why should we shuffle our feet for such a small minority.

Because the alternative is more attacks like this.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather live in a more inclusive society with less disaffected people, resulting in a safer society where less attacks like this happen. I'd be willing to "shuffle my feet" to live in such a society.

But for some people the idea of helping others get something they didn't earn is too offensive, and they'd rather live in such a society.

It's obvious, that people who do these acts of violence would do them anyway, even if you invited them to every party every night.

As I said, it's been shown that disaffected societies produce more nutters like this. Again, not an opinion, it's quantifiable fact. So no, your claim is not only obvious, it's been shown to in fact be incorrect.

I don't believe we have to choose one or the other.

You're right, we don't have to.

But some of us would choose to, so we can live in a safer society.

These people are beyond any treatment and a menace to society. What do you do with cockroaches?

Annual mental health screenings beginning in elementary school for children.

If the parents are unwilling to admit their child is a psychopath, CPS can look into the case. If there's reasonable cause (and no political bent to the proceedings), asylums are the next stop. JFK tried to break this method in the US by introducing at-home or community care coupled with meds. It has been a failure.

Bring back mental asylums.

People alleging deficiency in mental health treatment in Japan need to explain why incidents of this type are far more common in the US which is allegedly something of a global standard in mental health care. Very similar comments about deficiencies in the mental health care regime have in fact been made in the wake of US high school shootings, the Orlando nightclub shooting, and other cases.

While there may be issues with mental health care in Japan, it is unlikely that any proposed reforms could completely eliminate incidents such as this one in Kawasaki.

Similarly, draconian controls can not totally eliminate incidents of this type. Communist China has them, and the ones that get reported are probably not all that take place.

People alleging deficiency in mental health treatment in Japan need to explain why incidents of this type are far more common in the US which is allegedly something of a global standard in mental health care.

Only for the people who get it. The US has a major problem with people needing it, and not getting it.

smithinjapanMay 28 11:58 pm JST

And he SHOULD be outraged, but I gotta say, I've never heard him get this vocal about such crimes in the past... methinks there is some relation to the timing and positive media coverage of him with Trump. I mean, what can he do, really?

Gotta agree with this. Of course as national leader he must say something, and that doesn't mean he's not truly shocked and saddened.

But with the Big Finale of the 4 day Trump Fest ready to go with all the self congratulatory back slaps, and "F'reeza jolly good fella" foto ops etc about to start, and this shocking incident occurs.

Abe's pushed off the front page in all media and the Fest fizzles out. So he tries to reclaim his position by declaring he will do all what it takes to keep children of Japan safe.

Sorry to be so cynical on this, but Shinzo, horrible crimes against children have been in the spotlight a lot in recent years - horrible crimes, but I'm yet to see you take any concerted actions matched by words like those expressed this time.

But perhaps he is sincere and we may well see the announcement of the cancellation of the order of 100 new jet fighters and instead divert the monies into child welfare services and programs for the disenfanchised and mentally unstable. It would be not much, but it would be a good start all of those ￥trillions.

abe san do something abt these cases. Outrage , what is the use ??? will yr outrage bring the dead back ???. This is the 5 cases or maybe ???.