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"it still depends on the person, a specific person."

text｜origin reporter

on september 18, he yu and her family planned to go out to play with their children. in the evening, she suddenly received a message from her husband, "we are not going out today, stay at home. i don't want to go out to play, a child has passed away."

she searched online and learned that this was an extreme attack case: that morning in shekou, shenzhen, a 10-year-old japanese child was stabbed on his way to school and unfortunately died after treatment.

in the three days after the incident, he yu was heartbroken because the victim was an ordinary child. "it is very unfair to hurt a child!" he yu's husband wrote in a message to her.

in the notice, a person is an identity, a label. in real life, a “person” is a child of a parent, a friend upstairs or downstairs, or an acquaintance who happens to pass by, vivid and ordinary.

incident: “an extreme incident”

he yu saw a police report released by the shenzhen public security bureau on the internet. it mentioned that "at about 8:00 on the 18th, a knife attack occurred in the jurisdiction of zhaoshang street, nanshan district, shenzhen, resulting in the injury of a minor named shen", and the police "arrested the suspect zhong at the scene and immediately assisted 120 to send the injured to the hospital."

near the scene of the incident, people tried to recall what happened that day.

the shenzhen japanese school, where the murdered children studied, is located on the "china merchants international child-friendly street" in shekou. there are two or three schools and kindergartens on this street, which is surrounded by residential areas.

zhang ping, a resident living on the street, had a daughter who studied at a nearby middle school. at 7 a.m. on september 18, zhang ping was sending her daughter to school when she saw several children from a japanese school escorted by their mothers walking on the side of the road. about 200 meters from the school gate, someone stabbed a boy who was walking on the outermost side of the road with a knife.

the incident happened within a few minutes. in zhang ping's memory, the child's mother fell to the ground and cried bitterly, and someone helped to hold the wound of the boy who was attacked. after the rescuers arrived, the boy was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. most passers-by were so shocked that they did not react for a while.

before 8 a.m., zhou xin, a convenience store employee who had worked the overnight shift, suddenly heard a cry. she went out to look and saw a woman wailing on the side of the road with a pool of blood beside her. there were several people standing on the side of the road, speaking japanese that she could not understand.

according to several eyewitnesses, the crime scene was very close to the police station and the border inspection department of the public security bureau, and the police arrived at the scene very quickly. after 8 o'clock, zhou xin passed by the scene again after get off work, and the police had set up a shed to isolate the scene.

the convenience store where zhou xin worked was very close to the scene of the incident, and there were some security booths scattered around it.

ma xiaopeng, head of the medical treatment team and director of shenzhen children's hospital, said in an interview with the media that the injured person was pronounced dead at 1:36 am on the 19th due to serious injuries.

on the evening of september 19, the chinese ministry of foreign affairs held a regular press conference. when answering reporters' questions, foreign ministry spokesman lin jian disclosed that the boy is of japanese nationality and his parents are japanese and chinese citizens respectively.

as of the evening of september 20, classes at the japanese school in shenzhen were still suspended and the streets had returned to calm.

on the other hand, he yu and her japanese husband were furious and could not calm down. "how could this happen? i am very, very sad," said he yu's husband.

"this is an extreme case." he yu tried to comfort him, but she couldn't help feeling upset. she is also a mother, and her child just turned one this year.

child: “same as us”

on the streets of shekou, children with labeled identities have become real "children".

zhou xin recalled the japanese children who had visited the store, "although some of them spoke chinese well, they were still distinguishable."

"very polite," "standing very smartly," and "love to eat rice balls" are the general impressions of japanese children among the store clerks in the surrounding stores.

at 9 am on september 20, in a small flower shop 500 meters away from the school, white daisies and yellow sunflowers were placed in the most conspicuous position. the owner liu shuang was still busy. since the morning of the 19th, the store has received nearly 30 orders from all over the country, including nanjing, beijing, shanghai, etc., who want to give flowers to the victims. "many of them are fathers of children." liu shuang said.

when liu shuang first heard from her friend that the child had been killed, she did not believe it. "nonsense, you are talking nonsense!" liu shuang cursed. she had been running a flower shop for 14 years and had never seen such a vicious incident. it was not until the next morning that she received flower ordering messages one after another that she realized that the case was really happening.

although liu shuang has rarely had close friendships with the japanese living here, she is deeply impressed that every year on japan's teachers' day, japanese children come to the flower shop to buy flowers. "just like us," liu shuang emphasized, "they are all very polite." these children speak chinese very well and keep nodding and saying "thank you" to her.

a long time ago, when liu shuang took her own children to school, she would also meet children and parents from the japanese school on the way. although they were not familiar with each other, they would still nod to each other.

"tsk..." "ah..." liu shuang wanted to say something several times, and then began to sigh. "it's very uncomfortable, very uncomfortable."

in a coffee shop one block away from the school, barista xia meng often sees japanese children running to nearby pizza shops and convenience stores right after school, and sometimes they come to her own shop to buy a drink.

the counter in the store is filled with one piece figurines. every time the kids see them, they always shout “luffy, luffy!” xia meng chimes in, “yes, luffy is my favorite.”

she has two orange cats. the children would carefully ask her in chinese, "can i touch them?" after getting permission, they would be so excited that they would stroke the kittens' backs and call them "cute".

she shook her head and said, "i really wanted to say something online." but after calming down, she realized that venting her anger was useless. "what can it change?" xia meng thought about it and decided to go over and give her a bouquet of flowers, hoping that her child would be happy in another world.

at noon on september 20, many citizens had gathered at the north gate of the school to lay flowers.

a citizen was carrying a bag with two bouquets of flowers. her friend had studied in japan and had specially asked her to come and present a bouquet. "here it is, go ahead." the people gathered said, it's okay, just present it openly. "the child is too innocent, this shouldn't happen no matter where you are."

zhao ya, a mother of three who lives nearby, came early in the morning with flowers. she felt extremely sad about the incident. as a mother, it was hard for zhao ya to accept such a thing. "i have lived here for many years and the public security has always been good. it is hard to believe that such a thing would happen." zhao ya choked up.

misunderstanding: what is japanese school really about?

what makes he yu even more uncomfortable is that emotions are only temporary, but misunderstandings continue to occur.

as one of the earliest windows of china's reform and opening up, shekou has always been a gathering place for foreigners in shenzhen, and there are many international schools here.

after the incident, she saw familiar questions on the internet, "what exactly is a japanese school?" "i've lived here for so long and i didn't even know there was a japanese school."

shenzhen japanese school is located in an alley on the side of the road and is quite low-key.

he yu said that these doubts have been around for a long time. she first learned about japanese schools because her husband had worked as a teacher in a japanese school for four years. she often accompanied her husband to colleagues' gatherings, and learned that such schools were common.

he yu explained that in areas with many japanese companies such as shanghai and guangdong, management personnel are often sent from japan to china, usually staying for about three years. they generally do not want to leave their wives and children in japan, and will bring their families to live in china.

therefore, japanese schools provide a transition for these "migrant children". "after three years, the children will return to their hometowns to take entrance exams for high schools and universities in japan, so they can only attend elementary and junior high schools that are similar to the japanese education system." he yu said that these schools are basically non-profit and the tuition fees are much lower than those of some international schools. chinese schools have also been built in yokohama and other places in japan.

according to the regulations of the chinese education department, chinese children cannot attend japanese schools. he yu said that except for a few chinese classes and chinese teachers, the other teaching staff in japanese schools are basically japanese expatriates, and the entire teaching is in japanese. the school management and security measures are relatively strict. even if japanese parents want to send something to their children, they cannot enter without reporting and permission. "it is almost closed."

on the streets of shekou, residents talked about another piece of history: these japanese schools are actually closely related to local development.

"shekou is also called china merchants shekou," said a local resident. "shekou also exists because of sanyo." as early as the 1980s, japanese electrical company sanyo built a factory in shekou, providing jobs for many locals and migrant workers. after 2000, with the continuous influx of japanese companies, shekou gradually became a new economic center of shenzhen.

under the macro-development of globalization, japanese schools have become a micro-product. the official website of shenzhen japanese school states that the school was established in 2008 under the shenzhen japanese chamber of commerce and industry. it currently has nine grades in the primary and secondary schools, with 273 children enrolled.

the lyrics of the school song read, "the ships sailing to shekou, the dream chasers gather under the glory, with rising hearts, sailing towards the world."

at the entrance of overseas personnel management service center of zhaoshang street.

prejudice: “it all depends on the person, a specific person”

after the incident, he yu's husband also told her about his concerns: this incident not only harmed the child's life, but also affected the lives of ordinary people. she had seen many voices online and was worried that the prejudice between people would become deeper and deeper.

at a press conference held by the ministry of foreign affairs, lin jian said that the attack on the 18th was an individual case. china always welcomes people from all countries, including japan, to travel, study, do business and live in china, and will continue to take effective measures to ensure the safety of foreign citizens in china.

in fact, what he yu cares more about is that this is a family similar to his own, with a chinese mother and a japanese father, and the children are still young. like every other parent, they are also concerned about their children's daily safety and future life trajectory. "it still depends on the person, a specific person," he yu said, rather than some abstract, grand concepts.

in 2017, he yu met her current husband at a party hosted by a french friend. unlike most introverted japanese, her husband is happy to make new friends. at that time, her husband had just fallen in love with chinese food and culture, so the two had many common topics.

three years later, the two got married. every time he yu went to her husband's house for dinner, she would see a lot of cooked sushi on the table. she was surprised because her husband once said that they really hated eating cooked sushi because it was not fresh, and they preferred to eat fresh and sweet sashimi.

later she found out that her mother-in-law understood that cooked food is a chinese tradition and culture, and wanted to take her feelings into consideration and make her feel cared for.

although her child is just one year old, he yu, like most chinese mothers, has already started planning for her child's future school choice.

"we are considering sending our children to an international school," he yu said. families like hers usually have several options, including chinese public schools, japanese schools, and international schools. compared with the relaxed teaching atmosphere of japanese schools, international schools are more in line with he yu's expectations for her children, although the tuition is expensive.

he yu sighed. after the expatriate service period is over, the japanese must return to japan to work according to convention. many people, like her husband, choose to stay and start their own families. they are all ordinary people in this city, believing that they can have a better future here and have loved ones by their side. she does not want to see this trust and hope disappear in the future.

(all names in the article are pseudonyms, and all pictures are taken by yuandian reporters)