24 Years Since the Ikeda City Tragedy: Families Share "Unspoken Regrets" and "Hope" at Memorial Service, and The Evolving Landscape of the Safety Business

On the morning of March 4th, many people gathered at "Rainbow Bridge," a memorial facility in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture. It was a painful incident that occurred 24 years ago at the Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School. The attack, where eight children lost their lives to random stabbings, sent shockwaves through every school in Japan and shattered the myth of absolute safety.

About 300 people, including bereaved families, teachers, and local residents, attended this year's memorial service. They observed a moment of silence and offered flowers. A woman from the bereaved family who attended spoke in a quiet tone: "Even after 24 years, my child's smile is still vivid in my memory. We must not let this incident fade away. We will continue to speak out so that the same sorrow is never repeated." Her words resonated deeply with everyone present.

In these 24 years, school safety in Japan has changed dramatically. Installing security cameras has become standard practice, and many schools have implemented controlled gate access and manuals for dealing with suspicious individuals. However, as someone who has been involved in safety measures in this industry for many years, I am concerned that "token safety measures" are still often seen. For example, it's not uncommon to find cameras installed but not recording, or manuals in place without practical training drills.

At this memorial service, what the bereaved families' association reiterated was the need for "enhanced mental health care" and "building a community-wide system to watch over children.". The children who were young at the time of the incident are now adults, living with and confronting their own trauma. Furthermore, many teachers who experienced the incident have since left the schools, highlighting the growing challenge of passing on the memory.

"Please Don't Forget," Plead the Families: Messages from the 24th Year

At the memorial service, several bereaved family members spoke emotionally. Their words carried the following heartfelt wishes.

• Preventing the incident from fading from public memory: "As time passes, we feel society's interest waning. We won't forget, but the challenge is how to convey this to the next generation."
• Continuous evolution of safety measures: "We hope they will use the lessons from that day to create a school environment that can also respond to new threats."
• Consideration for invisible scars: "With more teachers joining who don't know about the incident, it's crucial to have adults who can notice subtle changes in children."

These voices highlight areas that simply enhancing safety equipment cannot resolve. In other words, how to compensate for the vulnerabilities in the 'software' aspects (human resource development, community, mental support) alongside 'hardware' improvements is arguably the major theme moving forward.

Business Opportunities Surrounding "Safety": Market Transformation in the 24th Year

Over these 24 years, the market related to school safety has certainly expanded. Demand for hardware like security cameras, IC card gates, and emergency alert systems remains steady. However, what I'm focusing on is the emergence of new businesses beyond that.

First, the mental health care sector. The trauma of the incident casts a long shadow not only on the bereaved families but also on local residents and the emergency responders from that time. While many corporate mental health services exist, counselling and training programmes specifically for 'critical incident stress' are still scarce. This represents a highly specialised niche market with significant growth potential.

Next, community watch technology. With crime prevention volunteers ageing, there's a growing demand for IT solutions that supplement 'community eyes', such as AI-powered surveillance cameras and location-sharing apps. For instance, services that inform parents in real-time about their children's safety during the commute to and from school are already being adopted by many local governments, but there's ample room to add new value, such as more advanced risk prediction systems.

Furthermore, there are moves to commercialise 'passing on memories'. This could involve creating digital archives of the incident's records and providing them as educational materials for schools. Or, thinking along the lines of 'memorial tourism,' which links the operation of memorial facilities to regional revitalisation. Due to the high public interest in these areas, collaboration with government and fostering a culture of donations will be key, but they are worth considering as sustainable mechanisms for conveying history.

Of course, the most crucial aspect when developing such businesses is balancing 'dignity' and 'profit'. Turning the incident into mere marketing material is absolutely unacceptable. Building services that truly benefit society while gaining the understanding of the bereaved families and the community — I am convinced that this is the absolute prerequisite for long-term success in this field.

Changing Landscapes, An Unchanged Vow

Even after the memorial service ended and the attendees left, flower bouquets continued to be offered at "Rainbow Bridge." The scene from 24 years ago has never faded and is etched into the fabric of this town as part of its landscape.

The shape of safety changes with the times. However, the vow to 'never let the same tragedy happen again' is an unchanging principle that must be passed down by society as a whole. The process of giving form to this vow involves many challenges requiring collaboration between the public and private sectors. Isn't it by continuously asking ourselves what each of us can do to ensure this incident doesn't become mere 'past history' that we find the true starting point for the safety business?