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Killing of Satomi Mitarai

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File:Nevada-Tan.jpg
Left: Detail of class photo of the girl believed to be responsible for the murder of Satomi Mitarai. Right: One of the many fan made caricatures of her.

Nevada-tan is an Internet meme character that began appearing in the wake of a Japanese news story. An 11-year-old schoolgirl was charged with the murder of a classmate on June 1, 2004 by slitting her throat and arms with a box cutter at an elementary school in Sasebo, Japan.

The suspected murderess is a girl wearing a pullover hooded sweatshirt with the word "NEVADA" emblazoned across the chest in several class photographs taken before the murder. 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.

The "Girl A" Incident

An 11-year-old schoolgirl was charged with murdering 12-year-old classmate Satomi Mitarai (御手洗怜美 Mitarai Satomi) during the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo. Mitarai's body was left in an empty classroom. Though the girls' teacher noticed both were missing, "Girl A" returned to her own classroom shortly thereafter, clothes covered in blood.

After being taken into custody, "Girl A" was reported as saying "I have done a bad thing" and "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police, though she initially gave no motive for the slaying. Shortly afterward, "Girl A" confessed to police that she and Mitarai had a falling out as a result of messages left on the internet. [1].

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. 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 given hard evidence. However, a police psychologist stated that "Girl A" was not mentally ill, and had a history of incidents, from punching and kicking other classmates, as well as an issue with a knife the month before the murder. "Girl A" also had a signs of withdrawing from social life and quitting clubs, though "Girl A" continued playing physical sports, particularly basketball, until shortly before the incident. [2]

In any case, 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." [3] Other points of note were the listing of her hobbies, which included Battle Royale fanfiction and recipes (which may or may not have been for food) such as "Curse of the Purple Skull" and "Demonic Art". A particular influence on her was the "Red Room" shock flash video, enough so that her website was designed around the theme.

Aftermath of the "Girl A" Incident

On September 15, 2004, a Japanese Family Court ruled to institutionalize "Girl A", putting aside her young age due to the severity of the crime.

Battle Royale fansite Battleroyalefilm.net reported that the creators of the movie 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". [4]

There is now an ongoing debate in Japan whether the age of criminial responsibility, shifted from 16 to 14 in the wake of the 1997 Sakakibara murder in Kobe, needs to be shifted again. [5] There is also some discussion regarding the exposure of the internet to young children, as well as the effect of the internet and hikikomori subculture on youth in Japan.

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", as well as class pictures containing both, on them. Photos, the school announced, would be made available upon request. [6]

"Girl A"'s Internet Popularity

For reasons unclear, the Japanese web communities, primarily Futaba Channel and 2ch, fixated on this story and "adopted" the girl. Her personal website's popularity began to climb, 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" began to appear. Online sites that sold the University of Nevada hooded sweatshirt began to have brisk sales. Cosplayers created "Girl A" costumes.

shortly afterwards, artists on the internet soon turned "Girl A" into a cute "chibified" character dubbed "Nevada-tan".

The "Nevada-tan" Character

The Nevada-tan character is often depicted with short brown hair, the trademark pullover, and a crazed, murderous smile. She is almost never seen without a box cutter or other sharp implement nearby. A common representation of Nevada-tan is as ASCII art, similar to Giko, Mona, and other such characters. She was often depicted as slashing idiot posters on the 2ch boards, or at least ASCII representations thereof. Inevitably, this spilled over into 4chan and other English language imageboards, and introduced Nevada-tan to the United States.

At this time, it does not appear as though the existence of Nevada-tan or other aspects of the subculture surrounding the "Girl A" incident is intended to condone or lend support to the real girl's actions; it is simply another meme, albeit one with a basis in real life. It can also be considered as public fascination over such an unusual event, just as interest has surrounded simliar events like the English Jack the Ripper killings in 1888.

See Also


WARNING: Some of these sites contain disturbing images. Please use your discretion.

News Articles

Analysis

Internet Subculture regarding Nevada-tan

http://www.uranus.dti.ne.jp/~yuugeki/nevada-top.htm - mirror of "Girl A"'s website

Images

Music

  • Nevada Girl Sing-Along PLUS LiveJournal entry about a Nevada-tan fan song.
  • 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

Flash Videos

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