Yesterday was the 1st anniversary of the unfortunate Deadly Stabbing In Akihabara. The stabbing rampage in Akihabara on 8 June 2008 ended with seven people killed and 10 others injured.

As you can see from the photo, many folks have placed flowers bouquests and offered prayers for those innocent victims. The accused Tomohiro Kato, a 26-year-old former temporary worker, has been charged with running down pedestrians with a truck in a vehicle-free shopping area on the afternoon of June 8 last year, a Sunday, and fatally stabbing passersby with a dagger after getting out of the truck. The Tokyo District Court is scheduled to hold a session on June 22 to decide proceedings for his trial.

Hiroshi Yuasa, 55, a taxi driver who was seriously injured in the incident, visited the crossroads early Monday morning and laid flowers. Yuasa said Kato should ‘‘tell all about the rampage honestly’’ in order for the souls of the dead victims to find repose.

Naoya Sugino, a 30-year-old game maker who was in Akihabara on the day of the killing spree, said he feels he could easily have become a victim of the rampage himself. ‘‘Why did such an incident happen? I still cannot figure it out,’’ he said while offering a prayer.

Two high school classmates of victim Mai Muto, who was 21 and a fourth year student at the Tokyo University of the Arts at the time of the incident, laid flowers at the site. A man who was her colleague in a music club, said, “It still hasn’t hit me that her life was taken last year and that she can no longer grow old along with the rest of us.”

Tsuyoshi Nagashima, 35, who comes to Akihabara every Sunday, witnessed Muto crying out in pain after being stabbed. “I can still hear her voice. Akihabara also died that day. I don’t ever want anything like this to happen again.”

Source: JapanToday

I can’t believe its taking the Tokyo District Court so long to prosecute that evil man. He had gotta pay for all those innocent folks he murdered and also the suspension of Akihabara as “Pedestrian Paradise”.