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John Lindsey
5th March 2004, 14:05
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040305p2a00m0dm013000c.html

SAITAMA -- A junior high school student who thrust a Japanese-style sword at his classmate, resulting in the boy being injured was detained Friday, police said.

The first-year student hit his friend on the shoulder and palm with back of the sword at about 8 a.m. in their classroom in Omiya, Saitama Prefecture.

When the friend grabbed the edge of the sword with his left hand, he slightly injured his fingers and the palm of his hand.

The sword-wielding student, 13, whose name is being withheld under law, was also mildly injured when he quarreled with other students, Omiya Police Station officers said.

Teachers rushed to the classroom after hearing of the incident, to find the student had dropped his sword on the floor.

Police later reported the case to the city's child consultation center."I took the sword from home. I planned to kill some kids who had been bulling me," officers quoted the boy as saying.

Six classmates had reportedly made fun of the boy on Thursday, saying he looked like a video game character.

When he arrived at the classroom Friday, the boy saw three of his tormentors laughing and brandished the sword at them.

The unnamed principal of the school said he had not heard of any bullying."I haven't been informed of any such abuse," the principal said. "I want the entire school staff to educate their students about the value of life." (Mainichi and wire reports, Japan, March 5, 2004)

David T Anderson
5th March 2004, 19:12
Some of the kids who bring weapons to school are little freakin' psychos, but many times more of them are ones who have been bullied or tormented beyond endurance under the blind or incompetent eyes of teachers and school administrators.

If adults in the workplace experienced one tenth the crap and abuse schoolkids have to put up with, there would be a stream of criminal charges and lawsuits that would never end...

Jock Armstrong
6th March 2004, 07:51
Bullying is endemic in Japanese schools [in some areas]. I've heard of 13/14 year olds committing suicide over it. At least this little fella had the balls to fight back. I've noticed in Japan its always a large group against one- logically a weapon is the go. Since school boards and many principals simply ignore the issue, it does not get better. Unfortunately the whole social system here seems to be built on a "bully" mentality.

Exorcist_Fist
7th March 2004, 09:08
I can certainly testify that inside Japanese companies, it is definitely "Management by Bully".

pacman2323
7th March 2004, 19:26
Omiya! I use to go to highschool in omiya.

When the friend grabbed the edge of the sword with his left hand, he slightly injured his fingers and the palm of his hand when trying to grab a sword this happens!:p

-chi jonesone

Brett Charvat
10th March 2004, 02:16
"Six classmates had reportedly made fun of the boy on Thursday, saying he looked like a video game character."

--I teach at a chugakko (junior high school) in Kumamoto, and my students would be thrilled to look like a video game character! They are constantly attempting to mimic popular manga and game characters with their hairstyle and clothes. I guess it depends on what character he looked like. On a serious note, though, bullying here seems to go amazingly unchecked. My school is relatively small and quiet, but we still have our moments. I always try to stop bullying when I see it, but I have been actively discouraged from such behavior by my school's principal. He seems to be of the opinion that the students should be left to deal with it themselves. Yeah, it seems like that approach is working really well (see original article). Amazing.


Brett Charvat