Murder Under the Rising Sun: 15 Japanese Serial Killers That Terrified a Nation
In the land of the rising sun, you have to look hard to find a person who is not kind and peaceful; even the most peaceful nations, there are dark alleys where the sun does not rise—where shadowy figures emerge full of rage and hatred…most with a thirst for revenge.
In this book, you will read about 15 of Japan’s most horrifying killers. Many of the people profiled in this book didn’t just kill their victims—they tortured and mutilated them. Be warned: This is NOT a book for the faint at heart.
In this book, you will read about 15 of Japan’s most horrifying killers. Many of the people profiled in this book didn’t just kill their victims—they tortured and mutilated them. Be warned: This is NOT a book for the faint at heart.
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Excerpt
Introduction
Modern Japan has a reputation as having one of the world’s most peaceful and crime-free societies. Yet Japan has also produced some of the world’s most colorful murderers and horrific killings. Beneath the surface of modern Japanese society, there exists an undercurrent of violence and a fascination with killing that is absolutely frightening.
This undercurrent often comes to the surface in Japan’s lively popular culture, particularly in Manga (Japanese comic books), Anime (Japanese cartoons), and movies, all of which enjoy a following around the world. The violent undercurrent is also reflected by gruesome murders and the Japanese public’s fascination with them.
Like the British, the Japanese love to read and watch stories about murder in newspapers, books, magazines, comics, television, and movies. This has spawned an extensive literature about Japanese killers, which means a great deal of information is available about them.
This rogue’s gallery of Japanese murderers includes not only some of the world’s most colorful killers, but also some cutting edge killers. Japanese killers are often ahead of their time, starting trends that are soon followed by psychopaths elsewhere in the world. Just as Japan is a leader in popular culture, technology, and fashion, it is a leader in murder. So if you want to see what the murders of the future will look like, take a look at some of the murders in this book.
Akira Nishiguchi: A Killer Who Horrified a Nation
Few criminals have had the kind of impact or influence as Akira Nishiguchi, a small-time conman who horrified and electrified the entire nation of Japan in 1963 and 1964. Nishiguchi’s criminal exploits were so shocking to the Japanese that they inspired a massive reform of the nation’s police force.
Very little is known about Nishiguchi’s background except that, like other serial killers, he was a serial criminal. His activities bear a disturbing similarity to John George Haigh, the London Acid Bath Killer of the late 1940s. Like Haigh, Nishiguchi graduated from small-time fraud and robbery to murder. As with Haigh, Nishiguchi’s primary motivation seems to have been to cover up everyday crimes such as embezzlement and petty theft.
Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Nishiguchi is that he murdered five people and created a nationwide panic, yet his activities only netted a take worth a few hundred dollars.
From Petty Criminal to Japan’s Most Wanted
There is little information available in English on Nishiguchi’s childhood or early criminal career. It is known that he was a Roman Catholic, a member of a despised minority group in Japan. His activities before his murder spree in 1963 were so low key that he attracted little attention.
It is also known that Nishiguchi was such an unassuming man that police didn’t initially consider him a suspect in two of the murders he had committed. Like some other criminals, Nishiguchi might have turned to murder because he was an inept criminal. The first two people Nishiguchi killed were two men, whom he killed in 1963. The men were possibly truck drivers whom Nishiguchi had hitched rides with. He reportedly led them to an isolated spot in the woods and stabbed or strangled them for money that was worth around $750.
The police eventually put Nishiguchi on the nation’s most wanted list. He then went on the run and seems to have moved freely through the entire nation of Japan.
Cold Blooded Murderer on the Run
When he realized that he was a suspect, Nishiguchi tried to drop from sight and ended up at a seedy hotel in Hamamatsu, Japan. Needing money and perhaps unable to pay his hotel bill, Nishiguchi murdered the hotel’s manager and her mother. The bodies were discovered on November 18, 1963, but Nishiguchi was able to stay on the run for over a month.
He next turned up in Tokyo on December 29, 1963, where he displayed even more cold-blooded instincts by robbing and murdering an elderly man. Even though he was broke and Japan’s police were on the lookout for him, Nishiguchi managed to elude capture.
In a further embarrassment for the police, Nishiguchi was not caught by clever detective work or an informant. Instead, he was captured because an 11-year-old girl in the city of Kyushu recognized his face from a wanted poster. The young lady alerted the local police, who arrested the fugitive.
Influence on Pop Culture and National Psychology
Akira Nishiguchi had a tremendous impact on Japan’s national psychology because Japan is a low-crime nation. Japan’s cities are among the safest in the world; young children can walk the streets unescorted. Japan’s police force is among the world’s best.
The Nishiguchi case forced the Japanese police to set up a special process called the Metropolitan Designated Case system to catch high-profile criminals. It also forced them to adopt more advanced investigative techniques like those used by Britain’s Scotland Yard or America’s FBI.
Not surprisingly, Nishiguchi’s trial attracted a lot of attention. The prosecutor in the case called him the “Black Gold Medalist in Killing,” a phrase that sounds like a mistranslation of a Japanese term. The attention the case attracted made Nishiguchi into one of the first celebrity serial killers.
Immortalized in Print and Film
The Nishiguchi case inspired one of the first modern true crime books, Vengeance Is Mine, written by Japanese author Ryuzo Saki. The acclaimed book, called a documentary novel in Japan, won several prizes in Japan.
The book inspired an acclaimed Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura in 1979. The movie follows the exploits of a fictionalized version of Nishiguchi played by actor Ken Ogata. Unlike similar American movies, the film doesn’t try to offer an explanation for the killings; it just shows their ugliness. Critics have compared it favorably to such classics as Robert Brooks’ adaptation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
Death on the Gallows
Unlike many American serial killers, Akira Nishiguchi never lived to know of his “fame.” He was sentenced to death and hanged on December 11, 1970, an anonymous fate for a man whose face once appeared on a half million wanted posters.
Bibliography
Blanco, Juan Ignacio. "Akira Nishiguchi." n.d. murderpedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
Crime & Investigation Network. "John Haigh: The Acid Bath Murderer." n.d. crimeandinvestigation.com. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
Ebert, Roger. "Vengeance is Mine." 17 January 2008. rogerebert.suntimes.com. Movie Review . 8 March 2013.
FindTheData. "Akira Nishiguchi in Japan." n.d. serial-killers.findthedata.org. Online Data Base Entry. 8 March 2013.
True Crime Library . "Worldwide Hangings ." n.d. truecrimelibrary.com. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
Wikipedia. "Akira Nishiguchi." n.d. en.wikipedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
Modern Japan has a reputation as having one of the world’s most peaceful and crime-free societies. Yet Japan has also produced some of the world’s most colorful murderers and horrific killings. Beneath the surface of modern Japanese society, there exists an undercurrent of violence and a fascination with killing that is absolutely frightening.
This undercurrent often comes to the surface in Japan’s lively popular culture, particularly in Manga (Japanese comic books), Anime (Japanese cartoons), and movies, all of which enjoy a following around the world. The violent undercurrent is also reflected by gruesome murders and the Japanese public’s fascination with them.
Like the British, the Japanese love to read and watch stories about murder in newspapers, books, magazines, comics, television, and movies. This has spawned an extensive literature about Japanese killers, which means a great deal of information is available about them.
This rogue’s gallery of Japanese murderers includes not only some of the world’s most colorful killers, but also some cutting edge killers. Japanese killers are often ahead of their time, starting trends that are soon followed by psychopaths elsewhere in the world. Just as Japan is a leader in popular culture, technology, and fashion, it is a leader in murder. So if you want to see what the murders of the future will look like, take a look at some of the murders in this book.
Akira Nishiguchi: A Killer Who Horrified a Nation
Few criminals have had the kind of impact or influence as Akira Nishiguchi, a small-time conman who horrified and electrified the entire nation of Japan in 1963 and 1964. Nishiguchi’s criminal exploits were so shocking to the Japanese that they inspired a massive reform of the nation’s police force.
Very little is known about Nishiguchi’s background except that, like other serial killers, he was a serial criminal. His activities bear a disturbing similarity to John George Haigh, the London Acid Bath Killer of the late 1940s. Like Haigh, Nishiguchi graduated from small-time fraud and robbery to murder. As with Haigh, Nishiguchi’s primary motivation seems to have been to cover up everyday crimes such as embezzlement and petty theft.
Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Nishiguchi is that he murdered five people and created a nationwide panic, yet his activities only netted a take worth a few hundred dollars.
From Petty Criminal to Japan’s Most Wanted
There is little information available in English on Nishiguchi’s childhood or early criminal career. It is known that he was a Roman Catholic, a member of a despised minority group in Japan. His activities before his murder spree in 1963 were so low key that he attracted little attention.
It is also known that Nishiguchi was such an unassuming man that police didn’t initially consider him a suspect in two of the murders he had committed. Like some other criminals, Nishiguchi might have turned to murder because he was an inept criminal. The first two people Nishiguchi killed were two men, whom he killed in 1963. The men were possibly truck drivers whom Nishiguchi had hitched rides with. He reportedly led them to an isolated spot in the woods and stabbed or strangled them for money that was worth around $750.
The police eventually put Nishiguchi on the nation’s most wanted list. He then went on the run and seems to have moved freely through the entire nation of Japan.
Cold Blooded Murderer on the Run
When he realized that he was a suspect, Nishiguchi tried to drop from sight and ended up at a seedy hotel in Hamamatsu, Japan. Needing money and perhaps unable to pay his hotel bill, Nishiguchi murdered the hotel’s manager and her mother. The bodies were discovered on November 18, 1963, but Nishiguchi was able to stay on the run for over a month.
He next turned up in Tokyo on December 29, 1963, where he displayed even more cold-blooded instincts by robbing and murdering an elderly man. Even though he was broke and Japan’s police were on the lookout for him, Nishiguchi managed to elude capture.
In a further embarrassment for the police, Nishiguchi was not caught by clever detective work or an informant. Instead, he was captured because an 11-year-old girl in the city of Kyushu recognized his face from a wanted poster. The young lady alerted the local police, who arrested the fugitive.
Influence on Pop Culture and National Psychology
Akira Nishiguchi had a tremendous impact on Japan’s national psychology because Japan is a low-crime nation. Japan’s cities are among the safest in the world; young children can walk the streets unescorted. Japan’s police force is among the world’s best.
The Nishiguchi case forced the Japanese police to set up a special process called the Metropolitan Designated Case system to catch high-profile criminals. It also forced them to adopt more advanced investigative techniques like those used by Britain’s Scotland Yard or America’s FBI.
Not surprisingly, Nishiguchi’s trial attracted a lot of attention. The prosecutor in the case called him the “Black Gold Medalist in Killing,” a phrase that sounds like a mistranslation of a Japanese term. The attention the case attracted made Nishiguchi into one of the first celebrity serial killers.
Immortalized in Print and Film
The Nishiguchi case inspired one of the first modern true crime books, Vengeance Is Mine, written by Japanese author Ryuzo Saki. The acclaimed book, called a documentary novel in Japan, won several prizes in Japan.
The book inspired an acclaimed Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura in 1979. The movie follows the exploits of a fictionalized version of Nishiguchi played by actor Ken Ogata. Unlike similar American movies, the film doesn’t try to offer an explanation for the killings; it just shows their ugliness. Critics have compared it favorably to such classics as Robert Brooks’ adaptation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
Death on the Gallows
Unlike many American serial killers, Akira Nishiguchi never lived to know of his “fame.” He was sentenced to death and hanged on December 11, 1970, an anonymous fate for a man whose face once appeared on a half million wanted posters.
Bibliography
Blanco, Juan Ignacio. "Akira Nishiguchi." n.d. murderpedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
Crime & Investigation Network. "John Haigh: The Acid Bath Murderer." n.d. crimeandinvestigation.com. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
Ebert, Roger. "Vengeance is Mine." 17 January 2008. rogerebert.suntimes.com. Movie Review . 8 March 2013.
FindTheData. "Akira Nishiguchi in Japan." n.d. serial-killers.findthedata.org. Online Data Base Entry. 8 March 2013.
True Crime Library . "Worldwide Hangings ." n.d. truecrimelibrary.com. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
Wikipedia. "Akira Nishiguchi." n.d. en.wikipedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 8 March 2013.
