Shadow over the land of the rising sun

Shadow over the land of the rising sun

The newest converts to crime in Japan are adolescents for whom killing is a dangerous, new experience.SUNETRA CHOUDHURY reportsA lively discussion amongst a group of Japanese teenagers last month on national television had an interesting theme. They were discussing why it was wrong to kill somebody. A number of them said that they couldn't understand why it was wrong. There was only one participant who wept uncontrollably because her brother was terminally ill and she could understand the value of life.

Surprising? Not so for Japanese society, which, in the recent past, has witnessed a number of cases which indicate a dangerous trend among the youth. According to leading psychologists and education critics, there is a whole generation of Japanese youth who are potentially dangerous criminals. The Japanese government recently even formed a Youth Crime Council, the first meeting of which was held in the end of May.

The situation got highlighted in the past month with some chilling incidents of murder and extortion: On May 1, a 17-year-old killed a 64-year-old housewife in Toyokawa city. The boy reportedly told the police that he wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.

On May 3, a 17-year-old in Saga hijacked a bus headed towards Fukuoka. He held the 21 passengers hostage with a 30 cm-long knife and eventually stabbed a woman to death, also injuring four others. There are other instances, of 10 teenagers in Nagoya who extorted 50 million yen from a classmate, of a 21-year-old killing a seven-year old in a Kyoto elementary school.

According to psychologist and educationist Naoki Ogi, this is a phenomenon new to Japenese society. Going by statistics compiled by the police, such crimes are on the rise.

The authorities also seem clueless about what has brought about this spurt of juvenile crimes. According to Koki Kirihara, deputy director in the Youth division of the Japan Police, ``Many juvenile offenders don't feel guilty over their actions. They do not exhibit sorrow for their victims or regret their deeds.'' Thus, the police concentrate on making the offenders aware of the pain of victims. Japanese law restricts the arrest of juveniles (under 19), so offenders are referred to family courts or in extreme cases, they may be sent to reform schools.

Naoki Ogi tried to explain what may have led to this dangerous trend. ``Most of the offenders were born in the early 80s, a period of rapid economic growth and social changes. The corruption among civil servants, moral hazards and the bursting of the bubble economy led to disillusionment,'' he observed.

Referring to the case of the 17-year-old killing the housewife, Ogi said that the offender had been brought up by a pushy grandfather. The grandfather's strictness fostered so much hatred in the teenager that he felt that he had to kill another old person to `get back'.

``Most of the offenders are adolescents who lack identity and do not even experience the natural process of rebellion,'' said Ogi. The crimes seem to be committed by youth who are academically sound and otherwise known as ``good boys''.

Ogi also theorised that the crime rate has much to do with Japan's pattern of economic development. ``The progress of Japan has created what I call `hotel families'. They live in nuclear families where they have their own rooms with their own TVs and their own cellular phones,'' said Ogi. He cited a recent study that indicated that 51 per cent of elementary school children eat alone. ``All this leads to isolation,'' he said.

Kirihara corroborated Ogi's statements. ``Earlier, there was pressure to stop juvenile crime. If a young person was seen smoking or drinking on the streets, he or she would be reprimanded by older people. Now, this is not so.''

Whatever the reasons, the situation is grim. According to Ogi, there is a whole generation of 16 and 17 year-olds who are potential criminals, and one can only expect a spurt in such crimes in the future. And there are no easy solutions. ``Some are of the view that the offenders should be given serious punishments, and even the death sentence should be initiated,'' said Ogi. ``I do not think that death is a deterrent, since most of the offenders in these crimes are suicidal anyway.''

The Education Ministry Council, which has 35 members including experts on education and psychology as well as officials of the National Police Agency and the health, welfare and justice ministries, is slated to compile a report by next March. The nation awaits a solution.(Sunetra Choudhury was in Japan for a two-week fellowship programme sponsored by the Foreign Press Centre).