Among the cheerful mess of backpacks and coats hanging in classrooms at Kuroyama Elementary School in Osaka's Miharacho leans a long staff with a U-shaped tip. Called a sasumata, it is modeled after a police weapon dating back to the Edo Period (1603-1867).
The Osaka school is one of many elementary schools across the nation that purchased sasumata after an intruder stormed into a fifth-grade classroom and attacked children with a knife at Kyoto's Uji Elementary School last December.
Used properly, sasumata can either keep an assailant at a distance while immobilizing his arms and torso or knock him to the ground.
``We asked the police for suggestions on how to protect our kids and they said sasumata are the best nonlethal weapons. They can quickly put distance between you and the attacker,'' said Takahiko Azuma of Miharacho school board.
Aluminum sasumata, priced from 10,000 to 15,000 yen, are widely available on the Internet and from companies selling self-defense items, including Fushimi Co. in Shizuoka.
In the two weeks following the Uji attack, Fushimi sold more sasumata to schools than the company normally sells in a year.
``The jump in sales was unexpected. I was surprised the terrible incident in Uji could have such an affect on my business,'' said owner Jyunsaku Fushimi. ``We never dreamed of selling sasumata to elementary schools.''
Last year, Fushimi produced 40 sasumata for financial institutions, which keep the weapons near bank vaults, and police. He sold 60 to schools in December and 70 more in January.
The National Police Agency reported last month there were 22 intrusions at elementary schools nationwide in 2003.
For school administrators scrambling for ways to protect children, it made sense to leaf through the pages of history for ideas to deal with the escalating crime rate, school board member Azuma said.
Sasumata, a defensive weapon used by feudal police, remain useful only because guns are strictly controlled in Japan and most attackers are armed with knives.
Some schools, such as Senju Elementary School in Tokyo's Adachi Ward, are training teachers on how to use plastic shields in tandem with sasumata.
``We recommend using anything-even brooms-to keep a safe distance between you and the attacker. We use sasumata in most police stations because it's an effective way to buy time before help arrives,'' said Akio Nagashima, head of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department. Nagashima spoke at a national conference on school safety held at Senju Elementary School in February.
Charging at an ``intruder'' with the determination of modern-day samurai, the teachers-armed with sasumata, helmets and plastic shields-nailed him to the ground during a drill at the conference. It was followed by a head count of students each holding buzzers connected to the school's administrative office.
Instead of locking the gates or fencing off the school, Senju Elementary School used a significant portion of its annual budget last month to arm itself. About a third of all elementary schools in Adachi Ward followed suit.
``It would be easy to just close the school off, but that would mean closing the children in, which could be detrimental in the case of emergencies like earthquakes,'' said Masaki Hayashi, principal of Senju Elementary School. The school bought two sasumata, which are assigned to teachers trained to ward off attacks. In addition, large plastic shields, which cost about 12,000 yen each, sit near the blackboard in each class.(IHT/Asahi: February 21,2004) (02/21)
