Japanese True Crime

The Zama Serial Murder Case: A Tragic Crime in Modern Japan In 2017, a disturbing case shocked Japan and the world. In Zama, a city near Tokyo, police discovered the remains of nine people—eight women and one man—in a small apartment. The man who lived there, 27 years old at the time, was arrested and later admitted to killing all nine victims. The case began when police investigated the disappear...

The Niigata Girl Confinement Case: A Story of Survival and Awareness In 1990, in a quiet town in Niigata, Japan, a 9-year-old girl disappeared while walking home from school. Despite large search efforts by police and local people, she could not be found. For over nine years, no one knew where she was or what had happened to her. In reality, she had been kidnapped by a man who took her to his home...

​In April 1995, Hideo Murai, a top executive of the Japanese religious group Aum Shinrikyo, was fatally stabbed outside the group's Tokyo headquarters. Murai, known for his scientific expertise, played a significant role in the group's activities. The assailant, Hiroyuki Jo, a member of the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, attacked Murai in front of numerous reporters and police officers. Jo was im...

In November 2009, a tragic event occurred in the city of Matsue, located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. A 19-year-old female university student was reported missing after failing to return home from her part-time job. Her disappearance led to an extensive search by local authorities and volunteers. Approximately one week later, the search came to a sorrowful conclusion when her dismembered remains...

In February 2021, a tragic event occurred in Asahikawa, a city in Hokkaido, Japan. A 14-year-old girl was found frozen to death in a public park after going missing during a bitterly cold night. This heartbreaking case shocked many people across Japan and later became a national topic of discussion because of the events that led to her death. The girl had been a student at Hokusei Junior High Scho...

In December 1999, a 33-year-old officer of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force visited his family in Tokushima Prefecture, a quiet region in western Japan. On December 25, he suddenly went missing, and two days later, his body was found near a river under a bridge in the nearby city of Anan. The local police quickly concluded that he had died by suicide. However, the officer’s family and some jour...

The Mishima Women's Junior College Student Burning Murder Case occurred in January 2002 in Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. A 29-year-old man, identified as H, abducted a 19-year-old female junior college student, referred to as A, while she was returning home. He took her to a secluded area where he sexually assaulted her. Subsequently, under the pretext that she was hindering his use of...

The Hiratsuka Five Bodies Case refers to a shocking crime that came to light in May 2006 in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan. The discovery of five bodies, including those of infants, led to an investigation that uncovered a decades-old mystery. The case was linked to the 1984 disappearance of a six-year-old boy, whose remains were later identified among the deceased. The primary suspect, a woman named...

On July 8, 2022, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was tragically shot and killed while giving a speech in Nara, Japan. This happened during a campaign for a parliamentary election. The person who shot him, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested at the scene. He used a homemade gun. His stated reason for the attack was a strong grudge against the Unification Church, a religious group. Yamagami bel...

The core motivation behind the killings was F's belief that "traitors should be eliminated". This logic drove him to kill X, and later the mother and daughters who rejected him. The court noted that even if F felt slighted by the victims, his decision to kill was "hasty and selfish" with no mitigating circumstances, and the acts were premeditated and brutal. The Fujisawa mother and daughters were...

In 2011, a terrible crime happened in Tokai City, Japan. A young woman was kidnapped and later murdered. The case shocked many people in Japan because it was a cruel and unexpected crime. The victim was a 20-year-old woman who lived in Tokai City. One day, while she was walking home, a man suddenly took her by force and put her in his car. The man was a stranger to her. After kidnapping her, he ha...