Police in Japan are investigating an apparent mass killing of a family at a home near a popular tourist hotspot.
Six bodies were found at the property in Miyazaki province, close to the scenic Takachiho Gorge. A seventh corpse discovered around two miles away beneath a bridge is also thought to have been connected to the incident.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Officers arrived at the family home owned by 72-year-old Yasuo Iihoshi and his wife Mihoko, 66, to find the couple dead, along with their 41-year-old daughter-in-law Mikiko, grandchildren Takumi, 21, and Yui, 7, and 44-year-old family friend Fumiaki Matsuoka.
“Some of the bodies had knife wounds and a bloodstained machete was found at the site,” The Mainichi reports.
The seventh body, retrieved from the nearby Gokasegawa river, is believed to be that of their 42-year-old son, Masahiro Iihoshi.
Police are investigating the incident as a potential murder-suicide, and say they believe that “family trouble” was the trigger for the massacre.
Family friend Matsuoka had told his father that he was going to to the Iihoshi residence to “mediate” an unspecified conflict on Sunday, but did not return. His father contacted police yesterday, as did a relative of the Iihoshi family whose calls to the house went unanswered.
The gruesome crime has become headline news in Japan, which “ranks as one of the safest countries in the world to live, has a very low murder rate and mass killings are rare”, says CNN.
“I still can't believe this has happened,” a local man told The Mainichi. “I want to know the truth behind it.”
-
Political cartoons for December 6Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a pardon for Hernandez, word of the year, and more
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Codeword: December 6, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
