Nineteen feared dead in Japan After Knife Attack

[Aspie_Gamer]

Omigosh! We never hear about anything that bad coming out of Japan aside from the 2011 earthquake. I don't think anybody will make that comment, but if anybody does, Number 1, guns I hear are strictly controlled in Japan and Number 2, Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Compare that to America where every week you hear about yet another mass shooting or gun related death. i.e the recent cop killings here in the States.

EDIT: For better context, the killer knifed 19 physically disabled people which is why the number is so high.

EDIT 2: Thanks to @heterodont for informing me about how gun laws in the land of the rising sun actually work.

EDIT 3: For anybody who feels this is out of place for a Tapastic topic, I posted this not to gain attention, but because 1. its shocking to hear something as disgusting as this and it not taking place somewhere in America for once. and 2. because Asperger's/Autism technically qualifies as a mental disability, it disgusts me all the more that somebody would have that big a chip on their shoulder towards people who didn't ask to be physically or mentally disabled.

News article link

[shatterjure]

19 people dead from a KNIFE ATTACK!?
That's one skilled killer xD

But in all seriousness, if this was a terrorist attack, this would be the third one this week O_O

[carloswebcomic]

19 people dead from a KNIFE ATTACK!?That's one skilled killer xD

It was a home for disabled people. It's not like they could get up and run.
Worst case scenario, hence the high number of deaths.

[shatterjure]

Oh, i didn't read that part. (i ussualy just read the title)
Welp sounds horrid I_I

[Mharz]

This is news is so terrible and the fact that the killer said he wanted "to get rid of the disabled" makes it worst.

[Kayke]

My thoughts and heart go out to the victims and their families.
Let's be sure to keep the comments respectful of the situation.

[heterodont]

Guns are actually extremely difficult to get in Japan, you're only allowed to use one type of gun and you're only allowed to use them for hunting for sport. Rigorous tests as well as passing a written test that only happens once every month - and once you get the license, you have to store the bullets separately from the gun itself as well as give the police detailed information of where the bullets and gun are stored.

Besides that, this is really heartbreaking :(! It's sad to hear that people still think people who are disabled can't live lives like the rest of the population and either think that they're either lesser than everyone else or that they're suffering.

[SpavVy]

They stabbed 19 disabled people?! What the Hell!

[mariusthered]

everyday a little bit of my soul dies, humans have never been nice to one another but lately it just seems the whole planet is going crazy. it's bad enough to end up disabled and have to live with those struggles and added problems, but then to be killed this way , it's beyond comprehension

[Simon_M]

Yeah, I don't know what's going on but these days seems like a miracle when we have two days without horrible news. May them rest in peace.

[AliceHoffmannArt]

Yes, the keywords here are "seem" and "news".

Nowadays due to the increase of media reportage, the near immediate updates on crimes, everything seems so much nearer and more intense. This in turn makes it easy to fear that the next terrorism attack is at one's doorstep and that the world is ready for the apocalypse. Apparently for example in Europe the total amount of terrorism deaths even got lower over the last twenty years, even if we hear about atrocious attacks every day now: http://www.watson.ch/imgdb/0c5f/Qx,A,0,0,610,475,254,197,101,79/8792843570406995

This doesn't make the crimes any less awful of course but it is important to remember that life goes on. It's best to stay strong and not let fear rule.
So please everyone, don't let parts of your souls die, but rather be the rock that holds against the deeds of lost ones.
I think we can get there eventually even if that's naive.

[Gaspode12]

Truly horrible news 🙁

[zetina]

...Ok but why did I need to know about this? Horrific things are happening 24/7. Anyone wanna report on some good news maybe? Something informative? I saw a tumblr post compiling a ton of news from 2016 that were good. Advancements in medicine, good deeds and so on. I should find that post later.

Point is, humans latch onto negatives because self-preservation instincts/caution and the media uses that. Most of the time it's all about shocking people. The world isn't getting any worse - we get information way faster and from way more places and in way bigger quantities.

I don't mean to come across as insensitive... But I'm just confused by why this topic exists.

[Heck]

It's not like there are more murders, there's just more media. I think it's also important to note that the facility he attacked was his former place of work, suggesting had likely been set off by something in the workplace (This is not to say he wasn't under any influence or in a healthy state). Certainly guns make it much easier for this type of attacker to commit this sort of crime, however I do not think Japan's crime rate reflects the amount of people who would commit mass murders if they had the means. That number is likely close worldwide. Comparing Japan's low crime rate to Americas high mass murder rate is the exact type of wording that insinuates panic. This is for the same reason that you can't just lump terrorist attackers with murderers, serial killers, and spree-killers. These are extremely different types of crimes (which are collectively at an all-time low). While in Japan there may be very low homicide and theft rates, suicide and sexual assault rates are at an all time high -- it would not be accurate to then compare that rating to America's in order to imply that one country is safer than another. So I don't know what else there is to draw from this comparison.

[keii4ii]

Some people are deeply affected by what's going on, and I don't see anything wrong with wanting to talk about it with fellow creators.

It's one thing to remind people that the world isn't getting worse, that there's plenty of positive things happening. But let's not make people feel bad for talking about what they want to talk about. It's not like we have a rule saying "don't talk about tragic news reports."

I mean, I'd be bothered if people were just using the forums as a news dumping ground (that kinda seems like... taking advantage of real life tragedies to get attention or something?), but I don't think that's the case here.

[zetina]

Yeah, I understand that. Really, I do! Same as I can understand broaching a heavy topic to a stranger (what was it... was it just called the stranger effect? the bus effect?). But at the same time I can't help but think "why". Can't put my finger on what is so... puzzling. I guess in my mind, It would make more sense to talk about news that have affected you with your friends. Or, like, if the event brought some specific thoughts for the op to discuss and build on that would be particular to a forum for comic creators and readers... I kind of expected the topic to then go on to be about how we portray tragic events and mass-murder in our stories, for example. I guess the topic just felt really out of place to me <'D

[keii4ii]

There have been plenty of other non-comic topics, so why not this one?

Then there's the fact that some people don't see this community as a place full of strangers. They may feel it offers them just the right balance of camaraderie and distance to feel comfortable talking about this type of stuff.

I kind of expected the topic to then go on to be about how we portray tragic events and mass-murder in our stories, for example.

That honestly might have bothered me, because it kinda feels like taking advantage of a tragedy to get attention XD; (unless it was specifically about how to portray such events without seeming insensitive?)

[acealmansoori]

My heart goes to the victims and their families.

[Aspie_Gamer]

@Savannah My thoughts exactly.

@aronthemason Agreed. The world is shitty enough. People like that guy don't need to add to it.

@zetina Relax. You didn't offend. I posted this because its rare to hear about a mass killing in a country where crime rates are far, far lower than the United States where at least once a month, the news is all over some lunatic who shot up a public venue be it the Orlando shooter at that LGBT nightclub here recently or even the news of cops being picked off at random all across the country in response to those dirty cops who shot and killed an innocent black man in Louisiana not even bothering to talk to him much less arrest him so he could be brought in for questioning even though again, he wasn't technically doing anything wrong, some homeless guy merely thought he was.

[demthorshie]

This story personally hits home for me. Being that my fiance is disabled, it really struck a chord with me when I first found out about it. I don't really have much else to say about this other than I pray for the families of the victims.