Yoichi Akashi, a Chiba University professor of educational sociology, notes that young people today are capable of atrocious acts of mental and physical violence. High schools do little more than force-feed facts to students and subject them to countless rules and tests. Those who excel are best prepared to pass stringent entrance examinations to prestigious universities, still the main route to choice jobs in government and large companies. At home, there is little family life to speak of, with a father always at work and children attending after-school cram centers. So we have many seemingly normal children who are withdrawn, violent or afraid of school.
Crime statistics paint a complex picture.
In the 1950s, half of all juvenile offenders were from poor or broken homes, while today nine out of ten come from middle-class families. In the wake of the Kobe incident, politicians are discussing tougher censorship rules for horror video sales and rentals. Others want a review of the Juvenile Law. Currently, offenders under the age of 16 cannot be jailed and their cases must be tried in a family court. If the Kobe suspect is found guilty, the stiffest punishment he would face is a three-year stint in a reformatory.