Akihabara Memorial

On June 8, 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove his truck into a crowd in Akihabara, and then got out and started attacking people with a knife, killing 7 and injuring 10 people. He was eventually detained and charged, but as of today has not been tried.



This memorial was assembled by visitors to the area, which is on Chuu-ou Dori, just 2 blocks west of the UDX building. I discovered it by accident on Sunday, June 7, and as I approached, one man was kneeling and praying in front of the flowers while a couple others took his photo. When he was done, they all left, so it looked staged. However, the photo in the Japan Times was dated Monday, so I can't say if it was the same guy or not.

For the most part, the pedestrians on Sunday ignored the memorial, or just looked at it curiously as if they didn't know why it was there.