'Kobe killings' perpetrator publishes controversial autobiography

The perpetrator of the "Kobe killings" that shook Japanese society a decade ago, has just published a controversial autobiography detailing aspects of his childhood and life after leaving the medical institution where he was held, Efe news agency reported.

"I thought members of society should learn what happened in his mind (while committing the crimes), as juvenile crimes continue to appal people in Japanese society," Asahi newspaper quoted Satoshi Oka, president of Ohta publishing house, as saying on the eve of the book's release.

The killer, whose name remains anonymous given that he perpetrated the murders while underage, describes his complex emotional development before the events of 1997.

The man, who was 14 years old then, assaulted five elementary school children between February and May 1997, two of whom he killed with a hammer in Kobe city.

He committed the murders, as he explains in the book, to satisfy needs of a sexual kind.

The case attracted much international attention since the killer decapitated one of his victims with a saw and placed his head at the entrance of the school where he was studying.

The head was discovered early morning by horrified students and teachers.

In addition the boy began to send a series of letters to the police and media challenging the authorities and threatening new murders.

After weeks of investigation, Kobe police arrested the teenager in June 1997, who confessed to the crimes and was held for eight years in a medical facility near Tokyo.

The case subsequently led the Japanese government to lower the age of people who can be tried as adults for murder cases from 16 to 14.

The author of "Kobe killings", who is 32 years old now, also says in the book since his controversial and disputed release in 2005, that he lives alone and works in construction companies.