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Weekend crowds return to Akihabara, one week after massacre

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Akihabara mourned on Sunday with flowers and comic books one week after a man killed seven people in a stabbing frenzy that stunned the nation. Weekend crowds returned to Akihabara, with shoppers seeking out the latest electronics products and kitsch costumes, while others watched demonstrations of robots and tried state-of-art video games.

At a makeshift shrine, however, mourners placed flowers, drinks and comic magazines, pressing their hands in prayer to mark the exact moment of the tragedy at 12:30 pm a week ago.

"We should never forget the tragedy. We should never let it happen again," said Mai Shimada, a 16-year-old high school student dressed in a maid's costume.

"Akihabara is a cheerful place. Sadness and the police aren't suited to Akihabara," Shimada said. "While keeping the tragedy in mind, we want to encourage the area to return to what it used to be."

In a change aimed at ensuring safety, authorities on Sunday kept Akihabara open to traffic with 100 uniformed police officers patrolling to stop possible copycat crimes.

"I'm still afraid as there are rumors that some people are planning to commit a similar attack," said Shu Sawada, a 17-year-old student. "I think it will take some time for people to get rid of their concerns."

© Wire reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

7 Comments
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Merely one week on, the otakus are back to window shopping Higurashi character merchandise

NIpaaaah!

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Regrettably, in another week it will be forgotten about, as another incident somewhere else in Japan will capture the media's attention, leaving those affected by it to carry on with little to no support.

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People carry on with life. They have to.

Look the reason people are snapping and killing people is that they have no lives that they are invested in. At least the Otaku shopping in Akiba are invested in something and that means, like what they do or not, that they have lives that they are living.

We do ourselves and those who died a disservice by crawling under shelter and undermining the things that make Tokyo, Tokyo. I am happy to see that people came back a week later. We should not let the darkness in this world overcome normal life. We have to get up and carry on.

As for remembering what happened. It is not enough to remember. We must pressure the nation to do something about this growing problem. If they do not address the root causes, it will happen again. Bank on it. So do your part and speak out about improved mental health care, addressing the growing problem of people who have no chance to have viable stable employment, finding ways to reach out to and engage the alienated and lonely in this society. A lot of hard work that must be done.

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"Weekend crowds return to Akihabara, one week after massacre"

So what? Why wouldnt they?

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Regrettably, in another week it will be forgotten about, as another incident somewhere else in Japan will capture the media's attention, leaving those affected by it to carry on with little to no support.

I am not sure I understand...Are you somehow claiming that Japanese are more shallow than other countries and forget things like this more quickly? If so, I disagree strongly. People still talk about the sarin gas attacks in Tokyo and other violent acts.

Don't mistake people going on with their lives with 'forgetting'.

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I hope no one is insinuating that returning is disrespectful. Life is meant to be lived, and no one has forgotten. We all deal with pain and grief differently, and it is better to continue enjoying what made akihabara special than to cower in fear IMHO.

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it's great to see the resiliency of the otaku world. Akiba can come off from this incidence to really become the electronic city of the world.

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