Unsolved mysteries from Japan are surprisingly rare. Though the reality behind the number is a point of contention, Japan does boast a 99% conviction rate. Violent crimes are rare. The murder rate is under one per 100,000, less than a quarter of the rate in the US. For this reason, these bizarre Japanese crimes are all the more striking.
These murders, disappearances, and other unsolved mysteries are the strangest and most interesting to come from the land of the rising sun. This is Japan-level weirdness. Many of these mysteries have gone unsolved for decades. Some will probably never be solved.
In Japan, tales of people being spirited away have existed for centuries. These stories are just accepted. People would walk off to the mountains and be swallowed up by the spirit world. While police are looking for more corporeal causes, what did happen to these people? Who was really responsible?
Whatever the case, these are accounts of the facts. This is what we do know about these unsolved mysteries. It is up to you to fill in the blanks.
13 Creepy Unsolved Mysteries from Japan That'll Keep You Up at Night,
The Setagaya Family Massacre - No Killer Identified, Despite DNA Evidence
On December 30, 2000, a gruesome murder occurred in the Setagaya ward of Tokyo, Japan. That night, Mikio Miyazawa (44), Yasuko Miyazawa (41), and their children Niina (10) and Rei (6) were all stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. The killer stayed in the house for several hours after the killing, even using the restroom without bothering to flush. Despite finding a great deal of evidence, including the killer's DNA, police still have not been able to identify him.
Junior High Students Find a Body in a Futon Bag, Authorities Still Don't Know Who Did It
On April 21, 1996, a group of junior high students found a futon bag in a bamboo grove, located in the Haga district of the Tochigi Prefecture. After poking the bag with a stick, they discovered it contained a dead body, an autopsy for which found the man had been dead for about a month. The body has never been identified, nor has the person who stuffed it in the futon bag.
The Disappearance of Yuki Onishi - A Girl Vanishes Into Thin Air
On April 29, 2005, Yuki Onishi, a five-year-old girl, was digging up bamboo shoots to celebrate Greenery Day. After finding her first shoot and showing it to her mother, she ran off to find more. About 20 minutes later, her mother realized she was not with the other diggers and a search began. A police dog was brought in to track the scent; it reached a spot in the nearby forest and then stopped. Four other dogs were brought in, and all led the search party to the same exact spot. No trace of Yuki has never been found, almost as if she disappeared into thin air.
The Tama Kindergarten Teacher Murder - Body Found in Overflowing Manhole
On January 14, 1997, Tama City municipal workers were working on an overflowing manhole. They discovered what turned out to be a body causing the drainage problem. Said body was badly decomposed, but forensics did note a broken nose and fractured skull. Dental records determined the body belonged to Fukiko Yagihashi, a kindergarten teacher who had disappeared a year prior. The case remains unsolved to this day.
The Cyanide-Poisoned Oolong Tea Murder
On August 31, 1998, Ichijuro Nakazawa (58) drank a can of oolong tea with breakfast. By the time he got to the hospital, he was in cardiac arrest and he was dead less than two hours after his breakfast. Doctors were baffled as to how someone in good health could inexplicably die from sudden heart failure.
The next morning the manager at the grocery store where Nakazawa bought the oolong tea noticed something strange. Some of the canned teas looked as if they had been tampered with. It turned out these cans had small holes poked in the bottom, and then were sealed with an adhesive. Analysis revealed each can contained 5 grams of cyanide. Police then found that the remaining cans of oolong Nakazawa had bought also contained cyanide.
Nakazawa was the only one to drink the poisoned tea, but the poisoner was never found.
Pregnant Woman in Nagoya Murdered, Her Unborn Baby Cut from Her Stomach
On March 18, 1988, a man came home to his apartment in Nagoya to find the door unlocked and the lights off. After changing clothes, he heard a baby crying. He then discovered the mutilated body of his pregnant wife and his now newborn son lying at her feet. His wife had been bound and strangled to death before the killer preceded to cut open her stomach and deliver the baby, even cutting the umbilical cord. The infant miraculously survived, but the killer was never found. The names of the victims were never publicly released by police.
The Yonaguni Ancient Underwater Pyramid of Mystery
Off the coast of the Japanese island Yonaguni, just below the waves, lie the remains of a 5,000-year-old city. The largest structure is what appears to be a monolithic stepped pyramid. Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist at the University of the Ryukyus, has been studying the structure for years. The formations were discovered in 1986, but their true origin still remains unknown.
The Inokashira Park Dismemberment - Body Parts Found in a Bag
On April 23, 1994, a garbage bag was found by a cleaning staff worker in Tokyo's Inokashira Park. Inside the bag were 24 pieces of human flesh, including two hands, two feet, and a shoulder. The parts had been completely drained of blood and each was cut to exactly 20 centimeters. The head was never found, and although the autopsy could not determine a cause of death, the body was identified as Seiichi Kawamura (35). The case has never been solved.
The Saga Prefecture Serial Murders - Strange Coincidences but No Answers
Between 1975 and 1989, there was a total of seven unsolved murders in the Saga prefecture, all believed to be linked. Five of the victims were strangled to death (the other two bodies were found too badly decomposed to tell the cause of death). Six of the victims disappeared on a Wednesday, and all of the victims were female, though their ages ranged from 11 to 50. No arrests were ever made in connection to the crimes.
Two Murdered While Picking Ferns, No Killer Found Despite the Clues
On May 23, 1979, Keiko Mizuno (32) and Hideko Akashi (43) went to Nohara Hill to collect ferns. Two days later their dead bodies were found savagely beaten, Mizuno over 50 times and Akashi over 30. Akashi was also stabbed, while Mizuno was strangled to death, had her pants removed, and was raped with a branch. Both had their Achilles tendons cut.
The knife was left at the scene of the crime, and investigators also found semen. In the pocket of Akashi's pants, police found a note on the back of a receipt that read (translated), "Being followed. Please help. This guy is a bad guy." Despite these clues and evidence, the killer was never identified.