Tokyo university knife attacker carried liters of flammable liquid: police

What a sad story! Clearly what he did was abhorrent and he needs to be punished. At the same time, the fact that he wanted to die because his grades shows the immense pressure he felt he was under. And, probably no one he could open to about these feelings and have them say, it's ok - lots of people don't get into that school and still live perfectly happy lives. He sounds very young and confused. Again, not condoning what he did, but seems like a lot of adults in his life failed him too. Terrible shame.

Stabbing innocent people in the back. Very evil and cowardly. Hope he is locked away forever, either in a mental institution or prison.

the fact that he wanted to die because his grades shows the immense pressure he felt he was under

In contrary, there was an immense lack of pressure, otherwise he would have had much better grades.

What he did was wrong by any moral yardstick and must be treated as such.

The causes ascribed to his behaviour are indicative of sickness, but a sickness in the society that puts unsustainable pressure and expectations on young developing minds to the point they break, howsoever that break manifests its self.

No child should feel that he is failing his entire life at so young an age just because of school work, not to mention that ideas and ambitions change as we grow up and what he thinks he wants to do (or is being pressured in to thinking he should do) in his life at this age can and probably will change. My ambitions changed over my childhood several times and I ended up doing something different again! We all evolve as we grow.

Typical result of a dehumanized and competitive society where there's no room for kids with no or lower academic skills.

They often think ending life(s) is the only escape while no support and other solutions are offered to them.

Governement and media will fingerpoint individual behaviors only without a deep investigation on the roots of the problem.

Life in Japan could be good for all by getting rid of the Standardized university entrance exams. They are a waste. Common sense goes a lot further than book sense. These Standardized university entrance exams does nothing but create haves and have nots, and give the students at an early age in life that if they don't get into a good university they are a failure.

When the school system is run for the benefit of capitalism and business, dehumanization is a given.

The history of modern public education is a history of tension between two, conflicting ideas about education: one philosophical and one industrial.

The philosophical argument states that the purpose of education is to inform and expand a student’s worldviews and that it is a moral good for everyone to receive knowledge of the arts, literature, mathematics, the sciences and ethics. Education is an end in and of itself and a society that is more educated is an inherently more moral and prosperous one.

However, as the Industrial Revolution created massive businesses, education shifted. Corporate interests needed an army of middle management to supervise their growing industrial empires and that usually meant accounting and book-keeping. So industrialists began to fund public education that focused strictly on rote repetition of arithmetic and literacy so that the education system would give each student knowledge of these subjects and thus lower training costs for arithmetic and literacy-based labor. Education is no longer seen as a noble end unto itself, but that education should exist solely as a pipeline to employment and that those who do not wish to or cannot be be funneled into said pipeline are actively hounded, either to force them back onto the assembly line or to run them out of society completely.

. . . what makes this type of person feel they are disenfranchised?

There is a lot of unhappiness in Japan at the moment- I hear a lot of negativity from ordinary people.

This the parents duty, if their son have a dream to be they should supported him. There's a mendan in school, and I'm sure the parent well aware of that matter about their son status? A communication and guidance that kid is needed not a silence in the house.

He was hoping to attend the University of Tokyo, the most prestigious school in Japan, to become a doctor but was struggling with falling grades lately, the police said.

"I was not doing well in my studies, so I wanted to cause an incident and die," he was quoted as saying.

I've talked to some students about this and the pressure they're facing is about as bad as adult from other countries. No kid should be made to go through such at a very young age. Some make it and some break. I'm not condoning the attack, but this is another case of just how restrictive this way of life is - it you fail, your life is essentially over. This should not be the case. As for the crime, let's just be thankful that the fires he lit didn't kill or hurt anyone. This guy needs some help and some time off. Who knows how many people who are bursting at the seams are still out there.

He could have jumped off a cliff into the sea, or into an active volcano.

It's not just that he wanted to die, but that he wanted to pull others with him. What is the psychology of that?

not condoning what he did, but seems like a lot of adults in his life failed him too.

no, you're ot condoning him, but you are also not placing the blame squarely on him, which is where it should only be. i don't care how much pressure someone is under but there are many other options than taking a knife and randomly stabbing 3 innocent people. one immediate option would be to just commit suicide instead of suicide by cop/state.

Another product of the insane competitive japanese school system and the juku system.

Most children in japan struggle and cry inside in silence, accept their destiny, and become the yes-men yes-women drones. Some become mad.