Akihabara stabbing accused admits guilt

The man charged with the 2008 fatal stabbing rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district has admitted to the charges at his first court appearance and apologized to the victims and their families.

Tokyo District Court on Thursday began the trial of 27-year-old Tomohiro Kato. The defendant is charged with ramming a truck into a crowd in the busy shopping district and randomly stabbing passers-by. Seven people were killed and 10 others injured.

Kato read out a statement saying that he admitted to the charges, but that he does not remember some parts of the incident. He said he is deeply sorry for those who were killed or injured or who lost loved ones, and that the best thing he can do to repent for his crime is to let people know how it happened.

The defense lawyers, however, said prosecutors' claims that Kato was capable of taking responsibility for the incident because he could understand the consequences of his crimes is questionable.

The prosecutors said working in a temporary job meant Kato was unhappy that his worth was not correctly understood, leading him to consider a mobile-phone website as the only place where he could share his frustration.

They said Kato came to view everybody as his enemy after he found messages encouraging him disappearing from the site.

They insisted that the defendant wanted to take revenge against those who had ignored him and make them recognize his existence by committing a serious crime.

Defendant in Akihabara rampage apologizes

A man who killed 7 people and wounded 10 in a random attack in Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district last year has sent a letter of apology to one of the victims.

In June of last year, former part-time worker Tomohiro Kato went on a stabbing spree after ramming a truck into a crowd of pedestrians at a crossing in the district's vehicle-free zone. He has been indicted on murder and other charges.

On Friday, former taxi driver Hiroshi Yuasa, who fell temporarily unconscious after being attacked, received the 6-page letter through Kato's lawyer.

The letter says the defendant truly apologizes and has no excuses for his actions.
It also says that Kato's regrets and apologies could never make up for what he did and he deserves to die 10,000 times for his crimes.

The letter gave no motive or background reasons, saying only that Kato hardly remembers the incident.

Yuasa said he gained the impression from the letter that Kato was a decent young man and that he cannot understand why he caused such an incident.

He said he plans to send a reply to Kato and ask him to tell everything he knows to prevent a similar incident from happening again.