Members wounded at handshake event

Besides the fact that he planned and then carried out an attack on three strangers and that's certainly not healthy behavior, didn't his mother or somebody say that he had been having problems before that? I think one of the Yahoo JP articles mentions that he quit his job in December and started becoming sort of a shut-in after that.

I understand the fear about throwing all mentally ill people under the bus to vilify one dude and I do think words like "psycho" and "crazy" and "lunatic" were thrown around a little carelessly especially in the beginning when everybody was first learning what happened and we didn't have the whole story. I don't like it at all but at this very preliminary stage, it seems at least probable that this guy had some sort of emotional problem(s) he wasn't able to deal with and this wasn't a random case of someone going berserk out of the blue for no reason. If he really had been on a downward swing for a few months before doing this, it's going to be hard to argue that mental illness wasn't involved here.

 

The majority of people didn't help because they were outside the tent and had no way of knowing what was going on. Had nothing to do with them thinking it was a dokkiri or not.　There's too much garbage floating around on twitter and 2ch. People shouldn't believe something just because it sounds official.

FujiTV is reporting that Kawaei and Annin are going to be released from the hospital tomorrow.

 

I don't think any of us know enough about the person's background to make the assumption that he is mentally ill so, as @MidoriHime has said, we should not carelessly throw around derogatory terms, such as 'crazy' or 'insane', because it really does stigmatise an already stigmatised group. We should also not stereotype mental illnesses by saying person with 'A' mental disorder is more likely to kill someone than person with 'B' mental disorder. I know that everyone is frustrated about what has happened, believe me, I do but when we start labeling a person as 'mental ill' is when we start shying away from what the true motive of the attack was. There are many reasons that could drive a person to do something like this and, more often than not, it is external factors rather than internal factors. I'm not denying that the person may have been suffering from a mental illness, not at all, it's just that we cannot say for certain given that we have such little information about his background. We need to remember that people with mental illnesses are more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators but, in saying that, we need to acknowledge that both can occur so that it can be appropriately addressed, i.e. raising more public awareness so that people suffering from mental illnesses are more willing to access health care services in the future. This mindset that "oh, he tried to kill someone, he must be insane" is only hindering this. Anyway, let's leave all of this, we should be focussing on the phsyical and mental health of all of those involved and what this will mean for the group. I'm still so shocked that something like this happened.

 

The only fans who were actually there were Wen and Myaoshi, and Wen just sent in the first Tumblr post shortly after the attack.

 

Tonight's theater show at the AKB theater is cancelled. No words on any shows tomorrow onwards.

http://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-11861687911.html

 

I kind of understand whyfans shouldn't go running into messes like that, but in the heat of the moment, I would think rational thought and thoughts of rules would not cross my mind at all.

 

Today's Anta Dare is also cancelled.

 

If he had talked to someone this may not have happened. The problem with people who are struggling with depression and other issues is that they often don't have anyone they can talk to openly or they feel misunderstood, which they often are. As a result they seclude themselves from others who have no idea what the person is going through.

 

The episode itself too? All I heard was that there will be no lottery for the audience. But it's better for them to cancel the show all together and show reruns (at least for a while) until the situation is settled down.

 

Life isn't like an action movie though, where everyone's gut instinct is to react defensively and instantaneously. Most likely by the time most of the fans could even parse that something was happening, the attack was over. I think it's safe to assume the staff members involved, particularly the one injured, reacted as quickly as anyone possibly could have. The injuries could have been much worse if they hadn't.

 

It's for the best, as the girls aren't really in a good position to perform with the best of their efforts. Give them a small break at least. Everyone must be stressed and terrified, and for a good reason! Being Team A and co-captain, I don't think Komariko would do her best hosting AnDare either, with it being a show where the girls are so so so so close to the fans. Two of their teammates are out of commission for now, I wouldn't be surprised if Takamina and Komariko are on the edge. Don't even get me started on the rest of the girls from Lane 6 either. Poor girls.

 

It's official, coming from Takenaka:
https://plus.google.com/106112762361092739156/posts/eaUdaa3n1yi

BTW, some of those news programs, I'm sure, are beginning to do their own investigations.

 

Makes sense I suppose. Thanks for the explanation!

 

I totally agree. But if a person quits their job, stops socializing, and starts shutting themselves in, those closest to them are going to notice even if they're not told directly, especially if they're living together. A lot of people with mental illnesses only ever get treatment precisely because somebody else in their life was able to realize what was happening and talked to them about it.

 

So what could they do to realistically improve security and maintain the same type of event? A few thoughts ....

Given the number of people who attend it probably would not be feasible to take away bags and jackets at the door and "checks" can only be so thorough too. Things like metal detectors will just be constantly set off by things like phones which everyone will have nowadays.

Assuming a pattern of a lane with a tent/partitioned area for the actual handshake with a table seperating the member from the fan ...

- At least two dedicated security added, one on each side of the table in case some one tries to go over it to get to the member? For multiple member lanes, like in this instance, you would want more due to the size of the lane.
- increase the depth of space on the members side of the table so they can move away out of range if necessary more quickly and easily?
- have extra staff who take your jacket and bag when you are about to enter the tent/partitioned area and return then to you when you exit the other side? (given that Togasaki-san indicated the person here did not have a bag, only a jacket, I'm including removing that too)

Combined that would mean that the member should be able to feel safer as she could withdraw away more if necessary and have security move in front of her if needed, you'd have trained security to block any attacker moving towards the member and to move to apprehend them and without coats or bags there is a decreased chance that something is hidden ready to be pulled out.

 

@infinitehippos

If only it were that easy. Even before today, the girls already get super worn out from handshake events. It's not uncommon for them to lose their voices in the middle of an event, or have to sit in a chair for an extended portion of the handshake. And now they have to always be on alert for a potential attacker? Christ, talk about a high-stress environment. While I too hope they figure out a way to increase security while still keeping these events going, but damn it won't be easy.

I wonder if we'll ever go back to the times when Furuhata Nao can bunny-hop from one guest to the next with a big smile on her face .

And yeah, as much as this asshole has ruined our lives, don't go around and say "I want to murder him." The last thing our idols need right now is to learn how violent the actual fans can be. Instead, let them know you will continue to support them no matter how much things have changed.

 

We don't know what kind of relationship he has with his mother. Maybe they never talked that much, which isn't uncommon. It reminds me of the typical scenario of a parent asking their child "How was school today?" and only getting a "fine" before they go off to their room. She might've thought I wish he was more like this or that, but no parent will assume their child is capable of murdering someone unless there were really obvious signs to indicate something like that. We also don't know if there was a real change in his behaviour, he might've always been a loner and not being able to hold a job doesn't necessarily have to be a red flag either.

 

^
^
@Under The Ribbon: Now now, as someone posted earlier, let's not over-hype this incident and over-victimize the girls. Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I trust the girls to be strong enough to be able to get over this, given time (at most a month or so). They won't be looking at everyone with the is-he-going-to-attack-me eyes for long (if they ever do).

 

Feeling really depressed about the whole incident, and really sorry for all those affected by it (Ricchan, Annin, and staff-san, of course, but also other members and fans who have been traumatised by the crime).

My depression is probably made worse because of the high I had been on the day before when I got to meet so many of my favourite members including Ricchan and Annin.

I had really been looking forward to writing up my experience at the Tokyo Bigsight shamekai and voting for the Sousenkyo, but right now, doing any of that just seems wrong.

Does anybody else feel the same?

 

Wow. The line has finally been crossed. Someone has actually physically harmed the girls. That's a game-changer right there.

Most of the things I wanted to say have already been mentioned, but I would like to add that this incident also opens the door to potential copycats that might want to mimic or even top what this saw-slasher guy did. He proved that you can injure the girls if you really wanted to, and this could inspire others to follow suit. It doesn't matter what the reason may be; whoever wanted to physically assault the girls or had thoughts of doing so now know that it is possible.

As for security measures, additional screening for weapons and extra security during HS events would be a good deterrent, but the mere proximity of a handshake makes it difficult to stop anyone from physically assaulting the girls. Even with 2 people on each side, it would be hard to stop someone from smashing a girls nose in with their fist/palm or breaking their arm/dislocating their shoulder with a hard yank or table smash. It takes less than half a second to make a move, so anything short of having security hold your arms while shaking hands will still leave the girls vulnerable.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of solution management comes up with when it comes to protecting their assets. What'll be even more interesting is how the girls handle this and how it affects the fan-member relationship. Whatever the case may be, the game has officially changed.

As for Ricchan and Annin, I really wish them the best. This experience is probably going to haunt them for life and there's no telling how this will affect them. Only time will tell how this all pans out.