Satomi Mitarai's photo is displayed during the graduation ceremony at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on March 17.

Kyoji Mitarai, 46, accepted the certificate on behalf of his daughter, Satomi, at the graduation ceremony at Okubo Elementary School.

Satomi was attacked by a girl wielding a box-cutter during lunch break June 1, after a festering argument over Internet bulletin board messages they posted to each other. Her 12-year-old assailant has been in a correctional facility for children in Tochigi Prefecture since September.

Satomi was stricken from the school register after her death. But the school decided to issue a graduation certificate without a student number for her, saying it was evidence that she had attended the school.

It has also issued a certificate for the other girl, saying it was a necessary document for entering junior high school, which in turn would help her reintegration into society.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 26, 2005
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