Finding the Strength to Live 生きる力　～神戸児童連続殺傷事件　遺族の25年～ 2022

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The Kobe Serial Child Murders occurred in Kobe, Japan in 1997. A 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy were brutally killed by a murderer who hid behind the alias Seito Sakakibara (酒鬼薔薇聖斗), and when arrested was discovered to be a 14-year-old boy. The fact astonished the whole country, but as a juvenile offender, he was prosecuted and convicted anonymously, known only to the public as “Boy A.” Kenji Yamashita is the father of the victim, Ayaka Yamashita. He still keeps Ayaka’s calligraphy, written right before her murder, on the wall of his house which shows the words: -“Strength to Live”（生きる力）- He avoided any press after the case, but has decided to share his story with society in order to find closure. What is atonement? What is the strength to live? The period of 25 years, through which we have exclusively been following the victim, raises critical questions for us all.