A solemn memorial ceremony was held Tuesday to pray for the eight children murdered in a 2001 stabbing rampage at the Ikeda Elementary School attached to Osaka Kyoiku University in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture.
Fifteen others, including two teachers, were injured in the attack, which was carried out by a single perpetrator and sent shock waves through society.
Mamoru Takuma, then 37, entered the school on the morning of June 8, 2001, armed with a kitchen knife, and started attacking children one after another. His criminal trial resulted in a death sentence, and he was executed in 2004.
Tuesday's ceremony started in front of the school's old main gate at 10:12 a.m., the time that the massacre began. The eight bells of the monument engraved with the eight victims' names were rung, while the attendees observed a moment of silence.
In the past, more than 1,000 people have attended the ceremony each year, but this year's number was reduced, as was last year's, due to the coronavirus crisis. About 130 people were present on Tuesday, including the bereaved families, teachers and sixth-graders.
"At that time, we were not prepared for the possible intrusion of a suspicious person, due to our belief that schools were a safe place," said school Principal Takumi Sanada, 53, who at the time of the massacre was a sixth-grade homeroom teacher.
"There is no shortcut to guaranteeing the safety of schools, so we must continue our steady efforts and not let this incident fade away," Sanada said.
Three sixth-graders representing the children vowed that they would continue to talk about the incident, in order to create a society where no one will ever have to go through such a painful experience again.
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