On the morning of April 17, I received an apprehensive telephone call from a Japanese friend, a former employee of a foreign TV news bureau here.

Initial bulletins from Blacksburg, Virginia, were reporting that the shooter at Virginia Tech appeared to be a young Asian male. "Do you think he could be Japanese?" she asked.

I unhesitatingly ruled this out. First of all, I told her, the percentages were completely against it. When it comes to gun-related crimes abroad, Japanese are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators.