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Blogger Stabbed To Death After Internet Abuse Seminar (theguardian.com)

A prominent Japanese blogger has been stabbed to death minutes after giving a seminar on how to resolve personal disputes on the internet. The Guardian reports: Media reports said Kenichiro Okamoto, better known by his blogger name Hagex, died on Sunday evening after reportedly being attacked by a man he had argued with online. The suspect, Hidemitsu Matsumoto, allegedly followed Okamoto into the toilets after he had ended his talk at a venue in the south-western city of Fukuoka.

Okamoto was stabbed several times before staggering out of the toilets after his assailant, who fled on a bicycle, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. Okamoto, who sustained stab wounds to the chest and neck, was taken to hospital where he was confirmed dead. His attacker reportedly handed himself in almost three hours after the attack.

38 of 449 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Okamoto Killed in Fukuoka by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    You see that Alanis? That's irony.

  2. I must have read this right when it came out. by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 5, Insightful

    stabbed to death minutes after giving a seminar on how to resolve personal disputes on the internet.

    Not to be snarky here, but my first thought after reading this was "So I guess that's exactly NOT what you should do, huh?" (Sorry to be morbid.)

    At least the guy turned himself in soon afterwards. But he bothered the guy online, even kept making new IDs to hassle the guy after the previous one was disabled.

    What the hell is wrong with people? "Someone's wrong on the internet / in life and it's my duty / job / addiction to permanently correct them? Get over yourself and come up with a better argument. Make them come over to your side instead. Hell, maybe you'll even learn something yourself.

    Winston Churchill: A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

    --
    If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    1. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by Pinky's+Brain · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Could just be a twist on the classic stalker, who thinks he didn't get the attention he deserved from his target. Less about the concrete difference of opinions, but the fact that he thought he deserved replies.

    2. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 2, Funny

      stabbed to death minutes after giving a seminar on how to resolve personal disputes on the internet.

      Not to be snarky here, but my first thought after reading this was "So I guess that's exactly NOT what you should do, huh?" (Sorry to be morbid.) At least the guy turned himself in soon afterwards. But he bothered the guy online, even kept making new IDs to hassle the guy after the previous one was disabled. What the hell is wrong with people? "Someone's wrong on the internet / in life and it's my duty / job / addiction to permanently correct them? Get over yourself and come up with a better argument. Make them come over to your side instead. Hell, maybe you'll even learn something yourself. Winston Churchill: A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

      I know, right?

      They need to look at our progressive American way of doing things instead: throw people out of your restaurant, get them fired, and gather in mobs outside their house.

    3. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by ScentCone · · Score: 2

      What the hell is wrong with people?

      Knives.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    4. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What the hell is wrong with people? "Someone's wrong on the internet / in life and it's my duty / job / addiction to permanently correct them? Get over yourself and come up with a better argument. Make them come over to your side instead. Hell, maybe you'll even learn something yourself.

      Scott Adams has theorized that you simply can't reason with any human being and get them to change their mind on anything because all decisions are made on emotions, not facts. While I don't agree with him and have a differing theory, I can't at this time disprove his theory.

      I have a different theory that I'm not sure I want to fully go into here, but I'll summarize. I suspect that about 10% of the population sees everything in black and white terms. According to my theory, you simply can't reason with such people because they don't see anything in terms of gray and even worse, they don't understand that the way they see the world isn't how the vast majority of humans see it. So when you try to reason with them on anything they have a different opinion on, they think you are crazy because they think you have access to the exact same information they do and see the universe in the exact same way they do so thus you are stubbornly refusing to go along with reality by having a different point of view. They are truly incapable of understanding a different point of view on a subject.

      It could also simply be that the killer is mentally ill and none of the above applies. And in reply to another comment elsewhere, all I can say is killing someone you disagree with and then turning yourself in to the police and is a very Asian and in particular a very Japanese thing to do.

    5. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by Green+Mountain+Bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Freedom to be an asshole doesn't mean freedom from the consequences of being an asshole.

    6. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have a different theory that I'm not sure I want to fully go into here, but I'll summarize. I suspect that about 10% of the population sees everything in black and white terms.

      In a more or less recent conversation here about bad cops, someone brought up a possibly apocryphal but plausible-sounding anecdote about a cop suggesting that there's about 15% good cops, 15% bad cops, and the rest are followers who will just go along with whatever is happening. We could argue about the percentages (both in policing, and the general population) but I think a similar effect is at work in simply thinking. About 15% of people think, about 15% of people refuse to think, and the rest just go along with whatever is happening around them. If the people around them are thinking, they will give it a go. If the people around them aren't, they won't.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by jeff4747 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They need to look at our progressive American way of doing things instead: throw people out of your restaurant, get them fired, and gather in mobs outside their house.

      Or the conservative American way of doing things, throw people out of your bakery or restaurant, get them fired, gather in mobs outside their house, shoot them at church, firebomb their business....

    8. Re:I must have read this right when it came out. by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There aren't so many Nazis still running around. They've mostly aged out. So you're not talking about Nazis, you're talking about "people who I don't like, and so label Nazis so I'm free to advocate violence against them". Don't do that.

      He's not. He's talking about people marching around with RaHoWa banners and torches, chanting "Blood and soil! Blood and Soil!"

      And like most intelligent people, he's decided that people who look like Nazis, act like Nazis, and talk like Nazis are, for all practical purposes, Nazis.

      You are either a sympathiser or incredibly naïve to interpret it otherwise. Which is it?

      (That's a rhetorical question; it's pretty obvious from your sig that you are in fact an apologist for such types.)

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  3. seminar on resolving internet issues? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

    Seems to me that he either didn't practice what he lectured on, or his lecture probably wasn't worth attending....

    That said, I have to wonder what drove his attacker to (a) kill him, then (b) turn himself in within a few hours (but not immediately)....

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    1. Re:seminar on resolving internet issues? by The+Cynical+Critic · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My understanding is that the Japanese consider the risk of being caught of a crime to be pretty high, which it AFAIK is as their police isn't as overburdened as police is in many parts of the world, and you do get an unusually large amount of leniency if you do it. If you know you're almost definitely going to get caught, it's probably not worth it trying to run or cover your tracks.

      --
      "Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
    2. Re:seminar on resolving internet issues? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That said, I have to wonder what drove his attacker to (a) kill him, then (b) turn himself in within a few hours (but not immediately)....

      That's not uncommon, actually.

      People do the crime out of high emotion, then a little reason kicks back in afterward and they realize their situation is hopeless and they will be hunted down anyway.

      I actually know someone who did that (though he turned himself in in a couple of days, not hours).

    3. Re:seminar on resolving internet issues? by Kokuyo · · Score: 2

      You seem to be of the impression that killing a human being (or any animal) for the first time was somehow easy.

      Have you ever had a near-hit? Or an actual accident? There is such a thing called shock.

      Circumstances make me believe that this was premeditated, however planning to do something and even really wanting to do it is something entirely different than standing before the result.

  4. Worst argument ever? by The+Cynical+Critic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So I guess we can safely assume that he wasn't as great at resolving internet arguments as he thought he was?

    Because an argument that lead to one of the parties getting to pissed off they decided to find the other in meatspace so that could stab them to death can't have ended particularly well...

    --
    "Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
    1. Re:Worst argument ever? by pD-brane · · Score: 2

      So I guess we can safely assume that he wasn't as great at resolving internet arguments as he thought he was?

      You really cannot say that based on a single incident, and not knowing more about this specific issue (assuming you don't know more than I do).

    2. Re:Worst argument ever? by HalAtWork · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How do you resolve an argument with a deranged person? That's a different type of negotiating skill

  5. The tally is up to 3 now... by fibonacci8 · · Score: 5, Funny
    --
    Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
  6. APK by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

    That is why I never mess with you people online. You are all my friends.

  7. Lunatics on world stage by Martin+S. · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is also the case of the guy that flew from New Zealand to the US to attack teenage girl, and was shot.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/wor...

    1. Re:Lunatics on world stage by KiloByte · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Where the difference between dead victim and barely surviving assailant was that in the US you are allowed means to defend yourself.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  8. Hey ladies! by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    For your information, I give seminars on how to avoid crazy sex with multiple gorgeous women.

    Hint hint...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Hey ladies! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Unfortunately, your are still getting stabbed. The only thing changes is by whom.

    2. Re:Hey ladies! by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2

      There goes Roscoe again, out to get Crazy Cooter.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  9. Wrong assumption by sinij · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Deceased made wrong assumption - that you could resolve arguments and reach understanding with all people. This is just not true.

    Additionally, Internet is unlike person-to-person communication in a way that you don't screen your audience for sanity and you don't get non-verbal clues giving you an early warning that someone is about to blow the lid.

    More so, once people made up their mind it is virtually impossible to change their mind with logic. People change their behavior and convictions due to pain (social or otherwise) and not due to being convinced by evidence and reason.

    As such, the only rational approach to online and social media discourse is to act pseudonymously and acrimoniously.

    1. Re:Wrong assumption by sinij · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unfortunately, doxing is a thing regardless of how you behave. There are plenty of rational, civil, and well-meaning people that were dragged by a social mob. It is almost arbitrary on who gets targeted and why.
       
        Acting rationally and civilly is a handicap if your goal is to advance your ideas. Slogans and soundbites, shaming and insulting, and marginalization and uncharitable vilification of opposing views is by far more effective.
       
      This isn't how it should be, but this is how it is. Our society and norms are not designed for instant, global, and non-individual communication.

    2. Re:Wrong assumption by sinij · · Score: 2

      This goes much deeper than "some people are just wrong and they don't know it".

      First, right and wrong are not always binary or universal. It might not even be possible to know what is right for some situations. Instead, we ought to look at epistemology of one's beliefs. How well-justified one belief ought to determine its validity.
      Second, people might be committed to a certain beliefs in more than intellectual way. It could be part of their personal and group identity. It might be part of their upbringing. Changing your mind on something always have costs. If these costs are too high, such as reevaluating your associations and past decisions, individual is likely to hold to discredited ideas by deploying confirmation bias. More so, self-view also plays into this - admitting to being wrong have costs to your self-esteem.
      Third, ideas are fundamentally predictive models of the world. They don't have to be entirely correct to be accurate predictors. In this way, biologically and evolutionary, it isn't necessary to be correct all the time, rather it is necessary to not be too slow to respond. As such, simpler but flawed is heavily preferred over complex and accurate. We take all kinds of shortcut and heuristics in our thinking, it is natural and fundamental part of our thinking.

  10. Re:The illusion of safety by ScentCone · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No amount of self-defence training and no guns can save you from someone who wants to kill you.

    And yet guns (with and without owners seriously trained in self defense strategies, tactics, and legalities) are legally and constructively used hundreds of thousands of times every year to prevent violent assault or to mitigate one in progress. Guns have saved the lives of countless people that someone else wanted to kill. You seem to think that most violent assaults that end in someone's murder are all carried out by rational movie hit-men who spent the previous scene flipping through a folder of photos and getting a briefing from their handler before heading out in a late model BMW to kill their target. Here's the thing: no, you can't stop everyone intentional murder. But people defending themselves from violence - including the murderous variety - successfully use guns thousands and thousands of times every month. You seem to be suggesting that because the average person isn't likely to be able to stop a carefully planned murder that, therefore, all of those people who DO defend themselves should just give up and let their attackers have their way.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  11. Re:He was good, but... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...his opponent's technique was cutting edge.

    Stop being a hack: any way you slice it, it's too soon for using a sharp wit to mock his death.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  12. Re:The illusion of safety by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Doesn't mean I will take up arms against you. After all, the hobby isn't worth a human life.

    If you think the right to bear arms is about a hobby, hush.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  13. Re:The illusion of safety by butzwonker · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's because you've shifted the goalpost from "someone is out there to kill you" to "preventing violence".

    You seem to be suggesting that because the average person isn't likely to be able to stop a carefully planned murder that, therefore, all of those people who DO defend themselves should just give up and let their attackers have their way.

    No, I do not seem to be suggesting that. Learn how to read & understand texts!

  14. Re: Okamoto Killed in Fukuoka by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sounds like they need "sensible knife laws" in Japan....

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  15. Re:The illusion of safety by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Informative

    Killing somebody in anger is only "easy' if you're a psychopath. It's hard to imagine a non-psychopath saying such a thing. Who's anger raises to the level of murderousness? That's serious mental illness - which is the real violence problem in society.

    I'll tell you who does want to kill you though - Mao, Stalin, Pol-Pot, Leopold II, and Hitler. They are empirically far more dangerous.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  16. Re:The illusion of safety by Notabadguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Killing somebody in anger is only "easy' if you're a psychopath. It's hard to imagine a non-psychopath saying such a thing. Who's anger raises to the level of murderousness? That's serious mental illness - which is the real violence problem in society.

    I'll tell you who does want to kill you though - Mao, Stalin, Pol-Pot, Leopold II, and Hitler. They are empirically far more dangerous.

    Killing someone in anger *is* easy. That's a crime of passion, and it happens all the time, around the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    You don't have to be a psychopath, nor a sociopath for that, you only need to recognize that humans are prone to fits of extremes. In fact, being a psychopath is the absolute opposite of killing someone in anger. It's killing someone without feeling anything. I think I'm probably a psychopath; but I haven't killed enough people to tell.

    I said all that to say this - human life is cheap. There are more of us every day. There haven't even been any significant wars or depopulation events in living memory to make us feel fragile as a species. There are plenty of people who can look around themselves and see that no one is particularly important. Taking a life is socially repugnant, but ultimately irrelevant.

    If you've seen the movie "Punisher" or movies like it and thought, "Those men deserved to die," you're closer to the latter. If you refuse to watch it, or have seen it and thought, "He has no right to kill those men" you're closer to the former. In the context of this article, I treat everyone with respect - even people I hate, and it amazes me every time I see someone provoke another intentionally to rage - because you never know who might be ready to justify killing you - ranging from that blind rage crime of passion, to the coldly calculated, "I can make the world a little better for their absence."

  17. Re:How Could This Happen... by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 2

    Yeah, if the attacker had had a gun, I'm sure he could have at least gotten two or three other folks as collateral damage.

    --
    That is all.
  18. Re:How Could This Happen... by lgw · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When are you guys going to start a revolution with your pea-shooters? I heard that is why you need them: to protect us from a tyrannical government. So...when?

    If it's ever necessary, it will happen the same way it did last time. Citizens with guns, mostly ex-military and led by ex-military, will take military armories on the first day of the war. Military bases are gun-free zones, after all. (Yes, really, a soldier can't even carry his own personal gun on base.)

    Half the militia that fought the British troops in the Battles of Lexington and Concord were exactly the cliche - bunches of dumb, poorly trained hicks all related to one another. But half weren't, and they accomplished something.

    If you don't know US history, it might surprise you that the war started when the governor sent troops to confiscate military-style weapons from the populace. Didn't work out well for him, in the end.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  19. Non clickbaity details by zioncat · · Score: 2

    The suspect is a mentally unstable person who spent all day spamming comment sections of many blogs. The victim didn't really have an interaction with the murderer, he was just one of the victim of spam messages and reported him to admins. Suspect got flamed by some other commenter (not the victim) how internet warrior can't do anything in real life. After further taunting he decided to prove them wrong and randomly chose the victim because he happened to be holding a seminar near his house (the seminar wasn't really about 'how to resolve personal disputes on the internet' and more generally about dealing with multitude of problems in maintaining a blog).

  20. Civilized Society by SinGunner · · Score: 2

    The gun people will talk about how you "don't need guns to kill people" and miss the point that any single murder in Japan is NATIONAL NEWS on an island where half the population of the US is crammed in a space the size of California. A relatively "interesting" Japanese murder (like this one) frequently ends up GLOBAL NEWS because it's so damn rare.