Akihabara's Killer Hikikomori | The case of Tomohiro Kato

They say we are all products of our own upbringing, but how much of that can be used as guilt when looking at the sick and twisted actions of a murderer? My name is Adrian and welcome back to the cafeteria crime. Today we return. You guessed it, Japan, seeing the

case

of Tom Hiro

kato

, the man responsible for the Akihabara massacre in 2008. This incident would eventually become known as another

case

highlighting Japan's growing concerns about violent ikikomori and just a quick warning, but I publish both. Solved and unsolved cases here weekly, so if true crime is your thing, consider subscribing to Crime House Crime, so grab your favorite mug, pour yourself a hot coffee, and sit back.

This is the case of Tomohiro Kato. This video is proudly sponsored. NordVPN being a true crime channel, we are often reminded of the precautions we must take to stay safe in the modern world and this notion also continues in the virtual world with NordVPN, all your internet data remains safe behind the next-door encryption wall. generation, meaning you and your data will be protected from prying eyes, not only will your internet traffic be hidden behind a VPN server, but you will also be able to choose from over 5,400 servers in 59 countries, meaning you will be able to enjoy of Internet without limits. or borders, speaking personally, this has allowed me to read news articles about true crimes locked behind a specific country, something that was crucial to sharing international crime cases with all of you and now being able to watch my favorite American Netflix shows through An American VPN server is a great benefit.

Join through nordvpn.com coffeehousecrime and you will get a deeply discounted two-year plan with four additional months free if you are interested in nordvpn.com coffeehousecrime or click the link in the description below and thank you nordvpn for supporting us creators of content, welcome back to Japan, if I had a penny for every time I thought fondly of this country, I would be quite rich as it is one of the most popular destinations for vacation travel. Japan has left its mark on the world for its cultural connection with nature and, of course, with food and with a curious fact, but did you know that you will never have to walk more than 12 meters on average to find a vending machine in Tokyo which means that We will never be more than a minute away from a snack or, of course, a coffee, but our case today takes us north of Japan's bustling capital, to Aomori.

Aomori, which is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, is located on the northern coast of Japan's main island, Honshu, like most. Of the northern regions of Japan, Aomori Prefecture relies primarily on primary sect industries such as agriculture, forestry, and fishing, but the city itself focuses more on manufacturing and services. The year is 1982, the month is September and on the 28th of that month Tom Hirakata was born. and his younger brother, yuji, grew up in a comfortably sized house deep in the suburbs of aomori. His mother and his father, who was a senior manager at a financial institution, wanted nothing more than the greatest success for their children in Tomohiro's early childhood.

It was largely like this, his grades were considered exceptional in elementary school and he quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the school's best athletes and as a child, Tom Hiro was known for being bright, cheerful and energetic, he had bad genius, but he always did the best he could with his studies. Similar success was found when he moved to Sakuda High School located in the east wing of Aomori, while there his grades were still admirable and he would eventually become president of the tennis club in high school as well, but halfway through . During his adolescence, the pressure from his parents began to show.

Tomahera began fighting with them regularly. He very rarely came home at night. Supposedly, during his youth, his parents put tremendous pressure on him and his brother to do well in going to school and excelling in their studies, it wasn't just the general rigor you would expect from your parents, unfortunately it was much worse if A single word or character was wrong in his homework, so his mother would tear up the page and force him. redo it completely and was allegedly abusive in more than that. The way of work life culture in Japan is, to say the least, very skewed compared to the rest of the world, while basic working hours for the typical wage earner are generally nine to six, many workers tend to stay in the office until much later, often after 10 p.m. m., it is not unusual to see workers accumulating more than 80 hours of work per week.

In fact, this is the reason why capsule hotels exist in Japan. Workers could sleep in town between shifts and not have to worry about the trip home. For many traditional families who left the mother to take care of the children and for the cattle family things were no different on more than one occasion if Tomohiro was not fast enough to eat his food, his mother would throw his dinner on the floor and She forced him to eat it off the carpet and if he couldn't recite the multiplication tables fast enough his mother would dunk his head in the bathtub, something that left the poor boy traumatized every time.

In 1997 when he was 15, Tom's fortune herrera took another negative turn he enrolled in taomori high school considered an elite school in aomori prefecture and from a social perspective for the first time in his life he was unpopular and his classmates often became the center of attention for harassment and academic insults. He also wasn't doing so well in a class of 360 students, his academic ranking plummeting to 300 and, sadly, his reputation at Elmer High School. School seemed to take too long. A student in the same class as Tomahiro described him as giving off the feeling of being alone and I heard that he used to walk around school with a knife and that's when the arguments and rigor at home really became a problem.

Troublesome neighbors in the nearby area recalled that his parents forced Tomohiro to stay outside for hours in the middle of Japan's cold winter. Tomohiro worked reluctantly during those three years in high school but his grades did not improve. One of his teachers described him by saying that he did not excel at all in his studies or extracurricular activities, in reality he was just a mediocre student and the final nail in the coffin of tomorrow's education came in early 2000, when he failed his entrance exams to enroll in Takaido University his mother had decided a long time ago that he would go to this university to become a professionally recognized engineer and Tomahiro himself dreamed of becoming an automotive design engineer, but with this new result he no longer It seemed likely and her mother would surely express her disappointment when she found that Leaving Tomorrow would try to take the same exams again the following year, but the second time wasn't the charm.

He still failed to enter college, slipping into his own world of depression, shame, and resentment. Tomahiro became angrier with himself, his mother. and eventually society in what felt like a previous life he used to be an academically talented and well-liked athlete, but that was no longer a slow change in the family dynamic, he also began to appear where his mother once overburdened him pressured and at times angry, she now seemed to be almost completely neglectful of her eldest son, the attention seemed to shift to Tomaher's younger brother, Yuji, and Tomahiro was left to deal with his own disappointments alone.

He eventually enrolled in tanaka nihon automotive university and trained to become an automaker. mechanic maybe if he couldn't become a design engineer he could start from a slightly lower position in the garage in april 2005 tomahero finally got some work it was in a truck factory in saitama prefecture located in the greater tokyo area this It was finally his chance to become independent and hopefully the love of Rihanna's mother, but Tokyo is expensive, it's not an easy place for a mechanic to pay the rent and gradually, over time, his savings were depleted in Instead of growing up, meanwhile, his parents didn't seem to care much either.

The year 2006 was a new low for Tomohiro, deeply in debt, lacking self-esteem or deep direction in life, and believing that his family had given up on him. Tomohiro was at the end of his rope, it was the last hours of one. One spring night he got into the driver's seat of his car, pointed it at a wall and in an attempt to kill himself crashed his vehicle into it, but Tomaheru lived to see another day, in fact, apart from a shock mild brain injury and several cosmetic injuries, he was doing quite well. Well after the accident and soon after things started to get better for him too.

In late summer, a company known as Kanto Motor Industry approached his agent to offer him a job, and just several weeks after the accident, Tomohiro was already working in Susano City at a slightly more comfortable salary of 200,000 yen per year. Mes Tomohiro was known for being an honest worker. He didn't talk much to his colleagues but he had a good work attitude. It was for this reason that after his first year on the job, his contract was renewed to keep him for another 12 months while on the job. Tomohiro looked calm and serene, but outside the garage he was even more calm inside and barely sociable, in fact, he didn't have any friends in all his communication. with the outside world at that time was through an online bulletin board and here he would mostly remain anonymous complaining about society and its lack of camaraderie his main hobby was staying home and watching anime there is nothing bad at that, but that's all it is.

What he did with himself, he would draw for hours, was rarely seen outside of his apartment and had very little to say outside of the anime. To people who knew Tomohiro outside of work, they would describe him as short-tempered, angry, and lonely, and they were right. he missed her call very often he was unhappy with his life he had no direction no purpose no money no partner no family he felt comfortable in and the message boards he frequented often seemed to harass and bully Tom Hero online even in his respite area could not escape the stress or abuse and things would get much worse in June 2008 with the recent news that the Kanto motor industry was going to reduce its number of temporary workers from 200 to 50.

Tom Hero was emotionally in the razor's edge. Not only did the whole situation depend on his job to stay afloat but the one-bedroom apartment he was renting was also from his agency. On June 5 he arrived at work and discovered that his uniform was missing from his locker. It hadn't happened before, but then, remembering the company's recent announcement about layoffs, all he could think of was that the reason he was missing his uniform was because he had been fired in a blind rage. Tomohiro had slammed his locker door yelling at his colleagues asking for his uniform, those colleagues went to look for their boss, but when they returned, Tomahiro had disappeared, he never returned to work, not later or the next day, but instead wrote messages online.

I don't have a single friend and I never will in the future I will be ignored because I am ugly if I had a girlfriend I wouldn't have quit my job or been addicted to my cell phone a hopeful man could never understand this I am inferior to trash because at least the garbage is recycled it seemed that the moment tomahero got scared at work something inside the man had finally broken it broke in a way that was not healthy, normal or justifiable on the afternoon of june sixth tomaheru decided to travel to a weapons protection store where he bought six daggers, leather gloves and special batons, all for 35,000 yen, and the next day, on the morning of June 7, he took the local shinkansen to Akihabara in Tokyo and sold his computer and other belongings.

Akihabara located in the center of Tokyo is an interesting place originally. Known as the black market in post-war Japan, it has now evolved over the decades into an electric city and is also known worldwide as an otaku mecca. An otaku is a person obsessed with the world of anime and often depicted as a solitary and solitary person, something that many would define as tamahiro as bringing things together following a strong influence. Akahaba has become the modern center of Japanese popular culture and is a major commercial district for video games, anime, manga, turned cafes and arcades into a paradise for many, but the reason Tomahera was here was for great Surprise, not for fun, but quite the opposite, in reality with the money he had earned selling his computer and his personal belongings, he rented a rental truck supposedly to take everything out of his house, butwhile in acahabara

tomohiro

was over 100 miles from home and also did not share any prior plans to move in the early hours of the next morning he posted several messages online the bad news predicted by rayna i am used to playing the role of a good Man , everyone is so easily fooled.

Am I incapable of having friends? The time has come, come on, it looks like I will be fighting my headache, what a terrible rain, even though I prepared everything perfectly in Kanagawa and rested, things are going well at the moment. horrible traffic jam I'll be on time getting to takahabara it's pedestrian paradise day isn't it just a few minutes? Just 48 minutes after his last message at 12:33 pm on July 8, Tom Hiro

kato

drove to an intersection in Acahabra and after ignoring a red light, accelerated and attacked a crowd with his five-ton truck, hitting five people. on the road it was sunday meaning chodori was closed to traffic making it a wide walkway for pedestrians terrified passersby gathered to care for the victims who were beaten little to them they knew they assumed it was a car accident, but unfortunately there were more Tomahiro then got out of his truck before brandishing a knife and violently attacking anyone within reach.

He started yelling pointing randomly at people regardless of their age or status and once he repented, he fled the area running down the nearby alley. A police officer who was on duty in the nearby area responded as soon as he heard the commotion and as he ran towards the incident he came across Tomohirokato taking out his baton and hitting it on Tomohiro's head, the suspect did little to react and so the officer pulled out his gun. Finally getting a response, Tomohiro dropped the knife from him and just two minutes after he had begun the attack, Tomahira was grabbed by the officer and other pedestrians and arrested by the police.

More than 17 ambulances went to the scene, but with great sadness five of the victims who were at the scene. Merced de Tomohirokato suffered a cardiac arrest at the scene. Initially, it was reported that two people had died as a result of the attack, but during that same day the death toll would increase to seven and it was later determined that through autopsy reports, three victims died. consequence of being hit by the truck while the other four were fatally stabbed caught in the act with literally hundreds of cameras around him

tomohiro

admitted his guilt practically from the beginning he was also very open with his motives and there were three, the first reason was his own hatred towards himself and his fortune, he was once a popular and well-educated child, his luck seemed to run out in high school, he felt like a failure with a life that was destined for nothing great and, although he shared that his mother was abusive and rarely gave her the love or acceptance she wanted, he refused to blame her for her actions, the turning point of his first motive was believing that she had lost her job at Kanto Motor Industry, however she would be left without a job, without house or money. the company would later reveal that he never lost his job, he simply incorrectly assumed that the next reason for his actions was due to his lack of company, he felt cold, ugly, alone, isolated in his world and, according to him, if he had a girlfriend, nothing of this. would have ever happened and finally reason number three was feeling resentful about his experience on the social messaging forum.

Little by little, over time, he had been beaten by anonymous users and with the harassment, his hatred grew until it became something he could no longer bear. to be returned in brief summary when questioned by police officers, he said that he did it to vent his pent-up anger and anger and to demonstrate his revenge to all those who wronged him in the past. He wanted to teach other users of the Internet forum about him. that his actions must have consequences, to put it bluntly, he killed innocent people just to prove a point to those who mocked him.

The Tomohirokato case made global headlines and sent shockwaves through the entire nation of Japan, a country that was once traditionally considered a society safe from violent crime, and this case also had economic consequences. The Metropolitan Public Safety Commission Tokyo announced that the 35-year-old practice of closing traffic at chodori on Sundays and holidays would be officially suspended until safety measures were reviewed, and game developer Konami also canceled three upcoming launch events in Tokyo considering the safety of his fans. The media also weighed in on the matter, labeling Tom Hero's attack as just one of several other events that signaled a growing epidemic of kireru, an act of rage being committed. by marginalized youth and otakus in response to antisocial behavior and after the discovery of Tomohiro's messages people saw his actions and hatred as another case committed by a

hikikomori

a person who experiences total isolation from society and suffers extreme isolation and confinement some Of those messages revealed as plans to use a vehicle and then use a knife to continue the attack on foot, he wanted to maximize casualties and so waited for Jodori to close traffic at noon before beginning the attack after his serious actions.

Tamahiro's parents officially released an apology. This was done to his victims live on television while being interviewed on a popular show in Japan and very shortly after his father, who held a high position at a bank, was forced to take early retirement, the pressure he received from his colleagues was simply too much. to drive and soon after threatening and arresting calls were made to their home in Aomori, eventually forcing the two to cut their own phone line, although Tomohiro himself cooperated during their investigation, to the surprise and chagrin of many, he was not He apologized at all despite this.

He admitted that he posted the messages before the crime in the hope that the police would notice and arrest him before his trial. Defense attorneys argued that Tom Hero had mental disabilities that prevented him from understanding the true scale of his actions, however, along with those of Tomohiro. Health officials who conducted a review of his mental state at the time of his crimes found that he was fully aware of and responsible for his own actions. Prosecutors accused him of following the devil's actions and in conclusion, on March 24, 2011, Tom Hirakato was officially found. Guilty of seven counts of murder and as a result sentenced to death by the Tokyo High Court, he still remains behind bars awaiting sentencing.

Her actions had a profound impact not only on his victims but also on those around him in his previous years in February. In 2014, just six years before the Akihabara massacre, his younger brother, Yuji Kato, ended his own life. Yuji, who did not cope well with the consequences, quickly fell into depression and left his job instead of his once happy daily life. He then found himself in the media spotlight and, although coverage of his brother's case diminished over time, it never really ended and he never stopped feeling guilt and remorse for his brother's actions between the years 2008 and 2013. , he accepted several new jobs, but as soon as it was discovered that he was Kato's younger brother, he felt that he was looked at differently in a memoir he left behind.

Yuji said that my brother shared that he was a copy of his mother and according to that law, if my brother is the copy number. one, I am copy number two and I see that I see the same part of my brother in me. Things would eventually fall apart for Tomohiro's parents as well. His mother, who ended up divorcing her father, was eventually admitted to a psychiatric hospital and is still there to this day. and he has not been the same since and his father, who is the last of the family to be in everyday society, still lives in the same house, but is rarely seen and when he does he refuses to speak or Express oneself. his opinion simply leans in silence and at night the lights are never on in Kato's house, instead small flames can be seen through the window the man lives in silence and by candlelight from the beginning minutes at 12:33 on June 8, 2008 the lives of seven families and hundreds of friends were changed forever katsuhiko nakamura was a 74-year-old dentist who was having lunch with his wife and son when his life ended abruptly and maimuto a student of 21 year old from toku university studying arts was the only female victim of tom hira who was on her way to a part time job when she met her end and although not much can be found about the other five victims, fujino kazaran kawaguchi takahiro koiwakazahiro miyamoto Naoki and Matsui Mitsubishi, all perished at the hands of the Tomahiro cattle, leaving a void in hearts.

For many, this is a very sad case to talk about and to add to the sadness is the inherent fear that we all feel when we realize that this attack was random, only seven people continued with their daily lives without warning or premonition, something that could not be prevented by the hands of a twisted individual. Thanks for watching another video today about coffee shop crime. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to be here if you found this video interesting or learned something new today. so remember to like the video and subscribe to Coffee House Crime if you haven't already.

So what do you think about Tomohiro's case? Sure he was a monster, but do you think it was his family and his lifestyle that were important factors for this please? Go ahead and let me know what you think in the comments below thanks again for watching today friends and as always I will be here behind this camera waiting for you next time until that time comes so take care of each other bye.