How can you kill 7 people with a knife?
June 8th, 2008
7 die in Tokyo Stabbing spree:
A man who police said “was tired of life” drove into a crowd of pedestrians Sunday and then went on a stabbing rampage in Tokyo’s premier electronics and video game district, killing seven people and wounding 10, authorities said.
Yes, he drove a truck into a crowd, doubtlessly injuring some of them and leaving other stunned. But it seem outlandish that he was able to stab 7 people to death with a knife. This wasn’t some samurai with a sword, just a deranged lunatic with a knife of some sort.
(Qualifier: We don’t know how many of the 7 dead and 10 wounded were killed or wounded by the truck in the opening moments of the attack. Maybe he only stabbed a couple of people after driving over and killing 5. That would at least make more sense.)
Now, Japan’s gun control is among the most restrictive in the free world, so it’s not surprising that someone didn’t use firearms to defeat the attacker. But what sort of mind-set must have been present to allow this guy to do this? Were they just standing around hoping the police would show up before the slasher got to them?
We hear a lot of stories about 70-year-old WW2 vets fighting off street hoods while outnumbered three-to-one on American streets. And, no doubt, similar things happen in Japan from time to time. But I’m not aware of any mass-stabbing attacks in the US lately.
Armed with a gun, with a backpack, or with nothing, self defense is a mind-set first.
June 9th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Knives are suprisingly lethal (argueably moreso than a gun in close quarters) I think people just completely disregard them as a weapon if they’re not familiar with them because they’re outright common. It’s also a mindset to survive, and most people seemingly don’t have it, or just can’t switch into that mode when they need to. You’d think that even here in the US that it would be a little better, but apparently it’s not. Stuff like this keeps popping up, and even in this case it takes around 2 minutes for someone to respond to this raging jerk. http://www.crimefilenews.com/2008/06/hate-your-job-as-much-as-this-guy.html
June 9th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
On Steven Den Beste’s site, Toren Smith has a long and fairly disturbing commentary in comment 6 of this post. http://chizumatic.mee.nu/concealed_carry
June 10th, 2008 at 2:07 am
I think you have to visit Japan to understand how this might happen. The reason: the country is so astonishingly safe that it would never occur to you that it could happen. I live in a major US city, and visited Tokyo–and this neighborhood Akihabara–two months ago. I’ve never been around so many people, and felt so safe, in my entire life. It was very refreshing. Sure, you’re not on your guard for trouble, but guess what–you don’t need to be. So what if the Japanese are disarmed? They don’t need to be armed! I mean, look how often this sort of thing happens. Hey, I carry a pocket knife wherever I go in my city, and I have a rifle and a pistol at home. I would use any of them in a heartbeat to defend friends and family. But frankly, I’m tired of having to feel like I should be on my guard all the time. This country is adopting a culture of *the mere impression of* being besieged by violence on all levels–from terrorism to random street violence–that is not healthy for us. I love my country, but I’d also like to live in a safe one. I’d rather admire Japan’s low violence statistics than cluck about how more people should have fought back, or how they are a ‘disarmed people’. If this happened at Akihabara while I was there I probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything either. It would have been about as expected as Godzilla coming around the corner and stomping me flat. The Japanese have a good thing going, and I for one envy them for it.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:15 am
Grey is right on the money. Knives are very lethal, but are taken for granted. Also consider that there is no muzzle report when using a knife, so most of the folks around wouldn’t even know that there was a stabbing. Also note that a particularly nasty killing spree was commited with a sword - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuyama_massacre
June 10th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
kyle:
That’s utterly ridiculous. Go ahead and sit back and admire their low violence statistics. I mean, what’s a half-dozen people knifed down in broad daylight? It’s not you, and you live somewhere where you carry a pocket knife and own a rifle and pistol and would use them in a heartbeat if you had to. But by all means sit back and point out that other people shouldn’t do that sort of thing because it might mess up the statistics you admire so much. Nice.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Hey Kyle … post a photo of your rifle, sitting on today’s paper. I don’t believe you are a gun owner. Claiming to own a firearm, just before spreading victim-disarmament bullcrap is becoming standard practice for the brady bunch.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Actually, ’cause of those American WWII vets who are now kicking so much a$$, there aren’t all that many Japanese old guys running around who remember the 64 years past ‘unpleasantness’. Amazing, how sheep-like ‘civilized’ people can be…
June 11th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Kyle said ‘But frankly, I’m tired of having to feel like I should be on my guard all the time. ‘. That feeling is called adulthood. It will pass eventually and then you won’t have to worry about anything. I was in Japan in August of ‘07. Like you, I was amazed at how safe it was in general and what a pleasant place it is. I intend to go back this year and move there for a couple of years to teach English. However, Toren’s commentary is accurate in my very limited experience. Japan is quite safe…until something goes awry like happened here….or happened with the serial killers in the prison down the street from where I was staying…. at that point you are on your own and unless you are mentally prepared to deal with such a situation you will be a statistic. Japan has had a fairly low crime rate since the 1870’s but this passivity seems to be quite new, several people my age or older (I’m 38) commented on it. Akihabara is mainly frequented by young people. While a certain amount of delay due to shock and surprise is understandable, to stand by while kids are getting sliced is not something I can get my head around It is every persons responsibility to have at least a cursory preparedness for something out of the ordinary happening. Being armed, even with a leatherman, is not just for personal safety, it is good citizenship as it provides a robust safety net and deterrent. Regards Kristopher’s comment: I was in Japan, and have pictures to prove it here. http://brickmuppet.mee.nu/ageekstrollsthroughjapan.