Stabbing of 17 Children Shocks Japan, Where Parents Trust Streets Are Safe

NYT - Satoru Shitori, the vice principal, said he had been waiting at the bus stop on Tuesday morning, as he did every morning, to help children who had come from the train station to board one of the eight private buses that the school runs back and forth to the campus.

About 70 students, most of whom had been escorted by a teacher from the train station, were standing in line. Mr. Shitori said he had just helped about six students board the bus when he heard screams coming from the back of the line.

In Kawasaki, residents were stunned by the stabbings in this community of commuters, who have the option of two train lines that can take them either to central Tokyo or to Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city.