Nevada-tan and the Saesbo Slashing

4 Apr

Some of the ‘Nevada-tan’ fan art created after the Saesbo Slashing incident. Photo: skdesu

During the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on June 1, 2004, "Girl A," or “Nevada-tan” an 11-year-old schoolgirl, killed her 12-year-old classmate Satomi Mitarai in an empty classroom. She then went on to become an internet meme.

Who was Satomi Mitarai?

Satomi Mitari pictured not long before her death at age 12. Photo: Morbidology

Satomi Mitarai was the youngest and only daughter of her family, with two older brothers.

Her mother passed away from cancer in September 2001, and at the time of the incident, she was living with her father and 14-year-old brother on the third floor of an apartment building.

Her oldest brother was a 20-year-old university student who lived away from home. They moved to the city of Saesbo when her father's job required it, and she started attending Okubo Elementary School in April 2002.

During a news conference in the evening, Mitarai's father expressed that he was clueless as to why the tragedy occurred. He described his daughter as being as important to him as the air he breathes, and said he could not fathom life without her.

When he received a call from school officials telling him that his daughter had been injured, he rushed over from his nearby workplace and found her motionless on the classroom floor.

He stated that he had never heard of any problems at school from her and had been raising her with affection while being mindful not to spoil her since losing his wife two years prior.

He revealed that he had not seen his daughter off to school that morning because he was preoccupied with doing laundry. When asked what he wanted to convey to the perpetrator, he expressed hope that, since the culprit was around the same age as his daughter, they would explain what had happened when they were in a calmer state.

Who was “Nevada-tan”?

“Nevada-tan” was the nickname given to the Satomi Mitarai’s killer by internet users. She was also known as “Girl A” during the police investigations. Due to her age at the time of the crime Japanese law prohibited news agencies from publishing the girl’s real name.

The Murder of Satomi Mitarai

Buzzfeed Unsolved covers the story of Nevada-tan and the Saesbo Slashing.

On June 1, 2004, a teacher at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Japan made a horrific discovery in an empty classroom - the lifeless body of 12-year-old Satomi Mitarai lying in a pool of her own blood.

She had suffered cuts to her arms and her throat had been slashed, and she had been left to bleed to death on the classroom floor. The teacher became aware of the situation when an 11-year-old student, Girl A, entered the classroom wearing clothing splattered with blood.

The student approached the teacher and ominously confessed, "I have done a bad thing." An investigation later revealed that the bloodstained student had attacked Satomi with a box cutter. She had lured Satomi out of their classroom during lunchtime and took her into the nearby empty classroom, where the attack occurred.

The paramedics who arrived at the scene pronounced Satomi dead. One of them attempted to check her pulse but was unable to do so due to the severity of the cuts on her neck, as they reported, "I tried to take the girl's pulse but couldn't because her neck was cut so extensively."

Girl A was taken into custody and immediately confessed to the crime, repeatedly saying "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police officers. She spent the night crying and refusing to eat or drink.

Initially, she gave no motive for the killing, but later confessed that she and Mitarai had argued because of messages exchanged online. Girl A claimed that Mitarai had insulted her by making derogatory comments about her weight and calling her a "goody-goody".

On September 15, 2004, the Japanese Family Court decided to institutionalize Girl A despite her young age, citing the severity of the crime. She was sent to a reformatory in Tochigi Prefecture.

The Nagasaki family court had sentenced her to two years of involuntary commitment, but her sentence was extended by two years in September 2006, following a psychological evaluation. On May 29, 2008, local authorities announced that they would not seek an additional sentence.

The Aftermath of the Saesbo Slashing

The murder of Satomi by her 11-year-old classmate, Girl A, was a shocking event that left the entire nation of Japan in disbelief.

The fact that the crime had been committed by two young children inside an elementary school made it all the more disturbing.

Although violent crime was uncommon in Japan, there had been a growing concern about serious juvenile crimes, prompting the legal age of criminal responsibility to be lowered from 16 to 14, three years prior.

In response to this tragic incident, education officials urged teachers to review their school curriculums and emphasize the importance of compassion and respect for human life. Tasunao Seki, an official at the Education Ministry, expressed his regret and urged everyone to take extra measures to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

The Nevada-tan Meme

Users of internet forum 2chan gave Girl A the nickname "Nevada-tan". This was because of the sweatshirt she wore during the murder, which had the word "Nevada" on it. Additionally, "-tan" was added to the nickname as a playful reference to the honorific "-chan", which is often used for young children.

A staggering amount of fan art was created as people began to idolize Nevada-tan.

During June 2005, the internet-based shop that marketed the University of Nevada hooded sweatshirt (which Nevada-tan wore during the murder) declared that it was their top-selling product. A couple of weeks later, once realizing the reason for the increase in sales, the University removed the sweatshirt from its catalog.