Found Poetry Amid Akihabara Brutality
The absurdity and sadness of random murder, and the inconsolable grief of the beloved of the dead and injured, is the story--and it's not a story, per se, but a reality. As of this writing, seven people are dead, and 10 injured, for no reason other than being in Akihabara, Tokyo's mecca of electronics and pop culture, at midday on Sunday.
What follows is a translation of Kato's account of the hours and minutes leading up to his acts of violence. It breaks off approximately twenty minutes before his Sunday attack (o:20)--and it reads like a bit of untreated found poetry, a narrative of the mundane and the obscene, with lines that speak of other lines, other sensibilities, not unlike a serious poem.
(Thanks to blogger Patrick Macias for the post.)
am 5:21 I'm going to kill people in Akihabara. I'll crash into them by
car, and when the car is down, I'll use my knife. Goodbye everybody
am 5:21 sleepy
am 5:34 I still have headache
am 5:35 weather man says it's a rainy day. Worst.
am 5:44 The worst case is that I'll get caught during(the killing spree)
am 6:00 I'm not being cheated, maybe I am the one who cheats
am 6:02 I'm used to play a good guy. Everybody believe it so easily.
am 6:03 Adults liked me, since I am "a good kid".
am 6:03 Couldn't make any friends
am 6:04 still, there were few who got along with me
am 6:05 Some of them kept me in their mailing list, that makes me feel
good a bit
am 6:10 The road I was to take is sealed. Everything is against me
am 6:31 It's time. Let's go
am 6:39 I have to fight my headache
am 6:49 and the rain
am 6:50 and the time
am 7:30 I did my homework perfectly and look at this rain
am 9:41 I hope the weather gets better
am 9:48 Now I'm in Kanagawa. resting. Everything is fine so far
am 10:53 Heavy trafic jam. Dunno if I get there on time
am 11:07 Shibuya sucks
am 11:17 It is sunny around here
am 11:45 arrived on Akihabara
am 11:45 Hokoten (pedestrian day) today, isn't it?
pm 0:10 Now it's the time
.jpg)