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

[Lalalacasbah]

This doesn't add up for me. Firstly, we know that USAF members / familial dependents can easily eat at the many restaurants in the local area around base. Not only that, many of the establishments actively court their custom. So, the killer could've been Japanese, or he could've been American and eating in Japan, or he could've been from Tuvalu for all we know. I don't think the contents of someone's stomach tell you much other than what he felt like eating anywhere in the last 30ish hours.

As you say, he might've eaten dinner at a friend's house (though in my own anecdotal experience, home visits in Japan are rare-- @Incoherent can talk more eloquently to that, no doubt). And I guess, just to play devil's advocate, he wouldn't even necessarily have to have been in Japan to eat that food. He could've been anywhere in Asia and then jumped on a plane. For all we know, he could've been on a flight from Los Angeles and simply elected the Asian menu, washing his sesame spinach down with a Singapore Sling.

RE: the USAF base, he's huge -- some 12,000 people give or take. There are countless eateries / canteens. A Subway, even. On youtube you can find videos uploaded by former students going on excursions off-base or into Tokyo. Basically, in that city back in 2000, there are 31 million people. I don't think the contents of his stomach tell us much about where he's from per se.

Gotcha, thanks! Learning so much! Didn't realize home visits are rare although I recall it mentioned on the thread knocking on someone's door is rare. So much to absorb here

Yes maybe @Incoherent can clarify, I got the impression the meal wasn't one typically served in restaurants or somethign bought but was more a home prepared one but what do I know! JMO

 

[Incoherent]

RSBM; further to this (without naming any names), I’ve seen there are people off WS making public enquiries and posting a POI’s name.

It’s not the same one that I’ve got. So, already, we can see the issue.

This is how innocent people get harmed by armchair detectives and exactly why I posted my previous comment.

Gotcha, thanks! Learning so much! Didn't realize home visits are rare although I recall it mentioned on the thread knocking on someone's door is rare. So much to absorb here

Yes maybe @Incoherent can clarify, I got the impression the meal wasn't one typically served in restaurants or somethign bought but was more a home prepared one but what do I know! JMO

The meal eaten by the killer is one that is incredibly common and could be found in any restaurant, and bought fresh in supermarket in Japan too. To me it doesn’t say much about him, just that he was in Japan and ate some Japanese-style food.
It doesn’t indicate that he must be Japanese and cannot be American either for example, because if you were to examine the contents of my stomach and basing that on who I was you’d likely never guess I’m originally from and was raised in a small town in southern England, UK.
To add, being an American doesn’t necessarily mean you’re heading for the mashed potatoes and pork chops (sorry for the generalisation here), especially if you’ve already been raised on Asian-style dishes.

As for eating at a friend’s house during the time period of a few days before December 30th - unlikely. It was a very busy time, offices and companies and closed, families had all gathered and were cleaning and preparing for celebrations, it wouldn’t be usual or appropriate.
To add on here, a person turning up at the Miyazawa’s at 11pm on a Saturday, December 30th, asking to be let inside for whatever reason would be so incredibly rude and inappropriate that even if it was Mikio’s own cousin he still wouldn’t have done it. Let alone some potential piano teacher asking for wages or someone needing the toilet. JMO.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

The meal eaten by the killer is one that is incredibly common and could be found in any restaurant, and bought fresh in supermarket in Japan too. To me it doesn’t say much about him, just that he was in Japan and ate some Japanese-style food.
It doesn’t indicate that he must be Japanese and cannot be American either for example, because if you were to examine the contents of my stomach and basing that on who I was you’d likely never guess I’m originally from and was raised in a small town in southern England, UK.
To add, being an American doesn’t necessarily mean you’re heading for the mashed potatoes and pork chops (sorry for the generalisation here), especially if you’ve already been raised on Asian-style dishes.

As for eating at a friend’s house during the time period of a few days before December 30th - unlikely. It was a very busy time, offices and companies and closed, families had all gathered and were cleaning and preparing for celebrations, it wouldn’t be usual or appropriate.
To add on here, a person turning up at the Miyazawa’s at 11pm on a Saturday, December 30th, asking to be let inside for whatever reason would be so incredibly rude and inappropriate that even if it was Mikio’s own cousin he still wouldn’t have done it. Let alone some potential piano teacher asking for wages or someone needing the toilet. JMO.

Ah ok, thank you. Good to get solid info on the food thing. I had read it was more a homemade meal somewhere but you've clarified it's all over the place so nothing special. I totally get the food doesn't really define this guy unless there was something about the food but there's not! So enough about beans lol

So is this another clue about the killer? That he wasn't with family during these hours and possibly during this celebratory time. I'm guessing it was discussed here with people who know about base curfews. What would a base curfew be and is it different for teens, young adults under 20 let's say?

 

[Lalalacasbah]

What are everyone's thoughts of the killer before and after the crime? Do you all think this was his first time and do you think he killed again after?

Part of me thinks he might want the notoriety or acknowledgement if he killed again after this and would make it known it was "him again".

The other part of me thinks maybe he got spooked with being wounded so bad and went under the radar or led a normal life after getting this out of his system. I'm torn on this.

 

[tenko]

What are everyone's thoughts of the killer before and after the crime? Do you all think this was his first time and do you think he killed again after?

Part of me thinks he might want the notoriety or acknowledgement if he killed again after this and would make it known it was "him again".

The other part of me thinks maybe he got spooked with being wounded so bad and went under the radar or led a normal life after getting this out of his system. I'm torn on this.

He’s probably living normally now, trying to stay away from his past actions, thinking he’s in the clear. But I believe what he did is something he still thinks about frequently. Maybe he dreams of it, maybe after 24 years he still fears being caught. Who knows.