Japan - Miyazawa family of 4 murdered, Setagaya, Tokyo, 30 Dec 2000 #3

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RSBM

I know neither the technology nor the terminology, but I don't believe those are just sketches. I believe the actual photo was involved somehow -- either as an underlayment over which some emphasis lines were traced, or as a photo only but digitally adjusted to fade out clarity and details to make it less upsetting and less an invasion of privacy.

Again, I don't know the correct terminology but I do not think these are freehand drawings.

MOO

It looks like the photographs were traced over by the sketch artist, probably digitally rather than using pen and ink. When this is done to a motion picture film/video it's called "rotoscoping":

 
Were there any reports of similar incidents leading up to or after the Miyazawa's murders? It's hard to believe this was the invader's first rodeo.
 
We know that Rei was into planes. We know they went on outings and day trips. (Yokota has an annual open day). We know that Mikio worked on plane liveries. We know that he worked with Americans. There are things in the house that I’m not going to get into too much, sorry to vague tweet, but if you look at the photos carefully, you’ll see what I mean. I don’t have anything certain to connect them to Yokota, I just think there’s a solid possibility.

Re: Mikio’s liveries. I don’t know which side of the industry he was working on, I’m afraid.
Late reply to this post by Nic, but in addition to this post about Rei being into planes, Mikio working on plane liveries from his job at Interbrand, trips to America and working with Americans, did anyone notice in this photo that the calendar in the house shows a plane that is used by the United States Air Force?

IMG_3340.jpeg
IMG_3343.jpeg

I consulted with a friend who is knowledgeable about military aircrafts and he confirmed it’s some variation of a B-25 Mitchell that is used by the US Air Force and made in America.

IMG_3342.jpeg

Coincidence? Thoughts?

IMG_3341.jpeg
 
View attachment 512187
みきおさんが部屋で履いていたスリッパは、中二階に続く階段の下から4段目と遺体の上に乗っかって残っていたようなのだ。
The slippers Mikio were wearing in the room were found on the 4th step from the bottom of the stairs and on top of his corpse.
Source

You can see in the photo of how he was found he is barefoot with baggy, cuffed clothing around the legs and either short sleeves or rolled up sleeves, which indicates room wear as that’s exactly what it looks like. Looks like he was settled into his home, wearing slippers, at the computer.

Thank you for the source.


Of course I had to Google/translate it.

And of course, five questions emerged.

1) look at the ice creams. I hope that TMPD made pastes of the tooth imprints that the sus left on the ice cream. Fingers crossed, but that PD has significant perfectionism, so I think they had.

2) the pin number or password. We assume it was for credit cards...but the sus didn't seem to be much interested in money?

Question: do they have safes/boxes in Japanese banks like they do in US ones? Somewhere else, perhaps? Maybe the pin/password was for that? Perhaps it is all that was necessary? Something of huge importance kept outside the house. Also, the murderer went through the household notebook for the same reason, right?

Where would it be?

3) the cellphones. 3 cellphones standing next to each other. Now, tell me that Japanese people are different, and I won't believe it. No smartphones yet, but mobile phones were probably kept at the owners' sides. One at Mikio's comp, two in the loft. Why didn't Yasuko call the police?

4) just my idea, 6 on the Jizo. I know it might be fantastic, but...Did anyone find any other similar statues, anywhere in Tokyo, with different/same numbers?

I am thinking. What if the guy took something, another notebook, another paper, photo, with him and figured out the code? Of course if he was communicating via 2chan, he could have sent it that way. But it is public. So the number could be one of the letters of the code. Ot - if the pin had 4 numbers, the first of the last one was left on Jizo. Say, when all the money was sent or when he was safely out of the country as it was a warranty for own life.

5) how carefully did the police look at the Buddhist temples close to the Miyazawas house? Temples, churches are usually inherently trusted. Especially if there was a young novice who was keeping the wow of silence.
 
Late reply to this post by Nic, but in addition to this post about Rei being into planes, Mikio working on plane liveries from his job at Interbrand, trips to America and working with Americans, did anyone notice in this photo that the calendar in the house shows a plane that is used by the United States Air Force?

View attachment 512685
View attachment 512686

I consulted with a friend who is knowledgeable about military aircrafts and he confirmed it’s some variation of a B-25 Mitchell that is used by the US Air Force and made in America.

View attachment 512689

Coincidence? Thoughts?

View attachment 512690

We discussed the calendar at length before you joined the forum, and managed to find out exactly what the calendar was. It's a JAS (Japan Air System) calendar which had pictures of all kinds of planes on it--modern, vintage, foreign, etc.

The B-25 may very well have been just a coincidence. In the final picture you posted, Mikio appears to be holding a model of a Japanese Mitsubishi Zero.

If you'd like to read the discussion about the calendar it starts on this page:

 
We discussed the calendar at length before you joined the forum, and managed to find out exactly what the calendar was. It's a JAS (Japan Air System) calendar which had pictures of all kinds of planes on it--modern, vintage, foreign, etc.

The B-25 may very well have been just a coincidence. In the final picture you posted, Mikio appears to be holding a model of a Japanese Mitsubishi Zero.

If you'd like to read the discussion about the calendar it starts on this page:

Thanks @Interested_But_Confused! Wasn’t aware.

I think more than likely a coincidence it was on that page, but I do wonder if the family ever took a trip to the Friendship Day (Open Day) on the base? Such a huge connection to planes I feel like it would be a good day out for Rei, but perhaps inadvertently caught someone’s attention if they went…

I missed this year’s one by one month, it was in May, but I’d be interested to go and see what they have there and what they sell.
 
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JAS calendars were widely available through airline offices, ticket offices, travel agencies, airports, often free of charge. JAS was one of Japan’s major domestic airlines before its merger with Japan Airlines in 2002.
 
JAS calendars were widely available through airline offices, ticket offices, travel agencies, airports, often free of charge. JAS was one of Japan’s major domestic airlines before its merger with Japan Airlines in 2002.
JAL is also a major and long time client of Interbrand so it’s highly likely Mikio worked with them and could’ve gotten the calendar, especially since he did liveries. I think there’s more of a connection there than he just picked it up.

I wonder if there’s a connection between JAL and the AF base. I bet it ties in with his trips to the US.
 
3) the cellphones. 3 cellphones standing next to each other. Now, tell me that Japanese people are different, and I won't believe it. No smartphones yet, but mobile phones were probably kept at the owners' sides. One at Mikio's comp, two in the loft. Why didn't Yasuko call the police?
Just on this point here Charlot the blogger Monazite said he “heard from somewhere” that there “seems to have been 3 mobiles phones”, not that there definitely was. He doesn’t go on to say where he heard it or give any evidence for that statement. Japanese can be tricky to translate.

The only phones I could definitely spot from watching videos of the house was one at the bottom of the stairs above where Mikio died, I think this one was an actual landline. And another one in the living room which was just an interphone that connected to the house next door and not a landline.
Besides that I’m not sure if there were any others in the house.
I’m also not sure about mobile phones but it would make sense for Mikio to at least have one right? Considering his job.

Does anyone know if there was another landline in there from what they’ve seen?
 
JAL is also a major and long time client of Interbrand so it’s highly likely Mikio worked with them and could’ve gotten the calendar, especially since he did liveries. I think there’s more of a connection there than he just picked it up.

I wonder if there’s a connection between JAL and the AF base. I bet it ties in with his trips to the US.
JAL and other airlines have emergency landing rights at Yokota Air Base. This arrangement is crucial for safety, providing a nearby alternative landing site in case of technical issues or bad weather affecting Tokyo’s primary airports.
 
.
Just on this point here Charlot the blogger Monazite said he “heard from somewhere” that there “seems to have been 3 mobiles phones”, not that there definitely was. He doesn’t go on to say where he heard it or give any evidence for that statement. Japanese can be tricky to translate.

The only phones I could definitely spot from watching videos of the house was one at the bottom of the stairs above where Mikio died, I think this one was an actual landline. And another one in the living room which was just an interphone that connected to the house next door and not a landline.
Besides that I’m not sure if there were any others in the house.
I’m also not sure about mobile phones but it would make sense for Mikio to at least have one right? Considering his job.

Does anyone know if there was another landline in there from what they’ve seen?

Thank you. In the blog that i read in translation, if i translated correctly, there were three cellphones moved (probably by the murderer) to one room. The idea was, he did it to figure out pins. (I don't remember my phone at that time but probably it was Kyocera and i don't remember any pins to unlock it, btw. Not sure that cellphone protection was that commonplace, does anyone remember? Around 2000, mobile phones were just that, less information on them.) My feeling is, perhaps living was more simple in Japan, or clothes more expensive, but when it came to technology, they had, and often produced, the best, so three cellphones in 2000 don't surprise me. Tell me if I am wrong. But my point is, even one could be enough to call the police during home invasion.

I didn't see another landline in that blog. I am watching YouTubes of the house from another blog - very difficult because they are in Japanese so i have to use CCs but there are some interesting ideas in them.

(Did you see the photos of unfinished ice creams that were posted in the Japanese blog i linked? With clear imprints of the front teeth. So easy to make wax or gypsum teethprints, I think.)
 
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Around 2000, mobile phones were just that, less information on them.) My feeling is, perhaps living was more simple in Japan, or clothes more expensive, but when it came to technology, they had, and often produced, the best, so three cellphones in 2000 don't surprise me. Tell me if I am wrong. But my point is, even one could be enough to call the police during home invasion.
RSBM.
Actually, you’re quite right—Japan was indeed a leader in mobile technology back in 2000. They produced mobile phones with security PINs as a standard feature even then. From what I recall, the popular brands included Fujitsu, NEC, Sony - probably the most popular, as well as Casio, J-Phone (by Sharp), and Panasonic. Actual model names consisted of letters and digits, so hard to memorise. BTW, Sharp was the first company in the world to release a mobile phone with a built-in camera.

If we had photos of the three mobile phones allegedly found in Mikio’s house, we could probably match them with known models from that era. It’s a well-known fact that Japanese phones at the time all had PIN protection.

So, if the information about the three mobile phones being present is accurate (though I haven’t seen it confirmed anywhere), it makes perfect sense to assume that the killer might have tried to figure out the PINs. This suggests that the killer was calm and focused enough to attempt accessing the phones. Hmmm...
 
After reviewing the Yokota 2000 yearbook, several things stand out.

There was a skate park on the base. Is there any connection regarding the skate park adjacent to the Miyazawa home? The killer wore clothing and cologne "similar" to what skaters in Tokyo wore. Could this have been an Americanized version? TMPD focused heavily on the skater angle.

There are a couple of photos of students wearing bucket hats similar to the one the killer wore. While this doesn't implicate the wearers, it does reinforce the style was at least slightly popular with this age group.

A few of the wrestling team members have apparent rage issues. And many have extremely athletic builds. After seeing them, it convinces me a strong young male is no match against the slight build of the Miyazawa family. In addition, wrestling techniques could have been easily utilized to subdue and restrain them. I wonder if Rei's specific method of murder holds more clues, too.

In regards to wrestling....There are moves designed to take down an opponent stealthily. This might explain the lack of noise the family next door reported. Another issue wrestlers deal with is "making weight" for their specific class. It's common for them to crash diet for a week to drop pounds, and then subsequently have to binge on food to gain weight. I wonder if the barley tea and beans vs 4 cups of ice cream food intake the killer had indicates anything? Also, wrestlers often will release bodily fluids to drop weight, as the killer did the night of the killing
 
I wonder if the barley tea and beans vs 4 cups of ice cream food intake the killer had indicates anything?
RSBM. Increased appetite following an episode of extreme violence is common in meth users but is not limited to them. Although it was officially stated that the killer did not have drugs in his system (but again, did they check for all possible substances?), we should consider what other behaviours might resemble those induced by meth. There are a few possibilities, and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are the closest to methamphetamine-induced extreme violence due to the intense paranoia, hallucinations, and impulsive behaviours they cause. These conditions can lead people to perceive threats where none exist and react violently, much like someone under the influence of meth might do. When mania is accompanied by psychosis, it can lead to delusions of grandeur or paranoia, which might result in violent behaviour if the person believes they are invincible or under threat.

It was recently covered by the media - a case where a man bashed his partner to death and then went out to buy two pizzas, eating several slices on the way back. Pizza was his comfort food. He was heavily addicted to meth. He returned home with those pizzas and only then called Ambulance.
 
Things that we know happened:
- the killer was in the house from around 11pm to 1:30am. Indicated by the thunk of the ladder reported at 11:30pm and the computer use at 1:25am.
- he ate 4 ice creams and drank bottles of tea.
- he moved drawers and documents about the place, dumping them in the bathtub, toilet, and at the bottom of the stairs on Mikio.
- he used the toilet to defecate.
- he used the computer on the ground floor.
- he changed his clothes.
- he patched himself up with the first aid kit and sanitary towels.

Things that are speculated to have happened:
- he took a nap in the living room (as reported in the news and shown in reconstructions)

It is said he entered at 11pm and the killing was done by 11:30pm as the ladder to the loft went back up.
So this gives us at least two hours for all the things we know happened.
He may have stayed later than 1:30am before leaving.

Do you guys think two hours is more than enough time to do what he did in the house with room for other things, or do you think it sounds about right given his state?

Re: drugs and meth, it was stated he had no drugs or alcohol in his system but I do think meth would have definitely been checked for as it was (and still is) the most popular drug being used in Japan. I feel like that one in particular would be on their radar. Especially in the 90’s I believe there was a meth usage problem in Tokyo and surrounding areas - at least according to my friends. I don’t have any data to back that up though.
 
RSBM.
Actually, you’re quite right—Japan was indeed a leader in mobile technology back in 2000. They produced mobile phones with security PINs as a standard feature even then. From what I recall, the popular brands included Fujitsu, NEC, Sony - probably the most popular, as well as Casio, J-Phone (by Sharp), and Panasonic. Actual model names consisted of letters and digits, so hard to memorise. BTW, Sharp was the first company in the world to release a mobile phone with a built-in camera.

If we had photos of the three mobile phones allegedly found in Mikio’s house, we could probably match them with known models from that era. It’s a well-known fact that Japanese phones at the time all had PIN protection.

So, if the information about the three mobile phones being present is accurate (though I haven’t seen it confirmed anywhere), it makes perfect sense to assume that the killer might have tried to figure out the PINs. This suggests that the killer was calm and focused enough to attempt accessing the phones. Hmmm...

If (if!) he was trying to figure out pins to phones or cards and was using their DOBs from documents and couldn’t, it could have to do with different date conventions in Asia, Europe and US, perhaps?

Asia: Yyyy-MM-DD
Europe: DD-MM-yyyy
US (but not other NA countries): MM-DD-YYYY

Depending on where he was from and what Mikio could have used (and he traveled - mostly to GB, so, Europe), the murderer could have not taken it into consideration. Although I bet Mikio kept passwords in a different place in the house and changed them frequently. I have an idea what system he might have used.
 
Things that we know happened:
- the killer was in the house from around 11pm to 1:30am. Indicated by the thunk of the ladder reported at 11:30pm and the computer use at 1:25am.
- he ate 4 ice creams and drank bottles of tea.
- he moved drawers and documents about the place, dumping them in the bathtub, toilet, and at the bottom of the stairs on Mikio.
- he used the toilet to defecate.
- he used the computer on the ground floor.
- he changed his clothes.
- he patched himself up with the first aid kit and sanitary towels.

Things that are speculated to have happened:
- he took a nap in the living room (as reported in the news and shown in reconstructions)

It is said he entered at 11pm and the killing was done by 11:30pm as the ladder to the loft went back up.
So this gives us at least two hours for all the things we know happened.
He may have stayed later than 1:30am before leaving.

Do you guys think two hours is more than enough time to do what he did in the house with room for other things, or do you think it sounds about right given his state?

Re: drugs and meth, it was stated he had no drugs or alcohol in his system but I do think meth would have definitely been checked for as it was (and still is) the most popular drug being used in Japan. I feel like that one in particular would be on their radar. Especially in the 90’s I believe there was a meth usage problem in Tokyo and surrounding areas - at least according to my friends. I don’t have any data to back that up though.

I think that food and defecating - yes

He had to wash off blood before falling asleep so, probably, more than 2 hours

He had to be somewhat organized with sleep though

He still had his knife so if anyone entered the house, he was fully prepared to kill self/others so I don’t think he was in a rush…

If there were no bloodied footprints on the ground, means he probably walked on earth/not concrete/not paved road

But he had to leave the house before dawn so whenever the sunrise was in Dec 29-30-31 of 2000, he was gone before that

I don’t think he was on meth, probably high with inner dopamine and has a sweet tooth. This doesn’t change; I would have preferred salty chips, for example, but he likes sweets
 
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If (if!) he was trying to figure out pins to phones or cards and was using their DOBs from documents and couldn’t, it could have to do with different date conventions in Asia, Europe and US, perhaps?

Asia: Yyyy-MM-DD
Europe: DD-MM-yyyy
US (but not other NA countries): MM-DD-YYYY

Depending on where he was from and what Mikio could have used (and he traveled - mostly to GB, so, Europe), the murderer could have not taken it into consideration. Although I bet Mikio kept passwords in a different place in the house and changed them frequently. I have an idea what system he might have used.
Some people use their own birthdays or the birthdays of loved ones as PINs (usually 4 digits). However, this practice is not recommended, and vendors typically advise against using easily deducible combos. If the killer tried to guess the PINs, he could only hope that Mikio was among those who ignored this advice. However, based on what we know about Mikio, he was a detail-oriented person and unlikely to use an easily guessable PIN. Yasuko, being a teacher, was also likely to choose a more secure PIN, possibly using an unrelated date, like the birthday of their beloved doggie or the day they met.

Has the police confirmed whether the killer took Mikio’s ID documents with him, or did he leave all of them behind? I’ve seen info indicating that some cards were left behind, but what about his passport, driver’s licence, birth cert, diplomas?
 
Do you guys think two hours is more than enough time to do what he did in the house with room for other things, or do you think it sounds about right given his state?
In my opinion, yes, if we only consider the outcomes of his visit. However, if he indeed lay on the couch and had a dose, as some speculate, we can't verify that with any evidence. So while it's possible, we don't know for sure.
 

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