page_title: Sasebo slashing
section_title: Murder
hierarchical_section_title: Sasebo slashing / Murder
caption_attribution_description: English: Okubo Elementary School (Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan) 日本語: 佐世保市立大久保小学校（長崎県佐世保市、2011年3月）
context_page_description: The "Sasebo slashing" was the murder of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, Satomi Mitarai, by an 11-year-old female classmate referred to as "Girl A". The murder occurred on June 1, 2004, at an elementary school in the city of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture. The murderer slit Mitarai's throat and arms with a box cutter.
  Reactions to the incident included Internet memes and a discussion of lowering the age of criminal responsibility in Japan. The killer's real name has not been released to the press, as per Japanese legal procedures prohibiting the identification of juvenile offenders. Japanese police referred to her as Girl A. The Nagasaki District Legal Affairs Bureau cautioned Internet users against revealing her photos. However, the girl's real name was accidentally revealed on a Fuji TV broadcast and members of Japanese internet community 2channel further publicized her identity on June 18, 2004, based on analysis of a picture broadcast on television.
context_section_description: On June 1, 2004, an 11-year-old schoolgirl, later dubbed "Girl A", murdered her 12-year-old classmate, Satomi Mitarai, in an empty classroom during the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. Girl A then left Mitarai's body and returned to her own classroom, her clothes covered in blood. The girls' teacher, who had noticed that both girls were missing, stumbled upon the body and called the police.
  After being taken into custody, Girl A was reported to have confessed to the crime, saying "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police. She spent the night at the police station, often crying, and refused to eat snacks she was offered. Girl A initially mentioned no motive for the killing. Shortly afterward, she confessed to police that she and Mitarai had quarreled as a result of messages left on the Internet. Girl A claimed that Mitarai slandered her by commenting on her weight and calling her a "goody-goody".
  On September 15, 2004, a Japanese Family Court ruled to institutionalize Girl A, putting aside her young age because of the severity of the crime. She was sent to a reformatory in Tochigi Prefecture. The Nagasaki family court originally sentenced Girl A to two years of involuntary commitment, but the sentence was extended by two years in September 2006, following a psychological evaluation. On May 29, 2008, local authorities announced that they did not seek an additional sentence.
  Because of issues with communication ability and obsessive interests, Girl A was diagnosed after the murder with Asperger syndrome.
caption: Okubo Elementary School where the incident took place
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