Nevada-Tan

About

Nevada-Tan is a character based on an 11-year-old Japanese schoolgirl who was charged with murdering her classmate in a Japanese school in 2004 in what known as "Sasebo slashing." The age of the offender and nature of the crime spurred interest in online communities both in Japan and worldwide. Many fan works and homages have been created as a result, with Nevada-Tan becoming a popular character on Japanese imageboards Futaba Channel and 2channel and, later, on 4chan.

Background

On June 1st 2004, an 11-year-old elementary school student murdered her 12-year-old classmate Satomi Mitarai (Japanese: 御手洗 怜美) by slitting her throat with a box cutter. The girl, whose name was withheld by most media outlets and who was referred to as "Girl A" as per Japanese legal procedures, returned back to her homeroom class with her clothes covered in blood. This event took place at an elementary school in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, thus receiving the name "Sasebo slashing."

Media Coverage and Identity of Nevada-Tan

Following extensive local news coverage in Japan, on June 3rd, 2004, BBC News was the first international news outlet to report on the incident.^[1]

As per Japanese legal procedures prohibiting the identification of juvenile offenders, the girl's real name wasn't released and Japanese police referred to her as "Girl A".^[2] Moreover, The Nagasaki District Legal Affairs Bureau cautioned^[3] Internet users against revealing the girl's photographs.

Despite efforts to protect the girl's identity, it was established a few days after the incident. On June 18th, 2004, users of the Japanese imageboard 2channel discovered the girl's identity after analyzing a photograph of her broadcast on Japanese television. According to All About Nevada-tan,^[4] Fuji Television also inadvertently uncovered her real name^[5] while showing some of her drawings, with her signature visible (辻菜摘 / Natsumi Tsuji).

After being placed into custody, Girl A admitted to the crime. After initially refusing to mention a motive, Girl A later confessed that it revolved around around an online quarrel with Mitarai. .^[7] Mitarai reportedly left negative comments regarding her physical appearance on Girl A's website, which was mostly dedicated to a horror flash game called The Red Room^[6] and fan fiction about a popular Japanese movie Battle Royale

Institutionalization and Release

Girl was sent to Nagasaki Family Court following failed attempts to try her as an adult and Japan-wide debates regarding age and criminal responsibility. On September 15th, 2014, a Japanese Family Court ruled to institutionalize Girl A despite her age due to the severity of her crime. She was then sent to Tochigi Prefecture Reformatory. The court originally sentenced Girl A to two years of involuntary commitment, with her sentence later extended. Girl A was reportedly released from the reformatory in September 2013 when she was 20 years old.^[19]

Spread

Popularity on Japanese Imageboards and Nickname

After the incident becoming a major topic on Japanese media in early June 2004, Girl A became an internet phenomenon and a cult symbol on the 2channel and Futaba Channel imageboards. 2channel users nicknamed her "Nevada-Tan" due to a "Nevada" pullover sweatshirt she was wearing in the photographs spread by the media, with "-tan" being the way a young child would pronounce the honorific "-chan" suffix.

News outlets brought attention to the unusual nature of a child killing another child based on comments made on the internet. Many articles also highlighted that Girl A's website was themed around gore and death. A large amount of fan art has been posted on the imageboards, with the fan arts typically showing cute or "moe" illustrations of Girl A, who was often depicted smeared with blood and holding a box-cutter, the murder weapon, in her hand. Many of the illustrations circulated at that time have been reuploaded to websites that collected information about Nevada-Tan.^[8][9]

Further Spread

Viral discussions about Nevada-Tan spread beyond Japanese imageboards to Western internet communities. Following the initial repots of the incident, users of several forums and imageboards discussed the event.^[10][11][12] An Urban Dictionary page for Nevada-Tan was created in August 2004.^[20] An Encyclopedia Dramatica (ED) entry was created in 2006.^[21]

On 4chan and SomethingAwful, Nevada-Tan has also become a subject of fan art. In a number of examples, Nevada-Chan was imagined as the enemy of Pedobear and a lolicon killer.

Aftermath and Influences

The school Girl A and Mitarai attended opted to print that year's yearbook with a blank page where students can print and place their own pictures of either or both girls. These photographs were distributed via CDs that were later destroyed to prevent them from getting leaked.

In June 2005, the online store that sold the University of Nevada hooded sweatshirt reported it to be their best-selling item in the site’s online statistics; a few weeks later, the University temporarily removed the sweatshirt from their catalog.

Battle Royale II: Requiem, a sequel to Battle Royale, was originally scheduled for a DVD release on the week following the incident.^[13] The creators decided to postpone the release due to events.^[14]

Australian indie rock band Love Outside Andromeda^[15] created a song about the incident called Boxcutter, Baby which was released on their debut self-titled album in 2004.

Nevada-Tan has on multiple occasions been a choice for cosplay among Japanese and Western convention goers.

Imageboard called iiichan dedicated an entire board to Girl A.^[16]

DeviantArt has also contributed to the fan art trend.^[17]

Nevada-Tan (German band)

In 2007, an emerging German band named themselves "Nevada Tan"^[18] as an homage to the meme and in an attempt to highlight social issues regarding social pressures towards students. The band was renamed to Panik in January 2008 after production and managerial disputes. Panik disbanded and then played their final show in April 2010.

Various Examples

Fan Art

Cosplay

Videos

Search Interest

External References