Victims of Sagamihara Care Home Attack Remembered 10 Years On

Sagamihara, Kanagawa Pref., July 25 (Jiji Press)–A memorial ceremony was held Saturday to remember the 19 victims of the 2016 mass stabbing at a care home for people with disabilities in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, a day before the 10th anniversary of the incident. The ceremony was previously held at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en care home, but this year, it took place at a larger venue in Sagamihara to attract more attendees, according to the prefectural government, one of the organizers of the event. Kanagawa Governor Yuji Kuroiwa, bereaved family members and others connected with the facility took part. The podium was decorated with 19 colorful “yamayuri” golden-rayed lilies made of “origami” paper by residents of the care home and others, along with white flowers. “The deep sorrow remains even after 10 long years,” said Kiyomitsu Nagai, 56, head of the facility, in a memorial speech. “I am truly grateful to have known you all and lived in the same era,” he said of the victims. Beside Nagai, Masanao Shimada, 56, chairman of an association of the facility’s residents, responded with words of affirmation. Kazuma Otsuki, 76, who has led a group of families of the facility’s users since the time of the attack, said: “I can still hear the cries I heard in the waiting room for bereaved families. I sincerely pray for the victims’ repose and hope that the bereaved families can live in peace.” After the ceremony, participants laid flowers in memory of the victims, and experts and others held a meeting to discuss the prefectural government’s goal of improving welfare services for people with disabilities from the perspective of service users. “Discrimination has not disappeared yet,” said Shosaku Koide, 83, chairman of a federation for people with disabilities in Sagamihara, stressing the importance of raising public awareness about efforts related to people with disabilities. At a press conference after the ceremony, the Kanagawa governor said, “We have been striving to build an inclusive society, but we are not even halfway there yet.” He renewed his commitment to improving the welfare of people with disabilities, saying that the prefecture must continue working toward that goal. The prefectural government’s “digital flower offering” initiative, which began accepting submissions on July 17, had received 950 tributes by noon on Saturday. The service will remain available until Aug. 31. The attack occurred in the early hours of July 26, 2016, at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en care home, where Satoshi Uematsu, a former employee of the facility, now 36, broke in and killed 19 residents while injuring 26 others, including staff members. Uematsu’s death sentence was finalized in March 2020. He filed a second petition for a retrial in January this year. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]