Mercy Killing?

I have been an avid reader of the leading Tokyo English-language magazine "Metropolis" since it was still known as "Tokyo Classified" (and not yet leading). During this time I have read some pretty good and some less-than-perfect articles, but I have never read anything so utterly unacceptable as the article "NO MERCY!" in "The Last Word" section of last week's issue (read the article here).

The author, Mr. C. B. Liddell, argues that for the sacredness of human life! Tatsuya Ichihashi, the suspected murderer of the British teacher, Lindsay Hawker* should be hanged. He does so, despite the fact that Ichihashi has not yet been convicted (at this point not even charged) with the murder. I wonder if Mr. Liddell has ever heard of the (as far as I know Anglo-Saxon) concept of "assumed innocent until proven guilty"? Instead, he bravely states: "Ichihashi is the culprit"!

What is more incredible is the twisted logic of the article. While he assumes that eventually Ichihashi will be sentenced to death, he fears that the foreign community, due to its opposition of capital punishment, will put pressure on the new, well-known anti-capital punishment justice minister, Ms. Keiko Chiba, whom he suspects to eventually "give in" to pressure and save the killer from the gallows, an assumed future act that the author labels NOW as "racist".

Wow. I am flattered by this train of thought - note the several IFs that seem to be necessary to arrive at this conclusion! - that finds so well ahead in time yet another example of racism against the white people in Japan. It is perhaps not besides the point to note that the reward for Ichihashi was more than three times higher than the highest ever rewards in Japan (3 million yen) usually offered to multiple murderers. As one foreign lady on TV recently very rightfully noted: "Just exactly how much would the reward have been if the victim had not been blond, white and beautiful, but say, a hostess from the Philippines?" Should not the principle of "equality under the law" that Mr. Liddell is defending so vigorously be sought HERE first? Sorry, Mr. Liddell, but bringing the "R" word into this context I cannot interpret it as anything other than the good-old colonial supremacy of the "unequal treaties" of the 19th century, with its distinct mothball smell.

I am personally not a supporter of capital punishment, but I can accept if somebody believes in it. Where Japan, as a country apparently does, I will certainly not join protest marches for saving Ichihashi life in case he is found guilty (which is indeed very probable). However I cannot accept that somebody demands capital punishment in the name of humanity for a not yet convicted suspect in a foreign country and then labels those who may be against it, as racist.

Finally, to crown the article, the illustration succeeds in dragging the article to an even lower level go and have a look it at Metropolis' page**; I refuse to post it here! I believe that depicting somebody, even a killer! hanging on the rope in his death agony look how funny, his legs are dangling! is more than distasteful, it is simply disgusting. The fact that Mr Liddell is noted as Metropolis` art editor only confirms that the magazine is a partner in this shameful piece of “journalism".

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* for those who are not familiar with the story: Tatsuya Ichihashi is widely suspected of killing the young English teacher, Ms. Lindsay Hawker two years ago. Ever since he was on the run and a record-high, 10 million yen (ca. 80.000 EUR) reward was offered for his capture. He has gone through several plastic surgeries and was eventually captured last week under the technicality of "abandoning the body". The investigation is being followed closely by the Japanese media. You can google the rest if you want to know more…

** since they have removed it from there; it was a photo-montage with Ichihachi's head in the nose and his (drawn) legs dangling