Victims of Sagamihara care home attack mourned 6 yrs on

SAGAMIHARA (Jiji Press) — A memorial service was held Tuesday to mourn the victims of a knifing rampage that took place at a care home for mentally disabled people in Sagamihara, exactly six years ago.

The memorial event was held at the gymnasium of the care facility, Tsukui Yamayuri-en, attended by 62 people, including Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa, Sagamihara Mayor Kentaro Motomura and Dai Shimamura, parliamentary vice minister of welfare.

The participants offered silent prayers, following a speech by Kuroiwa.

“We will never forget you all,” Kazuma Otsuki, head of a family association at the facility, said in the ceremony.

After the ceremony, the participants laid flowers in front of a memorial monument at the facility.

In the rampage, which occurred in the small hours of July 26, 2016, Satoshi Uematsu, a former worker of the care home, broke into the facility and stabbed 19 residents to death while injuring 26 others.

Although his death sentence became final in March 2020, Uematsu, now 32, filed a request for a retrial with the Yokohama District Court in April this year.