The , also known as the Nevada-tan murder, was the murder of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, , by an 11-year-old female classmate referred to as "Girl A" (a common
placeholder name
Placeholder names are words that can refer to things or people whose names do not exist, are temporarily forgotten, are not relevant to the salient point at hand, are to avoid stigmatization, are unknowable/unpredictable in the context in wh ...
used for female criminals in
Japan). The murder occurred on June 1, 2004, at an
elementary school in the city of
Sasebo
is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...
in
Nagasaki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast.
N ...
. The murderer slit Mitarai's throat and arms with a
box cutter.
Reactions to the incident included
Internet memes and a discussion of lowering the
age of criminal responsibility in Japan. The killer's name has not been released to the press, as per
Japanese legal procedures prohibiting the identification of
juvenile offenders; The Nagasaki District Legal Affairs Bureau cautioned Internet users against revealing her photos. However, the girl's name was accidentally revealed on a
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
broadcast, and members of the Japanese Internet community
2channel
, also known as 2ch, Channel 2, and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net, was an anonymous Japanese textboard founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Described in 2007 as "Japan's most popular online community", the site had a level of influ ...
publicized her identity on June 18, 2004, based on analysis of a picture broadcast on television.
Murder
On June 1, 2004, an 11-year-old schoolgirl, later dubbed "Girl A", murdered her 12-year-old classmate, Satomi Mitarai, in an empty classroom during the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in
Sasebo
is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...
,
Nagasaki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast.
N ...
. Girl A returned to her classroom, her clothes covered in blood. The girls' teacher, who had noticed that both girls were missing, stumbled upon the body and called the police.
After being taken into custody, Girl A was reported to have confessed to the crime, saying "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police officers. She spent the night at the police station, often crying, and refusing to eat or drink. Girl A initially mentioned no motive for the killing. Shortly afterward, she confessed to police that she and Mitarai had quarreled as a result of messages left on the Internet. Girl A claimed that Mitarai
slandered her by commenting on her weight and calling her a "goody-goody".
On September 15, 2004, a
Japanese Family Court ruled to
institutionalize Girl A, putting aside her young age because of the severity of the crime. She was sent to a
reformatory
A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concern ...
in
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the ...
. The Nagasaki family court originally sentenced Girl A to two years of involuntary commitment, but the sentence was extended by two years in September 2006, following a
psychological evaluation
Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...
. On May 29, 2008, local authorities announced that they did not seek an additional sentence.
![国立きぬ川学院](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/%E5%9B%BD%E7%AB%8B%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AC%E5%B7%9D%E5%AD%A6%E9%99%A2.png)
Because of her issues with communication and obsessive interests, Girl A was diagnosed after the murder with
Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of beha ...
.
Reaction
The killing provoked a debate in Japan whether the
age of criminal responsibility, lowered from 16 to 14 in 2000 due to the 1997
Kobe child murders
The occurred in Suma, Kobe, Japan, on March 16 and May 27, 1997. Two victims, , aged 10, and , aged 11, were murdered by a 14-year-old boy reportedly named , under the alias .
The perpetrator was arrested on June28, 1997 in connection with the ...
, needed to be lowered again. Girl A was considered to be a normal and well-adjusted child before the incident, which made the public more anxious.
Members of the
Japanese Diet
The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a parall ...
, such as
Kiichi Inoue and
Sadakazu Tanigaki
is a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2016, as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006, as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2009 to 2012, as Minist ...
, came under criticism for comments made in the wake of the killing. Inoue was criticized for referring to Girl A as ''genki'' (vigorous, lively), a word with positive connotations. Tanigaki was criticized for referring to the method of killing, slitting of the throat, as a "manly" act.
Girl A became the subject of an
Internet meme on Japanese web communities such as
2channel
, also known as 2ch, Channel 2, and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net, was an anonymous Japanese textboard founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Described in 2007 as "Japan's most popular online community", the site had a level of influ ...
. She was nicknamed "Nevada-tan" because a class photograph showed a young girl believed to be her wearing a
University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...
sweatshirt, with "-tan" being a childlike pronunciation of the
Japanese honorific
The Japanese language makes use of a system of honorific speech, called , which includes honorific suffixes and prefixes when referring to others in a conversation. Suffixes are often gender-specific at the end of names, while prefixes are att ...
suffix "-chan," generally used to refer to young girls.
Akio Mori
is a Japanese physiologist, sports scientist and writer. He is also the founder and the former head of the Japanese learned society .
Mori was originally known for his physiology researches, but began to write books about human neuroscience, ...
cited this case in support of his controversial "
game brain" theory, which has been criticized as
pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...
. Girl A was reported to be a fan of the death-themed
flash animation
Adobe Flash animation or Adobe Flash cartoon (formerly Macromedia Flash animation, Macromedia Flash cartoon, FutureSplash animation, and FutureSplash cartoon) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) p ...
"
Red Room", a claim used in support of the theory. It was also known that Girl A had read the controversial novel ''
Battle Royale'' and had seen its
film adaptation, which centers on young students fighting to the death.
On March 18, 2005, during the Okubo Elementary
graduation ceremony, students were given a graduation album with a blank page in honor of Mitarai's death on which they could put pictures of Mitarai, Girl A, or class pictures containing both girls. Mitarai was posthumously awarded a graduation certificate, which her father accepted on her behalf. Girl A was also awarded a certificate, as one is required in Japan in order to enter a
junior high school and the school believed it would aid her "reintegration into society".
See also
*
Sasebo schoolgirl murder Sasebo schoolgirl murder may refer to:
* Murder of Aiwa Matsuo in 2014
* Killing of Satomi Mitarai in 2004
{{disambiguation ...
, a 2014 murder in Sasebo.
References
External links
"Japan schoolgirl killer 'sorry–
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, June 3, 2004
"現代リスクの基礎知識 第62回〜長崎佐世保女児同級生殺害事件"–
Nikkei Business Publications
, commonly known as , is a book and magazine publisher based in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established as , a joint venture of Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) and McGraw-Hill in 1969, and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nikkei in 1988.
Nik ...
June 10, 2004 article on the murder
{{Authority control
2004 murders in Japan
Murder committed by minors
Sasebo
June 2004 events in Japan
Incidents of violence against girls