Parents arrested for slashing, choking 5-year-old son

Disillusioned:

The truth is, there is an illness in Japanese society that causes these people to carry out such sadistic acts on their children.

And what about the illness in western countries like US/UK/AUS where child abuse, not to mention child murder is much higher?

Perhaps you and other expats in Japan would do well to look at the dysfunction in your home countries before projecting them onto your host country.

" And how do the family values of your home country compare where the crime/murder rate is likely much higher? "

Totally agree. All these Japan bashers should take a look in the mirror. Pot - kettle - black

Japanese family values are old fashioned.

And how do the family values of your home country compare where the crime/murder rate is likely much higher?

**** Japanese family values are old fashioned. We are living in the 21st century. Child psychology is an important part modern Educational Standards. Parents grow up in an inferior complex to become future leaders in all levels Japanese Society. No love expression is shown to praise children's accomplishments. Instead youths receive too much criticism in a none perfect Society.

When you read stories like this it just shows how Japanese society is breaking down. All you read about today is child and elder abuse and murder. Just proves that the adults caring for these generation are stretched to the limit financially, physically and emotionally....so sad. Where is the help??

Hicoway:

" The best decision we ever made was to live child free. "

The best decision in my life was to have a kid. And then, seeing what a phantastic experience it is to have another two. You will never know what you have missed.

Spot on, Barrel !

>bjohnson23Feb. 26, 2016 - 08:11PM JST This is a domestic issue and the teacher had no right to interfere with parental rights.

Parental rights? You've got to be kidding, no- one has the right to do this to a child, not the parents or anyone. This is a heinous crime and the perpertrators should be punished accordingly. The teacher had every right, in fact a duty, to report this. I can only hope that you, with an attitude like that, don't have, or never will have children.

"protect children instead of treating them like a burden that can be punched, kicked, choked, slashed, stabbed, locked in a rabbit cage, thrown in the garbage"

That would constitute progress...

What is wrong with the foreigners who want to change Japan and make us think our ways are like theirs. This is a domestic issue and the teacher had no right to interfere with parental rights. Now with this said it does not mean that a parent should beat their child in such a way to inflict harm but that is up to each household and not foreigners opinions.

I agree that foreigners should really stop trying to "change" Japan into what they feel is "the right way". However, since when is ignoring a crime part of the Japanese culture? I think you're confused about that. Yes, I believe many Japanese people overlook small transgressions but from what I can tell many Japanese people DO 'interfere' when they see a crime being committed. It's only when it's not clear that people tend to ignore these situations.

how awesome the child care worker is for noticing, asking about it, then reporting it. This should be the way it works any time abuse is suspected.

What's "so awsome" about it? Isn't that protocol? What teachers (kindercare ~ HS seniors) are just supposed to do? Even in Japan? It goes without saying people-

I'd like to take a moment to express how awesome the child care worker is for noticing, asking about it, then reporting it. This should be the way it works any time abuse is suspected.

Maybe they should take a lesson from the "foreigners" and protect children instead of treating them like a burden that can be punched, kicked, choked, slashed, stabbed, locked in a rabbit cage, thrown in the garbage, etc etc that we see here far too often.

Child Protections Services (Ministry of Health, Welfare etc..), NPA, PTA and the courts need to get involved more in japan's domestic issues. The poor innocent Japanese kids (infants too) are getting thrashed almost on a daily basis throughout society.

Now with this said it does not mean that a parent should beat their child in such a way to inflict harm but that is up to each household and not foreigners opinions.

So do you think decent, upstanding Japanese people would agree that no one else should get involved in "domestic issues" like this? Or are you just trolling?

bjohnson23 What is wrong with the foreigners who want to change Japan and make us think our ways are like theirs. This is a domestic issue and the teacher had no right to interfere with parental rights.

That type of thinking leads to the nearly weekly cases we see of murder of children by parents in the news in this country. Maybe they should take a lesson from the "foreigners" and protect children instead of treating them like a burden that can be punched, kicked, choked, slashed, stabbed, locked in a rabbit cage, thrown in the garbage, etc etc that we see here far too often. The teacher was doing her job and if you fail to realize then there is a huge problem.

Hope I'm not being insensitive to the story, but Incidents like these are also anecdotal of a society under immense pressure. When animals and birds are packed in a confined space and denied basic amenities, after a while, they turn on each other. The strong attacking and feeding on the weak . May be the Japanese society is at the end of its societal tether because of that ? How come these incidents of kin-killings are so rampant ? May be the society needs a catheter.

Every time an unhappy incident like this comes up, I'm at a loss as to what to say. Because my comment can be similar to what I have already given in the same type of articles. I only pray for the healthy growth of the 5-year-old boy down the road.

I can empathize with the stress many couples feel in being saddled with children. I don't believe I could abuse a child, but my wife and I decided not to take the chance of that, or even the pain of losing so much free time in dealing with children, and sinking potentially a million dollars to raise them, when we have so little time to experience what else there is to life. The best decision we ever made was to live child free.

Well done, Akihito and Riko, well done.

Strange how shootings in the United States always seem to make the news HERE in Japan, but THIS sort of thing NEVER gets mentioned anywhere ELSE.

“Mama cut me with a kitchen knife and choked me after that. And papa kicked me.”

How sad that a child should have to say that.

What is wrong with the foreigners who want to change Japan and make us think our ways are like theirs. This is a domestic issue and the teacher had no right to interfere with parental rights. Now with this said it does not mean that a parent should beat their child in such a way to inflict harm but that is up to each household and not foreigners opinions.

“Mama cut me with a kitchen knife and choked me after that. And papa kicked me"

Well done to the boy and the teacher for reporting it!!

WTF is wrong with some people. I never even spanked my granddaughter when we were raising her, and I felt terrible after only raising my voice to her.

In the event you feel you gotta spank your kid, spank him/her the old fashioned way, not try to kill the kid! And you need to explain why what they're doing is wrong or they'll never learn. Christ. (Didn't even he say something like that?)

had their kid at 20/19 years old...

I just cant wrap my head around these stories. People abusing small children is sick. But their OWN children? That is just so far out... Are we not biologically rigged to protect them? I certainly am. My wife is. What the heck is wrong with these people??

the police should make these kinds of people's full identity public. publish their names and addresses. the masses will provide free justice. saves the government time and money!

I'm guessing the pity party is already preparing to forgive the woman and say it must be solely the man's fault, but just haven't figured out how to rationalize it yet. I just pray to god that the other usual pattern isn't followed here and the boy is simply given back to the parents, uncharged, because the welfare system doesn't know it's butt hole from a hole in the ground nor what do with either, and keep doing so until the boy is dead. TAKE HIM AWAY from the parents immediately and keep him away forever. Put BOTH parents in prison for child abuse.

Probably they want to get rid of the boy to have time for Pachinko

stupid parents---->disturbed children---->grows up---->becomes stupid parents---->repeat.

Yet another case of sadistic child abuse. I had one of my students do a research paper on child abuse in Japan last year and the results are truly shocking! There has been a surge in child abuse of over 200% in the past decade. Some could argue that this is because more cases are being reported, but the truth is, there are many more children being abused by parents in shockingly sadistic ways. The common excuse is economic stress in a tough economy, but that is only an excuse! The truth is, there is an illness in Japanese society that causes these people to carry out such sadistic acts on their children. One part of her research was to interview other students at the college about their child abuse experiences and it was no shock to learn that at least 50% of the 100 or so students she interviewed had been physically abused by their parents. One of the most common forms of abuse was being locked in cupboards or rooms and on balconies. Closely followed by being starved. There were also many incidents of physical abuse of being smacked in the head, punched, kicked and thrown to the floor. This was all in just one mid-sized private college. Her conclusion was, there is not enough love in Japan, which I think is pretty spot on!

So, let's see. They were both teenagers when the mother became pregnant. Children having children, probably with no understanding of how to raise children.

Sad, really sad.