Sakakibara Seito / “Boy A”

This week, Isaac and Demetria discuss the gruesome series of child murders that took place in Kobe in 1997, and the circumstances surrounding the eventual capture and trial of the killer — a 14-year-old high school boy. 

Content warning: Discussion of child death, discussion of mental health in a society that stigmatizes mental illness.

Featured image: The school gate at Kobe Municipal Tomogaoka Junior High School. For hopefully obvious reasons, I won’t be posting any pictures of the killer or victim. (Image source)