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.”
-
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
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
US and Japan strike trade dealSpeed Read Trump signed what he's calling the 'largest deal ever made'
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
A manga predicting a natural disaster is affecting tourism to JapanUnder the Radar The 1999 book originally warned of a disaster that would befall Japan in 2011 — a prophecy that came true
