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Akihabara rampage suspect left running commentary of fatal day on mobile web site PDF Print E-mail
Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Accused mass murderer Tomohiro Kato flooded mobile phone bulletin board Kyukyoku Koryu Keijiban with messages before he unleashed havoc on the streets of Tokyo's Akihabara district on Sunday, allegedly killing seven people.

Kyukai, as the site is generally referred to, is filled with all sorts of threads.

On Sunday, Kato announced that he would launch the random attack in a thread he apparently opened under the title, "I'm going to Akihabara now to kill people." Accesses to the thread have been restricted since the deaths on Sunday.

"His posts are an expression of wanting someone to take notice of him," Yukiko Nishihara, founder of the Tokyo Suicide Prevention Center, says.

Was 25-year-old Kato really hoping for that? On May 19, Kato started a thread on the same site under the headline: "I can't make friends." The thread was filled with posts believed to have been made by Kato in which he told of his frustration at his job and anxiety about the future. At first, there were responses from people saying they would seriously become his friend. Until Sunday, the thread had attracted about 3,000 replies, but as Kato began posting messages like "there's no benefit whatsoever in becoming my friend," people began to desert the thread.

Kato's chilling forecast -- he used the site to give a virtual commentary of what he was doing -- did not attract posts from any other users.

Kato's main posts on Kyukai on Sunday were:

5:21 a.m.

I'm going to Akihabara now to kill people. I'll drive into them and when I can't use the car anymore, I'll stab them. Goodbye everyone.

5:44 a.m.

I wonder if getting caught on the way would be the worst way?

6:02 a.m.

I'm used to pretending to be a good person. I can pull the wool over everyone's eyes.

6:03 a.m.

Adults used to tell me I was a good kid. I can't make friends with adults.

6:04 a.m.

There's only a few, but there are some people who've been with me for a long time.

6:05 a.m.

Everyone sent me mail together. I'm glad I'm still part of it.

6:10 a.m.

The road I wanted to use is closed. I knew it, everything is going against me.

6:31 a.m.

It's time to go.

7:12 a.m.

I got on the first train.

7:30 a.m.

This is really awful rain. And I had planned everything perfectly.

7:47 a.m.

Oh, well. I'll go ahead with it anyway, even if it is raining.

10:53 a.m.

This is an awful traffic jam. I wonder if I'll make it on time.

11:17 a.m.

It's nice weather here.

11:45 a.m.

I've arrived in Akihabara.

12:10 p.m.

It's time.

Mainichi News Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.
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