Photo/Illutration A student attending the Shenzhen Japanese School was attacked by a knife-wielding man near this area in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on Sept. 18. (Yohei Kobayakawa)

SHENZHEN, China--A Japanese boy died on Sept. 19 after being stabbed while walking to school here, an attack that has rattled Japanese expat communities around China.

Yoshiko Kijima, the Japanese consul-general in Guangzhou, said the 10-year-old boy died at a hospital in the early hours of Sept. 19.

He was with a parent near the Shenzhen Japanese School when he was stabbed in the abdomen by a knife-wielding man on Sept. 18 in this city in Guangdong province, Kijima said.

Chinese authorities have arrested a 44-year-old male suspect.

Although the motive for the attack was still unclear, fears have been rekindled that anti-Japanese sentiment is spreading on Chinese social media sites, and the hatred is resulting in physical assaults.

Shenzhen Japanese School officials said a witness reported a man carrying a knife near the site on the morning of Sept. 18.

‘USUALLY A SAFE AREA’

Shenzhen is an international city that has rapidly grown since China’s bold “reform and opening up” economic policy. It has become a hub for high-tech industries, and many Japanese companies have expanded to the area.

According to the Shenzhen Japanese School’s website, the school opened in 2008 and had 273 children, including 216 elementary school pupils and 57 junior high school students, enrolled as of April.

Many Japanese families live in apartments near the school. And the children are often accompanied by their parents on the walk to school.

“I’ve lived here for just under three years and always felt it was safe with friendly people, so I never imagined something like this could happen in Shenzhen,” said a mother of two children who attend the school.

According to local sources, the area is also home to international schools, and many foreign people live there due to its proximity to Hong Kong.

The Chinese residents are generally welcoming toward foreign nationals, the sources said.

The attack on the boy has marred that image.

A woman walking with her grandchild near the site on the afternoon on Sept. 18 muttered, “This is usually a safe area.”

‘AVOID SPEAKING JAPANESE’

In June, another knife-wielding man attacked a Japanese school’s bus in Suzhou in Jiangsu province, near Shanghai, at a bus stop. A Japanese mother and her child were injured.

A Chinese guide on the bus tried to stop the man from boarding but he stabbed her to death.

A suspect was arrested, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry described the attack as “accidental.”

After that attack, Japanese schools in China heightened security measures, including having teachers conduct patrols during arrival and departure times of the children.

A 40-year-old mother whose son attends a Japanese school in Beijing was shocked after the latest attack.

“I feel like Japanese school children are being deliberately targeted in these repeated attacks,” she said. “For now, we’ll try to avoid speaking Japanese in public as much as possible.”

Kenji Kanasugi, the Japanese ambassador to China, spoke to reporters in Beijing on the evening of Sept. 18, saying, “We deeply regret that this incident occurred.”

Kanasugi added that he had asked the Chinese Foreign Ministry to investigate the attacks, including the one in Suzhou in June, and explain why they happened.

“So far, we have not received an explanation that satisfies us,” he said.

Following the attack in Suzhou, numerous posts on Chinese social media glorified the suspect as a hero.

Chinese search engine giant Baidu and other IT companies took the rare step of regulating extreme content. Chinese government authorities are also believed to have raised concerns about the postings.

However, even now, clips continue to appear on video-sharing apps, including drone footage of Japanese schools and people criticizing the Japanese presence in China.

(This article was written by Yohei Kobayakawa, correspondent in Shenzhen, and Ryo Inoue, correspondent in Beijing.)

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