Nevada-tan

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Nevada-tan (NEVADAたん or ネバダたん Nebada-tan?) is the name commonly used to describe an 11-year-old Japanese schoolgirl who was charged with murdering her classmate Satomi Mitarai (御手洗 怜美 Mitarai Satomi?). The murder occurred on June 1, 2004 at an elementary school in Sasebo, Nagasaki, and involved the slitting of Mitarai's throat and arms with a retractable knife. It has come to be known as the "Sasebo Slashing". The un-named killer has since become an Internet meme cartoon character.

The cartoon began to appear on the Internet shortly after images of the suspected murderer were published showing her wearing a pullover hooded sweatshirt with the word "NEVADA" emblazoned across the chest (the "-tan" suffix is a variation on "-chan", a children's honorific, while the sweatshirt is commonly worn by fans of the University of Nevada and its sports teams). Her real name has not been released to the press, as per Japanese legal procedures prohibiting the identification of juvenile offenders, and she is officially referred to as "Girl A" in Japanese legal documentation. However, members of Japanese internet community 2channel made public her real name on June 18, 2004 based on analysis of a picture broadcast on Japanese television; the broadcaster, Fuji Television, may have inadvertently done this as well.[1]

Contents

[edit] The "Sasebo Slashing"

The 11-year-old schoolgirl murdered her 12-year-old classmate, Satomi Mitarai, in an empty classroom during the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo. "Girl A" left Mitarai's body at the murder scene and returned to her own classroom, her clothes covered in blood. The girls' teacher, who had noticed that both were missing, found the body and called the police.

After being taken into custody, "Girl A" was reported as confessing to the crime, saying "I have done a bad thing" and "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police, though she initially gave no motive for the killing. Shortly afterward, "Girl A" confessed to police that she and Mitarai had fallen out as a result of messages left on the Internet.[2]

Satomi Mitarai, 12, was slashed to death by a classmate.
Enlarge
Satomi Mitarai, 12, was slashed to death by a classmate.

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. [1] "Girl A" was sent to a reformatory in Tochigi prefecture; coincidentally, six months before, the same reformatory had released the (at the time) teenage killer known as Sakakibara.

[edit] Analysis of "Girl A"

While news reports state that there were negative comments left on "Girl A"'s website by Mitarai (specifically that she was "heavy," i.e., overweight) which may have been the immediate motive for the murder, investigation has shed more light on the issue. A police psychologist stated that "Girl A" was not mentally ill, and already had a history of violent incidents, from punching and kicking other classmates, to an issue with a knife the month before the murder.

There is some public speculation that "Girl A" may be suffering from (and does fit some of the classic symptoms of) hikikomori syndrome, but as of the present, no medical examiners have declared such. "Girl A" was also showing signs of withdrawing from social life, including quitting clubs, although she continued to play physical sports, particularly basketball, until shortly before the incident.[3]

It appears that "Girl A" was heavily influenced by some of the more visceral aspects of Internet culture. An analysis of the case states that she "was a girl fascinated with urban legend, internet subculture, even going as far as guro. From her site she had linked shock flash movies and bizarre ASCII movies that would unnerve even the most hardened internet warriors."[4] Her website showcased her interests, which included fanfiction about her favourite film, Battle Royale, and strange "recipes" (with names like "Curse of the Purple Skull" and "Demonic Art"). A particularly strong influence was the "Red Room" horror flash video, around which she based the site's design.

[edit] Aftermath of the "Girl A" incident

The murder sparked an ongoing debate in Japan about whether the age of criminal responsibility, shifted from 16 to 14 in 2000 due to the 1997 Sakakibara murders in Kobe, needed to be shifted again.[5] It also raised questions regarding the exposure of young children to the Internet, and the effect of the Internet and hikikomori subculture on youth in Japan.

Members of the Japanese Diet came under heavy criticism for comments made in the wake of the killing, such as then-Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki claiming that the throat cutting was a "manly" crime.[6]

A Battle Royale fansite reported that the creators of the sequel postponed the release of the DVD (originally scheduled for June 9, 2004, a week after the killing) to later that year due to "current events."[7]

In the March 18, 2005 Okubo Elementary graduation, students were given a graduation album with a blank page, should the students decide to place pictures of Mitarai and "Girl A," or class pictures containing both, on them. The school announced that photos would be made available upon request. The photos were taken securely to the school, and destroyed after prints were made; there was some speculation that this was due to "Girl A"'s Internet fame as Nevada.[8]

[edit] "Girl A"'s Internet popularity

For reasons not fully determined, the Japanese web communities, primarily Futaba Channel and 2channel, fixated on this story and "adopted" the girl. Her personal website's popularity suddenly rocketed, and when it was taken down, mirrors were established. Copies of her artwork began circulating around the web, with other artists creating variations on the originals. Fan songs, such as "Cutie NeVaDa" appeared. In June 2005, the online store that sold the University of Nevada hooded sweatshirt reported it to be their best-selling item in the site's online statistics; a few weeks later, the University temporarily removed the sweatshirt from their catalog. Cosplayers created "Girl A" costumes. Artists on 2channel soon turned "Girl A" into a cute "chibified" (super-deformed) character dubbed "Nevada-tan."

The Nevada-tan character is often depicted with short brown hair, the trademark pullover, and a crazed, murderous smile. She is rarely seen without a box cutter or other sharp implement nearby. A common representation of Nevada-tan is as ASCII art, similar to Giko, Mona, etc.[9] She is often depicted as slashing idiotic posters on the 2channel boards. Inevitably, this spilled over into 4chan and from there to other English language imageboards, introducing Nevada-tan to the United States and the rest of the world.

[edit] Other references in popular culture

Australian band Love Outside Andromeda wrote a song about the incident, entitled Boxcutter, Baby.

[edit] References

  1. ^ フジテレビがネバダの本名を暴露?. Retrieved on 2006-03-25.
  2. ^ Japan in shock at school murder. BBC News (2 June 2004). Retrieved on 2006-03-25.
  3. ^ Faiola, Anthony (August 9 2004). "Youth Violence Has Japan Struggling for Answers - 11-Year-Old's Killing of Classmate Puts Spotlight on Sudden Acts of Rage". Washington Post Foreign Service: A01.
  4. ^ NEVADA. Retrieved on 2006-03-25.
  5. ^ Watson, Nicholas (June 21, 2004). Violent crime prompts debate over age of legal responsibility in Japan. Publique!. Retrieved on 2006-03-25.
  6. ^ Article not found. Retrieved on 2006-03-25.
  7. ^ BRII: Revenge DVD release postponed. Battleroyalefilm.net (June 9, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-03-25.
  8. ^ Murdered girl's classmates get blank page for killer in graduation album. Daily Mainichi (March 18, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-03-25. (offline as of last access date)
  9. ^ ネバダアスキーアート01. Retrieved on 2006-03-25.

[edit] External links

[edit] News articles

[edit] Analysis

[edit] Internet Subculture

[edit] Images

[edit] Music

  • Nevada Girl Sing-Along PLUS - LiveJournal entry about a Nevada-tan fan song.
  • CutieNeVaDa.swf - the "CutieNeVaDa" song originally linked to in the above entry.
  • ANTIPAS Group - website of a band that made numerous songs about Nevada-tan
  • Split - a theme album about Nevada-tan by the band Princess Army Wedding Combat

[edit] Flash videos

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