The killing provoked a debate in Japan whether the
age of criminal responsibility, lowered from 16 to 14 in 2000 due to the 1997
Kobe child murders, needed to be lowered again. Girl A was considered to be a normal and well-adjusted child before the incident, which made the public more anxious. Members of the
Japanese Diet, such as
Kiichi Inoue and
Sadakazu Tanigaki, came under criticism for comments made in the wake of the killing. Inoue was criticized for referring to Girl A as
genki (vigorous, lively). Tanigaki was criticized for referring to the method of killing, slitting of the throat, as a "manly" act. Girl A became the subject of an
Internet meme on Japanese web communities such as
2channel. She was nicknamed "Nevada-tan" because a class photograph showed a young girl believed to be her wearing a
University of Nevada, Reno sweatshirt, with being a childlike pronunciation of the
Japanese honorific suffix , generally used to refer to young girls.
Akio Mori cited the case in support of his controversial "
game brain" theory, which has been criticized as
pseudoscience. Girl A was reported to be a fan of the death-themed
Flash animation "
Red Room", a claim used in support of the theory. Girl A had also read the controversial novel
Battle Royale and had seen its
film adaptation, which centers on young students fighting to the death. On March 18, 2005, during the Okubo Elementary graduation ceremony, students were given a graduation album with a blank page in honor of Mitarai's death, on which they could put pictures of Mitarai, Girl A, or class pictures with both girls. Mitarai was posthumously awarded a graduation certificate, which her father accepted on her behalf. Girl A was also awarded a certificate, as one is required in Japan in order to enter middle school, and the school believed it would aid her "reintegration into society". ==See also==