From The Guardian Weekly (email service):
International news / Girl, 2, strangled by school rival's mother / Jonathan Watts in Tokyo
Jonathan Watts in Tokyo
A mother has confessed to strangling her neighbour's two-year-old daughter after losing out in a competition for places at a nursery school.
It is the latest and most grotesque result of a Japanese entrance examination system that puts intense pressure on hundreds of thousands of parents and children who have not yet learned to talk.
Mitsuko Yamada, 35, the wife of a Buddhist priest, last week admitted killing Haruna Wakayama because of animosity towards the girl's mother.
"It was not something superficial. There were psychological clashes over a period of time," she reportedly told police.
The two mothers, who live in Tokyo's upmarket Bunkyoku district, had two children of the same age, which made them rivals for places at local nursery and primary schools.
Haruna found out last week that she had won admission into one of the most sought-after schools. The news allegedly pushed Mrs Yamada over the edge as her daughter failed to gain a place
Mrs Yamada told police that she snatched Haruna while her rival was chatting with other parents at a nursery school attended by their sons.
She strangled the little girl with a scarf in the toilet of a nearby temple. Police found the body buried in the garden of Mrs Yamada's parents 200km away.
Success at an early age not only raises the status of the parents, it can also save the children from "exam hell" later in life because entry to top nursery schools often guarantees a place at an associated university.
In the past few years, exam stress has been identified as a significant factor in a series of suicides and stabbings and a breakdown in classroom discipline.
The Guardian Weekly 2-12-1999, page 3