Kobe child murders
| Kobe child murders | |
|---|---|
Tomogaoka Junior High School, where one murder was committed. | |
| Location | Suma, Kobe, Japan |
| Date | March 16, 1997 (murder of Yamashita) May 24, 1997 (murder of Hase) |
Attack type | Child-on-child murder, double-murder, attempted murders, beheading, bludgeoning, strangling, stabbing |
| Weapons | Hammer, handsaw, knife |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Injured | 3 |
| Victims | Ayaka Yamashita (山下 彩花), aged 10 Jun Hase (土師 淳), aged 11 |
| Perpetrator | Shinichiro Azuma (東 真一郎) (a.k.a. "Boy A" or Seito Sakakibara) |
| Motive | Thrill |
| Convictions | Murder (2 counts) |
| Sentence | 6+2⁄3 years in juvenile detention |
The Kobe child murders (Japanese: 神戸連続児童殺傷事件, Hepburn: Kōbe renzoku jidō sasshō jiken) occurred in Suma, Kobe, Japan, on March 16 and May 27, 1997. Two victims, Ayaka Yamashita (山下 彩花, Yamashita Ayaka), aged 10, and Jun Hase (土師 淳, Hase Jun), aged 11, were murdered by a 14-year-old boy reportedly named Shinichiro Azuma (東 真一郎, Azuma Shin'ichirō), under the alias Seito Sakakibara (酒鬼薔薇 聖斗, Sakakibara Seito).
Azuma was arrested on June 28, 1997, in connection with the Hase murder, and later confessed to both murders. As a juvenile offender, he was prosecuted and convicted as "Boy A". Azuma's real name has not been officially released to the press because Japanese law prohibits publishing the identification, but in some weekly magazines his real name has been reported. Beginning in 2004, Azuma was released on provisional basis, with full release announced to follow on January 1, 2005. The murders and subsequent release of Azuma gained widespread attention from Japanese media and politicians.