Armed policemen patrol routes to schools, education officials draw up safety maps and young students carry alarms in case they need to call for emergency help.
A spate of grisly crimes targeting schoolchildren has horrified Japan and dealt a serious blow to its image as a safe country for children. The killings -- one girl's corpse was stuffed into a box, another victim was stabbed a dozen times in the chest, a third also stabbed, allegedly by a teacher yesterday -- have put authorities on alert, and parents on edge.
The relatively peaceful country is reassessing such traditions as letting young children make long walk longs to school on their own. Along with the uniform and first book bag, the walk to school -- a 40-minute trek in rural areas -- has long been a rite of passage for children entering first grade.
"I would never let my son go out alone. I like to have him around where I can keep an eye on him," said Naoko Ishibashi, a Tokyo housewife and mother of a five-year-old. "These days, I feel worried when I see any child walking alone in the streets."
Education authorities and police are examining the routes children take to school, warning students about talking to strangers and establishing neighborhood "safe-houses" where kids can flee if they feel threatened.
Technology also is playing a part. Authorities are stepping up plans to provide children with special alarms and tracking devices, and to establish cellphone networks to alert parents and children in an area when a threat is spotted.
The issue has attracted attention from the government's highest levels.
"Distressful and regrettable incidents have been occurring, and it's a problem that we need to take seriously," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said days ago. "We need to strengthen cooperation between police, officials ... and families."
Crime in general has increased in Japan during the past decade of economic malaise, but the recent string of child killings has been especially disturbing.
On Nov. 22, the strangled body of 7-year-old Airi Kinoshita was found taped inside a box at a parking lot in Hiroshima in southwestern Japan.
On Dec. 2, Yuki Yoshida, also 7, was found stabbed to death in a forest northeast of Tokyo.
The latest killing came yesterday morning, when a teacher in the western town of Uji allegedly stabbed a 12-year-old schoolgirl, said Kyoto prefectural police official Junichi Fujinaga.
The attack at school followed an argument between the two, he said.
The first killing generated fevered coverage in Japan's media when a Peruvian immigrant was arrested, fueling fears that growing numbers of foreigners are behind rising crime.
The teacher suspected in yesterday's killing was arrested, but no one has yet been apprehended in the second.
The number of crimes against children edged up 2 percent from 2000 to last year, but murders of children jumped 50 percent -- from 20 in 2000 to 30 last year. The number of other serious crimes is also up.
Until the Osaka attack, schools prided themselves on being open to the community, with anyone able to enter the grounds. But afterward campus gates were locked, guards posted and round-the-clock surveillance set up.
The recent attacks have been outside school grounds, meaning educators, police and parents have to work together on countermeasures, officials said.
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