IKEDA, Osaka Pref. -- Eighty days after the massacre of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School, the school reopened Monday at a new temporary structure with several new features designed to ensure the safety of its approximately 680 students.
The two-story prefabricated building was built on a 4,600-sq.-meter plot owned by the university about 700 meters west of the school building where the fatal stabbings took place. Mamoru Takuma, 37, was subdued and arrested after the attack, which left 13 other pupils and two teachers wounded.
During a Monday ceremony to mark the start of the new term, Principal Yoshio Yamane spoke of the tragedy in his address to the students.