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Panicky parents turn to self-defense classes for kids

A little girl learns how to defend herself against violent attackers at a children's self-defense class in Tokyo on March 19. The class teaches a form of self-defense that originated in the US in which a teacher, clad in protective gear, plays the bad guy and grabs the arms of children. PHOTO: AFP

Six-year-old Shino Katagiri does not start primary school until next month, but her mother is already putting her into classes -- on how to defend herself against violent attackers.

As an adult self-defense instructor plays the bad guy, the terrified little girl huddles into a chair and refuses to take part in the lesson her mother has brought her to.

It is nearly one hour before Shino musters the courage to try to do as she is asked: kick her skinheaded instructor. After tossing up her foot, which only reaches the instructor's leg, she bursts into tears.

"I felt tense," Shino says as she returns to sulking.

But her mother, Yumi Katagiri, has no regrets about putting her daughter into the Sunday-afternoon session.

"Recent crimes have reminded me that things are not the same as in my childhood," she says.

Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, but this season of cherry blossoms -- in which hopeful young people graduate from school -- brings back painful memories for some.

Seven girls among the 116 pupils who left Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka this month made no reply when their names were called in the graduation ceremony. They could not because they were all dead.

Japanese media widely reported on the ceremony and its poignant calling of the dead pupils' names, reminding the nation of the 2001 massacre at the school by a former psychiatric patient who stabbed to death eight children.

As Japan witnesses a steady series of grisly crimes against children, local governments are taking measures ranging from electronic monitoring systems to the distribution of metal pitchforks to teachers for catching assailants.

But some parents are looking for other ways to protect their kids.

Eighteen children including Shino, the youngest, are taking part in the two-hour lesson in Tokyo.

"Kick the shin! It hurts. If you still can't free your arms from him, kick right in the middle," instructor Rumiko Yagi says, telling children to smash the assailant in the crotch.

Yagi of the non-profit organization Impact Tokyo teaches a form of self-defense that originated in the US in which a teacher, clad in protective gear, plays the bad guy and grabs the arms of children.

In Japan, however, there are cultural issues too. Yagi says she has to break down mental barriers in children who are reluctant to yell or use force against other people.

Koji Ogawa, who plays the bad guy, says he tries to teach children "how they can escape, rather than showing difficult counter-attack techniques, as they are physically feeble, after all."

One parent who has turned to the classes, Yumiko Takagawa, says her own daughter narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt by a pair of men four years ago.

Her daughter Yukiho, now 13, returned home wailing and in panic.

"Child murder isn't just something that happens to other people," the mother says.

"I don't know what sways fate. There may be no perfect measure, but I want to do what I can do," Takagawa said.

For Shino's mother, the final straw was the murder of a seven-year-old girl who was strangled in Hiroshima in November, allegedly by a serial pedophile.

The Hiroshima killing was followed 10 days later by the discovery of the stabbed, naked body of a girl the same age in Ibaraki Prefecture east of Tokyo. Both girls were killed on their way home from school.

Shino's day-care center holds surprise drills in which a man climbs over the walls and enters the playground with a knife, she says, as her daughter knowingly explains that a scary man means children should go inside immediately.

But another parent at the self-defense class, Hideo Kim, admits that the real concern for his eight-year-old son, Eishi, is not adults but other youngsters.

"The real reason we came here was persistent bullying," the father says. "Self-defense is important as you never know what will happen to you."

The lesson ends with the children shouting "No!" together and stomping on the ground.
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