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

[BatataPoha]

Kṣitigarbha statues are sometimes accompanied by a little pile of stones and pebbles, put there by people in the hope that it would shorten the time children have to suffer in the underworldd. (The act is derived from the tradition of building stupas, as an act of merit-making.) Traditionally, he is seen as the guardian of children, and in particular, children who died before their parents.

Found this on the internet for the statue in the Japanese context. V interesting .
<Edited by Admin to provide link to above quote>

Kṣitigarbha - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Incoherent]

Kṣitigarbha statues are sometimes accompanied by a little pile of stones and pebbles, put there by people in the hope that it would shorten the time children have to suffer in the underworldd. (The act is derived from the tradition of building stupas, as an act of merit-making.) Traditionally, he is seen as the guardian of children, and in particular, children who died before their parents.

Found this on the internet for the statue in the Japanese context. V interesting .

Correct.
And adding that it had the number 6 carved into the bottom, it was placed along the Sengawa river which runs beside the Miyazawa house and is the speculated escape path the killer used, and since it was taken by the TMPD no one has claimed their statue has gone missing, it’s all very suspicious isn’t it?
But nothing has come of it in 23 years as of yet. It was reported April 9th 2001.
It’s still posted on their website asking for information.

It could be something, it could be nothing. It could be placed deliberately, it could have been left by a mourning member of the neighbourhood.
There are also photos out there of someone lighting what I think was sage and walking around the Miyazawa house too.

At 19.5kg though it’s a pretty hefty item to just leave somewhere without reason.

 

[BatataPoha]

Correct.
And adding that it had the number 6 carved into the bottom, it was placed along the Sengawa river which runs beside the Miyazawa house and is the speculated escape path the killer used, and since it was taken by the TMPD no one has claimed their statue has gone missing, it’s all very suspicious isn’t it?
But nothing has come of it in 23 years as of yet. It was reported April 9th 2001.
It’s still posted on their website asking for information.

It could be something, it could be nothing. It could be placed deliberately, it could have been left by a mourning member of the neighbourhood.
There are also photos out there of someone lighting what I think was sage and walking around the Miyazawa house too.

At 19.5kg though it’s a pretty hefty item to just leave somewhere without reason.

Yes I looked at the Google maps and saw a parallel road running behind the house. I don’t know if that road existed back then but it is possible thats the exit/entry route the killer took.

Its a 20kg statue that someone brought. Its seems to be fairly distinctive. I dunno if it is something that people would have in their homes as a matter of fact unlike some of the other Buddha statues. Depending upon the material used, it could also be expensive, or atleast something that someone might not be prone to leaving behind and not claiming it afterwards.

If it is indeed related it’s even more impressive coz this is quite distinctive and heavy. Someone got into that area a 2nd time again unnoticed seems to be too good of a coincidence.

 

[Charlot123]

Kṣitigarbha statues are sometimes accompanied by a little pile of stones and pebbles, put there by people in the hope that it would shorten the time children have to suffer in the underworldd. (The act is derived from the tradition of building stupas, as an act of merit-making.) Traditionally, he is seen as the guardian of children, and in particular, children who died before their parents.

Found this on the internet for the statue in the Japanese context. V interesting .

And at that time, did anyone in the public know who died first?

It was rather soon, a few months later. Did the Japanese police explain to the public the sequence of killings at that time?

Now, here is another way to look at it. If the TMPD was silent about the details of the killings at that time, and here comes the statue of the guardian of the child who died before parents, could it sway the opinion of the police itself? Even now as we are discussing it, it is stipulated that Rei died the first because it makes sense. IRL, we don’t know. The same with the entry point. But can it be so that by placing the statue, someone achieved a certain reconstruction of the scene.

Now, what I hope they did would be swiping the statue for the DNA…

While in itself the statue merely means some religious views, I don’t like it that we don’t know who placed it. My deep feeling is, it was not the killer, but the person felt some connection to Rei. Perhaps, guilt?

 

[Charlot123]

We know that Mikio was a meticulous man and Yasuko was extremely responsible, so that's not out of the realms of possibility. Or maybe she saw something that jarred. Shoe marks on the hood of the car. The blinds still not drawn. .

RSBM.

You just described two perfectionists living under one roof. Maybe Japanese culture is different and one of the two has to give in and become less of a perfectionist, but IMHO, these families are the first to split. Two perfectionists are a hard match, be at a parent-child, a boss-employee or two spouses combination. It seemed counterintuitive, but in fact, two perfectionists share each other’s anxiety and the level of general anxiety mounts.

It makes me want to ask what really happened in Miyazawa’s family, and how did it affect Niina and perhaps change her behavior? Rei’s, too, but he was nonverbal.

On the other hand, the presence of the controlling father in your poi, given that the poi himself probably had high level of control, indicates that the parents should be easier on their kids in such dyads. Otherwise, “see what can happen”.

 

[fridaybaker]

And at that time, did anyone in the public know who died first?

It was rather soon, a few months later. Did the Japanese police explain to the public the sequence of killings at that time?

Now, here is another way to look at it. If the TMPD was silent about the details of the killings at that time, and here comes the statue of the guardian of the child who died before parents, could it sway the opinion of the police itself? Even now as we are discussing it, it is stipulated that Rei died the first because it makes sense. IRL, we don’t know. The same with the entry point. But can it be so that by placing the statue, someone achieved a certain reconstruction of the scene.

Now, what I hope they did would be swiping the statue for the DNA…

While in itself the statue merely means some religious views, I don’t like it that we don’t know who placed it. My deep feeling is, it was not the killer, but the person felt some connection to Rei. Perhaps, guilt?I don’t like it that we don’t know who placed it. My deep feeling is, it was not the killer, but the person felt some connection to Rei. Perhaps, guilt?
I don’t like it that we don’t know who placed it. My deep feeling is, it was not the killer, but the person felt some connection to Rei. Perhaps, guilt?

Charlot, interesting comments. I have a question, though: Are you thinking it had maybe been moved. Why not place it in front of, or at least in greater poximity to the house?

 

[Incoherent]

Charlot, interesting comments. I have a question, though: Are you thinking it had maybe been moved. Why not place it in front of, or at least in greater poximity to the house?

Jizo statues are typically placed in forests or along paths that people travel, like the Sengawa river walk.
In Japan you can see them in a lot of places that people are hiking or travelling through because Jizo are also protectors of people that are travelling or on a “path”, as well as children who have died before they should have.
In my mind it also makes sense that it was someone from the neighbourhood who put it there, but then again no one came forward when it was taken by the TMPD to answer questions about it. Perhaps someone elderly?
Also, the statue was made from mikage stone which is a type of granite.

Re: the point about whether the public knew that Rei died before his parents or not, a Jizo statue is still something that someone would place whether he died first or not.
But just on that point, I believe we do know for definite that Niina was the last to die no? I remember that being said.

 

[Sillybilly]

Wish I had more time, but another random long shot here ...

I stumbled across articles about Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki who killed 4 young girls, aged 4 to 7. I'm just wondering if by chance someone confused the names Miyazawa and Miyazaki, and Miyazawas were murdered as part of a revenge scenario for those child killings.

This could also possibly tie in with the statue as it relates to Miyazaki's child victims who died before their parents and the hope of shortening their suffering in the afterlife (as per BatataPohs'd post upthread).

Thinking of Rei, being a young boy, and why he was not killed like his other family members. Was there some sympathetic component to a young boy as a result of Miyazaki having been bullied as a young boy aboout the deformity of his hands.

Miyazaki's victims were killed in 1988 - 1989. He was sentenced to death and ultimately executed in 2008.

Like I said ... random, but might be something to consider.

 

[lilykaluva]

Wish I had more time, but another random long shot here ...

I stumbled across articles about Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki who killed 4 young girls, aged 4 to 7. I'm just wondering if by chance someone confused the names Miyazawa and Miyazaki, and Miyazawas were murdered as part of a revenge scenario for those child killings.

This could also possibly tie in with the statue as it relates to Miyazaki's child victims who died before their parents and the hope of shortening their suffering in the afterlife (as per BatataPohs'd post upthread).

Thinking of Rei, being a young boy, and why he was not killed like his other family members. Was there some sympathetic component to a young boy as a result of Miyazaki having been bullied as a young boy aboout the deformity of his hands.

Miyazaki's victims were killed in 1988 - 1989. He was sentenced to death and ultimately executed in 2008.

Like I said ... random, but might be something to consider.

The kanji isn't actually very similar--while English spells them similarly, "zawa" and "zaki" wouldn't read similar to someone who could read Japanese. Miyazaki is 宮﨑 , but Miyazawa is 宮沢. Pretty distinct second kanjis. (Miyazaki is also an incredibly common name!)

The fact that this murder seems to have some level of planning would indicate, to me, that if that were the motive they at least would have checked that, as opposed to hearing it on the street and going into a frenzy.

 

[BatataPoha]

Wish I had more time, but another random long shot here ...

I stumbled across articles about Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki who killed 4 young girls, aged 4 to 7. I'm just wondering if by chance someone confused the names Miyazawa and Miyazaki, and Miyazawas were murdered as part of a revenge scenario for those child killings.

This could also possibly tie in with the statue as it relates to Miyazaki's child victims who died before their parents and the hope of shortening their suffering in the afterlife (as per BatataPohs'd post upthread).

Thinking of Rei, being a young boy, and why he was not killed like his other family members. Was there some sympathetic component to a young boy as a result of Miyazaki having been bullied as a young boy aboout the deformity of his hands.

Miyazaki's victims were killed in 1988 - 1989. He was sentenced to death and ultimately executed in 2008.

Like I said ... random, but might be something to consider.

If its some vicitim of a well known serial killer, I think it’s reasonable to assume that they wouldn’t make mistakes with the name. Also I dunno what kinda satisfaction/revenge you would get after losing your own child by slaughtering a whole family. If it was only a child killed, then maybe, but the killer clearly goes after the whole family as a whole.

 

[BatataPoha]

Questions for @FacelessPodcast @Incoherent or anyone else who has idea about the geography of the place just to clarify certain things.

Q.1 The river doesn’t get mentioned a lot here. Is it a wide enough river for boats to travel around? Is that a common thing or would it look out of place or is illegal?

Q.2 there is a road that runs through the park? Is it a walking/ cycling road exclusively or a normal road where you can drive cars around?

Q.3 religion of the Miyazawas? Whether they were religious?

Q.4 Re the statue - if you ignore the topmost vertical stroke of the inscription at the bottom of the statue (which denotes 6) does it have some other meaning in Japanese? Especially one that could be relevant to this case?

 

[Charlot123]

The kanji isn't actually very similar--while English spells them similarly, "zawa" and "zaki" wouldn't read similar to someone who could read Japanese. Miyazaki is 宮﨑 , but Miyazawa is 宮沢. Pretty distinct second kanjis. (Miyazaki is also an incredibly common name!)

The fact that this murder seems to have some level of planning would indicate, to me, that if that were the motive they at least would have checked that, as opposed to hearing it on the street and going into a frenzy.

In the 1st thread there should be a link to the Japanese boards @Incoherent has posted. There is a story of someone who posted as the “killer.” While I think the story is fake, two things stayed in memory.

1) the liberating, almost euphoric, feeling that the killer described
2) him mentioning his whole family being killed by one of the Miyazawa family ancestors

Now, I personally feel that the killer didn’t have a solid motive, just wanted to kill, and any motive would be secondary

But also, if we go down that rabbit hole, it is not a grandpa that was killed by another grandpa in WWII, it is the whole family that has been mentioned so maybe it was a big tragedy, something like what had happened in Nanking, for example, where the whole family could have died and a child survived

We are tying the ancestral family of the murderer up to Korea because of these archaic genetic tests interpreted by TMPD, but the family could have lived anywhere, and i think if something happened during the war, it was a civilian settlement that had been occupied

I think the killer was looking for a “souvenir”related to family photos; he either didn’t find it or thought it would implicate him too much and dropped the idea

Now, even if it was a “pretext” for the killing, time-wise, it could have been any of the four lines, maybe even eight, so Miyazawa is not the only one to study

IRL, for a pretext, the murderer doesn’t need this specific family, any Japanese person would be “the archetype of a Japanese invader”, and in life, the murderer chooses the most defenseless ones. But, in case he is caught, he has to have a convincing story, so maybe people in his family did perish during the time of militaristic Japan. Again, the real motive is his urge to kill. JMO, honestly, he didn’t have a motive…

I suspect, though, that in his own line, there may be some victims of the tragic Asian history of the XX century, especially if he comes from Korea or, say, Manchuria, but (my family ancestor spent several years in Gulag, so I know how “familial memory” works) - it is a pretext, and even if your ancestor was a victim, you don’t mete out revenge on his descendants, it is asinine.

What I can also see is that it is neither a Buddhist nor a Shinto mentality, because karma doesn’t work this way. One of the Big Three or an agnostic/atheist can subscribe to it.

 

[Incoherent]

Questions for @FacelessPodcast @Incoherent or anyone else who has idea about the geography of the place just to clarify certain things.

Q.1 The river doesn’t get mentioned a lot here. Is it a wide enough river for boats to travel around? Is that a common thing or would it look out of place or is illegal?

Q.2 there is a road that runs through the park? Is it a walking/ cycling road exclusively or a normal road where you can drive cars around?

Q.3 religion of the Miyazawas? Whether they were religious?

Q.4 Re the statue - if you ignore the topmost vertical stroke of the inscription at the bottom of the statue (which denotes 6) does it have some other meaning in Japanese? Especially one that could be relevant to this case?

Happy to help answer your questions here if I can.

1. It is wide enough for a boat, but the river is too low to be in one. Rivers that run through Tokyo and other cities are fenced off and have very deep dips to the bottom so they aren’t accessible and are off limits to go down into. Here’s a picture of the Sen to give a clearer image of what I mean:

2. Looking on forward at the house there is a kids play park directly at the back of it. It’s only accessible by walking into or on a bike.
To the left is the Sengawa river and a path that stretches for miles that can be walked or biked on, and to the right there is a road that is used for cars. The road to the right separates the land the house and kids park is on and the skate park and tennis court.

3. The typical religions of Japan are either Shinto or Buddhist. I’m not sure what the Miyazawa’s themselves were if at all, but in practice most people here are one of the two. Nic might know that.

4. No it’s definitely the kanji for the number 6, it can’t be anything else. But whether the person who owned the statue carved it or it came like that isn’t mentioned.
The poster I uploaded from the TMPD website is also asking for information of the manufacturer of the statue as well as whose it is.

Just on your points about geography I may visit the house and park again soon when I get the chance, and can take some pictures or videos of the surroundings for you to view.

The kanji isn't actually very similar--while English spells them similarly, "zawa" and "zaki" wouldn't read similar to someone who could read Japanese. Miyazaki is 宮﨑 , but Miyazawa is 宮沢. Pretty distinct second kanjis. (Miyazaki is also an incredibly common name!)

The fact that this murder seems to have some level of planning would indicate, to me, that if that were the motive they at least would have checked that, as opposed to hearing it on the street and going into a frenzy.

Lily is correct here, the two names sound similar from a western perspective but not a Japanese one. In Japan the way the name is written is more distinct than how it sounds. To our ears they’re similar, to Japanese they are not.

 

[Charlot123]

I have an idea about the sand. In fact, the killer had two types of sand. What if it came from a collection of hourglasses? I don’t know where they get the sand for it, could be locally or could be imported, but here are two samples:

Too expensive, but couldn’t pass by:

Ando Time Amber Hourglass by Tadao Ando

Discover the Ando Time Amber Hourglass by Tadao Ando crafted by Venini. Shop the exclusive selection of Decorative Sculptures on Artemest online store.

artemest.com

This is Buddhist meditations hourglass with Japanese sand

25-minute Sonic Meditation Timer in Cherry Wood, Featuring Handmade White Sand Hourglass & Japanese Orin Buddhist Bell - Etsy

This Meditation item by Sandsana has 75 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Kingfield, ME. Listed on Apr 23, 2024

www.etsy.com

I wonder if the murderer’s family collected hourglasses, or he was playing with them to calm down and then smashed, or did he steal them from different houses? Or was he making glass-blown hourglasses?

 

[WhoDisDoe]

if this was indeed a targeted killing by an American living on base, I’m struggling to see how the perp actually got to the point of “I’m going to harm this family AND I know where they live”. Was the initial connection made elsewhere (eg shopping in Ogikubo) and he followed them home? Or did he visit the park one day and have a chance encounter with the family; or did he have intrusive thoughts about how those houses were pretty isolated?

It’s just hard for me to see how an American student living fairly far away would get to a point where he was targeting this specific family in this specific house. Especially since TMPD so thoroughly investigated the obvious connection points - the skate park, Yasuko’s students, etc.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

if this was indeed a targeted killing by an American living on base, I’m struggling to see how the perp actually got to the point of “I’m going to harm this family AND I know where they live”. Was the initial connection made elsewhere (eg shopping in Ogikubo) and he followed them home? Or did he visit the park one day and have a chance encounter with the family; or did he have intrusive thoughts about how those houses were pretty isolated?

I actually have a few leads about how that connection might have been made but, for obvious reasons, I sadly can't share them because it then leads to questions of the identity of the POI. At any rate, let's stick with the theoretical. If we knew what the flash point was between the killer and the family --irrespective of his nationality-- then we'd arguably have solved the case by now. The heart of this paradox is why them?

It’s just hard for me to see how an American student living fairly far away would get to a point where he was targeting this specific family in this specific house. Especially since TMPD so thoroughly investigated the obvious connection points - the skate park, Yasuko’s students, etc.

It's a 30-ish minute drive from the base to the house, it's not beyond the wit of man to get there. Moreover, Ogikubo can be reached from Fussa by direct train, and then into central Tokyo. This is something many, many former Yokota kids have told me (there are videos on youtube etc). It's not any kind of shock that military brats would want to go into Tokyo for the day. In terms of specifically why them: I think the killer did choose them specifically but due to circumstance over a personal vendetta, perhaps. That's why the TMPD haven't found him. They're looking for a hatred of the family itself, versus someone who had hate in his heart and simply wanted an outlet. This is all just me riffing, I don't have any evidence for it, but it explains the apparently non-existent connection. That said, it's possible the TMPD let him fall through their fingers and it did exist.

In terms of obvious connection points: the TMPD have never approached Yokota USAF base. Ask yourself why. Is it because it's beyond their capacity for understanding a *possible* link? I would argue it's not. All JMO.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

I have an idea about the sand. In fact, the killer had two types of sand. What if it came from a collection of hourglasses? I don’t know where they get the sand for it, could be locally or could be imported, but here are two samples:

Too expensive, but couldn’t pass by:

Ando Time Amber Hourglass by Tadao Ando

Discover the Ando Time Amber Hourglass by Tadao Ando crafted by Venini. Shop the exclusive selection of Decorative Sculptures on Artemest online store.

artemest.com

This is Buddhist meditations hourglass with Japanese sand

25-minute Sonic Meditation Timer in Cherry Wood, Featuring Handmade White Sand Hourglass & Japanese Orin Buddhist Bell - Etsy

This Meditation item by Sandsana has 75 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Kingfield, ME. Listed on Apr 23, 2024

www.etsy.com

I wonder if the murderer’s family collected hourglasses, or he was playing with them to calm down and then smashed, or did he steal them from different houses? Or was he making glass-blown hourglasses?

I know very little about sand and even less about hour glasses but I can tell you that I collected samples from around Edwards USAF base and sent them on to Lorna Dawson. She said that they had lots of unique markers and it would be difficult to confuse them from sand elsewhere in the world. This idea would require those hour glasses to be pulling sand from a US military base and then a beach in Japan. I can't say it's impossible but hard to envisage JMO.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Questions for @FacelessPodcast @Incoherent or anyone else who has idea about the geography of the place just to clarify certain things.

Q.1 The river doesn’t get mentioned a lot here. Is it a wide enough river for boats to travel around? Is that a common thing or would it look out of place or is illegal?

Q.2 there is a road that runs through the park? Is it a walking/ cycling road exclusively or a normal road where you can drive cars around?

Q.3 religion of the Miyazawas? Whether they were religious?

Q.4 Re the statue - if you ignore the topmost vertical stroke of the inscription at the bottom of the statue (which denotes 6) does it have some other meaning in Japanese? Especially one that could be relevant to this case?

Further to this, which I think @Incoherent has already covered, I would only add that, as it stands, the TMPD have ZERO that tells them the statue had anything to do with the killer. It might've been left by him out of some kind of guilt. Or it might've simply been someone who moved houses and decided to leave this outside in the street. Gun to the head, and this is just totally a guess, I would say it has no connection to the killer. I don't think the Chief puts much stock in the statue, either.

Separate point, whoever left it, is almost certainly Japanese. And, going right back to the thread's start two years ago, if the killer is Japanese, we need him to have access to a USAF military base on the other side of the world prior to these murders. We need him to have the means to elude capture despite being the nation's most-wanted. We need him to be able to survive for 24 years off the grid. This, despite him supposedly being as young as 15? I suppose anything is possible. But, at least as far as I can see, it makes more sense for this person to simply have been foreign and left.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Hi @FacelessPodcast

I was wondering if I could ask what your thoughts on maybe the possibility that perhaps if the killer came to the US he did so because he was banished? In general I think that about the perp fleeing Japan for America that he does so with his parents and siblings as well. However, last night I went on a tangent reading about the teenage experience in Japan during the early 2000s. The articles mention the pressure students experienced to do well academically, the emotional isolation or distance they felt towards their parents, the bullying faced by students and teachers at school and the economic turmoil dwindling many of their hoped for job and financial aspirations. They also mention an increase in teen violence with many of the stories covering teens who murdered parents, grandparents, neighbors following a slight and then hostages on a bus and strangers, mainly kids and the elderly, because they wanted to know what it felt like to murder someone. In general, the articles imply the murders were some sort of release for the minors who were disturbed by the stress and emotions and needed help. It is mentioned teachers, parents and counselors taking more proactive roles to aid students with counseling, private lessons in place of schools and clinics or centers for trouble teens.

I was wondering if you think it is possible that perhaps did express some type of emotional or psychological disturbance beforehand and because of that or his inability to do well in school as a result or his parents and the school reaching the end of their rope they decided to that he should try starting over in America with the caveat they stayed behind? Could that have set him off if he didn’t want to go or if he felt like the future he had planned for himself in Japan was no longer attainable?

RSBM: Apologies for the delay in reply. In regards to the idea above. Yes, there's very little I can discount with certainty. However, having gone through the US immigration system myself, I can tell you that he would be giving up his fingerprints to Homeland Security. Now, it depends on timing and admittedly I came much later than 2001. But it would likely be a post 9/11 world. So, the US would have more than enough information on him to serve him up to the TMPD in the event that they requested it.

In terms of his school performance or his head space at the time, I really don't know. We could argue for or against your theory. The only thing I feel any kind of certainty about is that rage was driving him.

Could he have felt projected his feelings of being ostracized and rejected by his own parents onto the Miyazawas because they seemed like the perfect loving family and it wasn’t fair? Or did they represent what he thought what his family should have been or what he thought they were until they betrayed him?

Very possibly, yes. Or he simply decided their home was conveniently located. Or that they were all small and wouldn't pose a threat to him. Or he didn't like the way Mikio looked at him once.

I also thought about what you mentioned in that he possibly studied medicine and wonder if his parents had their last straw if he received a bad or failing grade or something awful happening that affected his enrollment or future academics.

Also, with that in mind do you think it is possible that if one or both of his parents stayed behind that they left the Buddhist statue at the Miyazawa home out of sense of both faith, if they are practitioners, or a sense of guilt or responsibility? Just a random thought after reading more on the Yokota base and recent ceremonies they have hosted.

This is sort of covered in my last post about the jizo statue. It likely requires a Japanese person and my theory is that the killer was not Japanese. The guilt of a parent is an interesting idea, though. Because on the one hand, such an act would require a great deal of pain in the parent of the killer. But not enough to give him up to the authorities. But either way, it requires at least one other person to know who the killer is. And I think that's very likely, wherever the killer is from. But in terms of the killer's parents having come from Yokota to leave that statue there? Possible but I don't see it.

Also, why do you think he bought a knife, especially such an unfit one as the video emphasized, instead of just taking one from home? Do you think that perhaps his parents were watching him close and would know something was wrong if he exhibited signs of disturbing behavior? He could have easily carried one from home and washed it before leaving so I was wondering if you think there is any significance to that all?

All just MOO TIA

I don't know if he bought it or simply picked it up from a kitchen he had access to. He probably didn't think about glancing blows from skulls. He probably didn't think about slippage. He probably didn't think about common self-injury sustained while stabbing etc. I feel the knife was absolutely central to the TMPD investigation. Having only recently eliminated a man who bought the same knife locally, I imagine that was a huge blow to them. That was the CCTV Man. My bet is that they thought he was their killer. It turns out, it was just a guy who wanted to slice sushi. Like millions of other Japanese men that day. So yeah, I don't think he necessarily chose a sashimi knife for the killings but he would've known it was extremely sharp. If I were guessing, I would also say that he was into knives. He probably thought / thinks they're cool or beautiful etc. In terms of disturbed behaviour; hm, this is tricky. I do think he was capable of the kind of behaviour that would be flagged up as problematic. But, clearly, nothing too OTT else he would've ended up on the system, most likely. Gun to the head, I think his records are somewhere on Yokota: good grades, marred by the occasional black mark of either violence or aggression to either a teacher or female student. JMO.

 

[BatataPoha]

Further to this, which I think @Incoherent has already covered, I would only add that, as it stands, the TMPD have ZERO that tells them the statue had anything to do with the killer. It might've been left by him out of some kind of guilt. Or it might've simply been someone who moved houses and decided to leave this outside in the street. Gun to the head, and this is just totally a guess, I would say it has no connection to the killer. I don't think the Chief puts much stock in the statue, either.

The TMPD also think the sand doesn’t lead to anywhere, but we have to keep an open mind here, esp in a cold case. I can think of a number of reasons why they wouldn’t think too much of it, simply because they think the killer is likely a foreigner while the status is culturally Japanese.

Its a 20 kg status left behind the house, presumably at the path the killer took. Not in the front which might have been common. Its not an easy statue to move around, and its quite distinctive enough for people around the area to identify as belonging to someone in that area. No one has claimed it, despite the TMPD still having it up their website.

Separate point, whoever left it, is almost certainly Japanese.

Or maybe a foreigner deeply ingrained in the Japanese culture, or Buddhist culture, who might have experienced something similar in their own life (premature death of own children). Its not totally out of the realm of possibility.

The statue might not be related to the killer, but could be related to the crime itself.

And, going right back to the thread's start two years ago, if the killer is Japanese, we need him to have access to a USAF military base on the other side of the world prior to these murders. We need him to have the means to elude capture despite being the nation's most-wanted. We need him to be able to survive for 24 years off the grid. This, despite him supposedly being as young as 15? I suppose anything is possible. But, at least as far as I can see, it makes more sense for this person to simply have been foreign and left.

Its not totally impossible for a Japanese military contractor, engineer or technican to make those visits to the States and the beach. The Japanese military was suppling weapons in the war of terror in Iraq. and that collaboration didn’t just start out randomly.

As for the rest of your points, if a foreigner can be relatively unconnected to the Miyazawas, so can a Japanese tbh. And if he never committed a crime again, his fingerprints wouldn’t be in a database. So again not as unlikely as one might think.