At the Research Center for Ars Vivendi of Ritsumeikan University, our hearts
are with those 19 individuals with intellectual disabilities, who were
killed at “Tsukui Yamayuri En”, in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture,
on 26 July 2016, their surviving families, friends and their community. We
wish those injured swift recovery.
We have been approached by national and local newspapers, news agencies,
magazines and TV stations for comments about this major tragedy. Below you
find two comments made by our members.
LISTEN TO THE VOICES
Professor NAGASE Osamu
I feel very angry and profoundly sad at this mass murder at Tsukui Yamayuri
Residential Institution today.
Currently there is a lot of media coverage of the suspect. I wish
to know what led to this barbaric act and about the killer.
At the same time, I wish to know about the victims, whose lives have
been violently taken. What did each individual enjoy? What did he/she work
on?
The victims had one thing common; they were all disabled. But each
one, as a person first before disability, must have been leading a life
feeling happy, angry, sad, and joyful, just like non-disabled people.
We should be able to learn more from this horrible tragedy by
knowing more about each individual. By doing so, we should be able to value
each and every life. In order to listen to the voices of those lost; I wish
to know more about them.
I hope that Kanagawa Newspaper, as a local newspaper, will take
time to have the complete picture of this tragedy and in its reporting, do
not neglect the perspective of those individuals who lost their lives. They
are not just numbers.
(28 July 2016, Kanagawa Newspaper)
DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SOCIETY AND ATTACK TO THE VULNERABLE
Professor Shin’ya Tateiwa (Director of the Center)
The sense of discontent, “I am unfairly treated”, leads people to attack
who are placed in more vulnerable positions, including persons with
disabilities and immigrants. Perhaps the suspect could have been
discontented. The suspect is not the only one to say that persons with
severe disabilities are better dead. There are more who express similar
views on the internet. They are just completely wrong. Another issue is
the heavy cost of supporting persons with disabilities. There is no
evidence to prove this but this is used to make people feel uneasy. We have
to be cool-headed. The suspect is reported to have a history of being
forcibly placed in a mental institution. But his mental illness did not
make him commit the crime. The statistics shows us that the crime rate
among persons with psychosocial disabilities is lower than that of those
without. It is very important not to spread the prejudice against persons
with psychosocial disabilities, saying that they are dangerous and that they
should be isolated.
(28 July 2016, Asahi Shimbun, morning edition)
[Ars Vivendi E-mail Magazine]
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General Editor : Shin'ya Tateiwa
Chief Editor : Nagase Osamu
Published by Research Center for Ars Vivendi, Ritsumeikan University
56-1 Kitamachi, Tojiin, Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan 603-8577
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