Mamoru Takuma
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was a Japanese
mass murder Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...
er who killed eight children in the
Ikeda school massacre The Ikeda school massacre (sometimes referred to as the Osaka school massacre) was a school stabbing and mass murder that occurred in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, on 8 June 2001. Mamoru Takuma, a 37-year-old ex-convict with a history of m ...
in Ikeda,
Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...
, on 8 June 2001. Takuma had a long history of mentally disturbed and
anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours s ...
, and an extensive
criminal record A criminal record (not to be confused with a police record or arrest record) is a record of a person's criminal Conviction, convictions history. The information included in a criminal record, and the existence of a criminal record, varies betwe ...
including a conviction for
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
. He stabbed to death eight students and seriously wounded fifteen others at Ikeda Elementary School in a knife attack that lasted several minutes. Takuma was convicted in August 2003 and
executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
on 14 September 2004.


Early life

Mamoru Takuma was born on 23 November 1963 in
Itami is a cities of Japan, city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83,580 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Itami is located in south-east ...
,
Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...
, Japan. As a child, he displayed unusual and anti-social behavior: at the age of three, he rode his tricycle towards the center of a highway, causing traffic jams, and habitually killed small animals by wrapping them in newspaper and lighting them on fire. From elementary school to junior high, Takuma was both a victim and a perpetrator of
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...
. He expressed envy and jealousy for the "highly educated and high-income elite" from an early age. Takuma was both physically abused and
neglected ''Xestia castanea'', the grey rustic or neglected, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from central Europe to Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Syria. Technical description and variation The wingspan is 36–42 mm. F ...
by his father, whom he contemplated stabbing to death in his sleep. In February 1979, Takuma enrolled in high school in
Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 455,555 in 223,812 households, and a population de ...
, but dropped out in March 1981. He worked part-time at a
gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...
for several months until enlisting in the Japan Air Self Defense Force at the end of 1981, at age 18. However, Takuma was discharged in January 1983 for boarding and sleeping with a teenage runaway. His relationship with his parents worsened following the discharge, and there were incidents in which his father beat him with stones. Takuma in turn threatened to enlist in the ''
yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...
'' to "mess up" their lives. In 1984, Takuma and his mother left the family home and purchased an apartment, leaving his oldest brother and father by themselves. They lived together for a year and a half, until his father came back for his wife. In February 1999, Takuma's brother, facing
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
, died by
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
by slashing his neck with a knife. His father was hospitalized due to drunkenness after the incident, but according to Takuma in the detention center, he said, "I wanted him to commit suicide like Tsutomu Miyazaki's father." Takuma's mother had a lifelong struggle with
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
, and died in late 2016. His father died in April 2020, aged 88. The former Takuma residence house in Itami was demolished in September 2020; the site is currently vacant, and that was the end of the Takuma's family.


Criminal history

On 21 November 1984, Takuma
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
d a woman while collecting rent for a
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
management company. After the incident, believing the woman had filed a complaint to the police, he consulted a psychiatrist with his mother on 12 December and he complained about hearing
hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...
s, "feeling that he's plunged into someone" and other complaints. The hospital initially diagnosed him with
anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...
, but later stated it was
schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
in the medical certificate and in response to police inquiries. Takuma, who was placed in a closed ward, was dissatisfied with his care. On 4 January 1985, he jumped from the roof of the hospital's fifth floor in a suicide attempt, but instead fractured his
mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...
and
maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...
. He later wrote to his mother that he was hospitalized to avoid being pursued by the police in a rape case and jumped off the fifth floor to "harass his parents". After being discharged from the hospital, Takuma decided to commit even more crimes for "revenge on the world." Later, the doctor in charge of Takuma's psychological examination stated that it may have strengthened his resentment towards society. In November 1986, Takuma was sentenced to three years in prison for the rape charge. While in prison, he jumped out of the hospital ward, explaining in a letter to his mother that he did it because she would not cooperate regarding his discharge. He demanded that his parents pay for his living expenses after release. His father refused, citing Takuma's lack of remorse, and told him that he would hand over the money he traded in for his personal belongings to disown him. After his release from prison in March 1989, Takuma moved to Ikeda and found work driving buses and trucks. His coworkers described him as a quiet and unremarkable man, but a bit of a loner who did not like dealing with customers. Takuma testified in a later psychological examination that he caused two fatal car accidents, one when he was a
dump truck A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials (such as dirt, gravel, or demolition waste) for construction as well as coal. A typical dump truck is equipped ...
driver and the other when he was a
semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called ...
driver. In the first incident, while transporting industrial waste in the mountains, Takuma drove in front of another truck and suddenly pressed the brake pedal on a downward turn, causing a collision; all the passengers of the other truck died the next day. He lied about the cause of the crash and was not indicted on any charges. In the second incident, while driving near the Metropolitan Expressway, Takuma caused a motorist to fatally collide with a side wall. He immediately left the scene. In September 1993, Takuma was again arrested for rape. In 1998, he was fired after assaulting a bus passenger over the smell of her
perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...
. He found a new job as maintenance man at Itami Elementary School, six kilometers away from Ikeda. Later that year, Takuma was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his ex-wife. On 3 March 1999, Takuma dissolved temazepam, a tranquilizer, into the tea served in the teachers' room, sending four people to the hospital for three days. Regarding this incident he said, "I was ignored by the teachers and did not go well with my family, and I wanted to relieve my anger due to human relationships." Takuma was arrested, but was not criminally punished as was found "not responsible" due to mental illness. In November 1999, Takuma was arrested on suspicion of
burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...
, but the charges were dropped. He managed to get a job as a
taxi driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
in September 2000, but was fired the following month after he assaulted a hotel bellhop in
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
, breaking his nose. In November 2000, Takuma got a job as a truck driver at a construction materials company in Ikeda, but was fired a few months later due to problems including a road rage incident. He was also kicked out of several apartments for, among other things, throwing his garbage out from the balcony. On 23 May 2001, Takuma voluntarily admitted himself into a psychiatric hospital for depression, but left the next day without treatment. He was also arrested for driving his car in reverse gear on the
Hanshin Expressway The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. History Operated by , it opened in 1962. Portions of the Hanshin Expressway about east of Fukae Station collapsed during the Kobe earthquake on 17 January 1995 ...
but released after he was found mentally unfit.


Massacre

On 8 June 2001, the day of his court hearing for the bellhop assault case, Takuma went on a murderous rampage at Ikeda Elementary School. He began to attack students and teachers with a
kitchen knife A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives — notably a large chef's knife and a smaller serrated blade utility knife — there ...
until he was wrestled down by staff. In the quick attack, Takuma killed eight students (seven 8-year-old girls and one 7-year-old boy) and seriously wounded thirteen other children and two teachers. He was described as being in an extremely confused state when arrested, at first repeating, "I went to the elementary school", and then saying, "I went to the train station and stabbed 100 people with my knife. I did not go to the elementary school." Takuma stated he "drank ten times the medicine" immediately after his arrest and a subsequent medical examination was performed on him. The medicine in question turned out to be three types: the antipsychotic Seroquel, the antidepressant Paxil, and the
benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), colloquially known as "benzos", are a class of central nervous system (CNS) depressant, depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed t ...
drug Lormetazepam. Even in the instance all of these medications are taken at ten times their standard prescribed dose, they are more likely to cause
somnolence Somnolence (alternatively sleepiness or drowsiness) is a state of strong desire for sleep, or sleeping for unusually long periods (compare hypersomnia). It has distinct meanings and causes. It can refer to the usual state preceding falling aslee ...
or
sedation Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure. Examples of drugs which can be used for sedation include isoflurane, diethyl ether, ...
, not psychotic behavior. Takuma also stated: :「何もかも嫌になった。何回も自殺を図ったが死にきれない。捕まえて死刑にしてほしかった。」 : ' : "I've become disgusted with everything. I've tried to kill myself several times, but couldn't. I wanted to be caught and be given a death sentence." Takuma also expressed hatred for the affluent children who attended Ikeda Elementary School.


Trial and execution

Takuma's lawyers argued that he was suffering from temporary insanity at the time of the attack, but the psychiatrist who had initially diagnosed him as schizophrenic told the court he later determined that Takuma actually had
paranoid personality disorder Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental disorder characterized by paranoia, and a pervasive, long-standing suspiciousness and generalized mistrust of others. People with this personality disorder may be hypersensitive, easily insulted, ...
. On 28 August 2003, Takuma was found guilty of multiple counts of murder and sentenced to death. Takuma remained unrepentant, refusing to apologize to the families of the victims, and asked only for the sentence to be fulfilled as fast as possible. In court, he engaged in intentionally provocative behavior, including yawning, shaking his body, and staring at victims' family members. His statement was, "I should have used
gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...
, so I could have killed more than I did." On the last day of the trial, Takuma still expressed no guilt or remorse and continued to insult the victims' families until the judge removed him. The sentence was carried out unusually quickly by Japanese standards (condemned prisoners in Japan usually spend many years on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
); Takuma was executed at the Osaka Detention House only one year later, on 14 September 2004.


Influence

Takuma consistently hoped for the death penalty after the incident and was executed at an unusual speed in Japan. Since then, some people have committed crimes to be sentenced to death. Kaoru Kobayashi, who sexually assaulted and murdered 7-year-old Kaede Ariyama in
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
in November 2004, considered Takuma to be a
charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ''chari ...
tic murderer and sought a speedy execution like him. He said:


Copycat incidents

* Kaoru Kobayashi (murderer) * Yukio Yamaji * Masahiro Kanagawa * Toride Station 2010 knife attack * October 2021 Tokyo attack


See also

*
List of executions in Japan Capital punishment in Japan, Capital punishment is a legal penalty for murder in Japan, and is applied in cases of multiple murder or aggravated single murder. Executions in Japan are carried out by hanging, and the country has seven execution cha ...


References


External links


Takuma Mamoru
* https://web.archive.org/web/20071228095650/http://gonta13.at.infoseek.co.jp/newpage203.htm * http://yabusaka.moo.jp/ikeda.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Takuma, Mamoru 1963 births 1984 crimes in Japan 2004 deaths 2004 murders in Japan 20th-century Japanese criminals 21st-century executions by Japan 21st-century Japanese criminals Bus drivers Executed Japanese mass murderers Japanese murderers of children Japanese people convicted of rape Japanese people in transport Male murderers People convicted of murder by Japan People executed by Japan by hanging People from Itami, Hyōgo People with antisocial personality disorder People with paranoid personality disorder Poisoners Taxi drivers