The Osaka school massacre was a

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

that occurred at Ikeda Elementary School in

Ikeda Ikeda may refer to: * Ikeda (surname), a Japanese surname * Ikeda (comics), a character in ''Usagi Yojimbo'' * Ikeda clan, a Japanese clan * Ikeda map, chaotic attractor * ''Ikeda'' (annelid) a genus of the family Ikedidae Places * Ikeda, Osaka i ...

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nar ...

, Japan on 8 June 2001, in which

Mamoru Takuma was a Japanese mass murderer who killed eight children in the Osaka school massacre in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, on 8 June 2001. Takuma had a long history of mentally disturbed and anti-social behaviour, and an extensive criminal record includin ...

, a 37-year-old

ex-convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

with a history of

mentally disturbed A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

and anti-social behavior, stabbed eight students to death and seriously wounded fifteen others in a knife attack that lasted several minutes. Takuma was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in August 2003 and executed in September 2004.

Background

was a 37-year-old

from

Itami 270px, Gogadzuka Kofun 270px, Aerial view of Itami city center 270px, Konoike inari shihi 270px, Arioka Castle ruins ) is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83580 households and a ...

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

, who had a long history of

and anti-social behavior since childhood, and an extensive

criminal record A criminal record, police record, or colloquially RAP sheet (Record of Arrests and Prosecutions) is a record of a person's criminal history. The information included in a criminal record and the existence of a criminal record varies between coun ...

that included a conviction for

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

. As a teenager, Takuma's volatile behavior led to him being kicked out of school and his father eventually

disowning Disownment occurs when a parent renounces or no longer accepts a child as a family member, usually due to reprehensible actions leading to serious emotional consequences. Different from giving a child up for adoption, it is a social and interpers ...

him. After being released from prison in 1989, Takuma moved to the nearby city of

, working various part-time jobs in the area but often being fired for erratic or violent behavior. In 1999, he was detained at a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

while working as a

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

at Itami City Ikejiri Elementary after slipping his

temazepam Temazepam (sold under the brand names Restoril among others) is a medication of the benzodiazepine class which is generally used to treat severe or debilitating insomnia. It is taken by mouth. Temazepam is rapidly absorbed, and significant hyp ...

into tea he served in a teachers' room at the school, resulting in staff being hospitalized. Takuma attempted

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

at the psychiatric hospital, but was soon determined as fit to be released. In October 2000, Takuma was charged for assaulting a

bellhop A bellhop (North America), or hotel porter (carrier), porter (international), is a hotel employee who helps patrons with their luggage while check-in, checking in or out. Bellhops often wear a uniform (see bell-boy hat), like certain other Page (a ...

while working as a taxi driver in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

Attack

On 8 June 2001, at 10:15 a.m. local time, Takuma entered the elite Ikeda Elementary School, which was affiliated with

Osaka Kyoiku University is a national university with headquarters in the city of Kashiwara, Osaka, Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture, Japan and a branch campus in Tennōji-ku, Osaka, Tennōji-ku in the prefectural capital city of Osaka. It was established in 1949 by the mer ...

. Armed with a

kitchen knife A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives – notably a large chef's knife, a tough cleaver, a small paring knife and some sort of ...

, he began stabbing school children and teachers at random, killing eight students aged between seven and eight, and seriously wounded thirteen other children and two teachers. Takuma was wrestled into submission by several staff members after a few minutes of rampaging, and began ranting incoherent statements. Takuma had committed the massacre the day of his court hearing for assaulting the bellhop in October 2000.

Fatalities

All of the victims were female second-graders except for one first-grade boy. *Yuki Hongo (本郷優希 ''Hongō Yūki'') *Mayuko Isaka (猪阪真宥子 ''Isaka Mayuko'') *Yuuka Kiso (木曽友香 ''Kiso Yūka'') *Ayano Moriwaki (森脇綾乃 ''Moriwaki Ayano'') *Maki Sakai (酒井麻希 ''Sakai Maki'') *Takahiro Totsuka (戸塚健大 ''Totsuka Takahiro'') (the only boy to die in the attack)Japan mourns school victims
"

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. June 10, 2001. Retrieved on February 5, 2010. *Hana Tsukamoto (塚本花菜 ''Tsukamoto Hana'') *Rena Yamashita (山下玲奈 ''Yamashita Rena'')

Aftermath

Takuma was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder. He was later convicted and

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

; he was executed on September 14, 2004. The attack is currently the sixth largest

, along with the Matsumoto incident, in recent Japanese history, exceeded in fatalities only by the Tokyo subway sarin attack, the Osaka movie theater fire, the

Sagamihara stabbings The Sagamihara stabbings were committed on 26 July 2016 in Midori Ward, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. Nineteen people were killed and twenty-six others were injured, thirteen severely, at a care home for disabled people. The crimes were committe ...

, Kyoto Animation arson attack, and the Myojo 56 building fire. At the time, it was tied with the Matsumoto sarin attack as the second deadliest, behind the Tokyo subway sarin attack. The incident set itself apart, however, by the age of the victims, its venue (a school), and the perpetrator's history of

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

. Because of these factors, the attack raised questions about Japan's social policies for dealing with mental illness, the rights of victims and criminals, and the accessibility and security of Japanese schools. After the attack, Yoshio Yamane, the principal administrator of the school, announced that it would bring in a security guard, an at-the-time unheard-of practice at Japanese schools. Additionally,

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

artist

Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...

rearranged her song "Distance" in honor of Rena Yamashita, one of the murdered schoolgirls (because of an essay contest the girl had won, talking about how she respected and wanted to be like Hikaru), renaming it "

Final Distance "Final Distance" is a song by Japanese recording artist Hikaru Utada for her third studio album '' Deep River'' (2002). Written by Utada herself, the song was produced and composed by long-time collaborators Akira Miyake, Utada's father Teruzane Ut ...

". Some children, faculty and parents developed

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...

(PTSD).

References

External links