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

[Incoherent]

In terms of the park, does anyone know how busy it is at night? Would it be normal for it to be busy during the day and empty late at night or would people be using it 24/7?

Soshigaya Park is open 24/7, as is the kid’s park behind the house but this is more because there’s no way to close it.

The tennis and athletic courts close and the gates get locked. During winter if I recall that was around 5pm. It was that way back in 2000.

The skate park had a curfew but it was regularly ignored and used late into the night which was a source of Mikio’s annoyance about the people there.
Now it has curfew of between 5-7pm depending on the month and the half-pipes get locked up with chains, and the surrounding area with barriers.

As for if anyone could use Soshigaya Park at anytime - yes, they could.
The times I have been there late at night there has always been some people doing something but it was not busy. But there were people about, including groups of teenagers being noisy.

During the day it is incredibly busy across all areas.

 

[Incoherent]

Another question, not sure if anyone on here is familiar with the workings of US bases in Japan, if so perhaps you could help. What is the procedure for entry/exit from these bases? Is it a 24/7 situation or is there a curfew when entry would raise attention? If it's 24/7 would someone returning to the base in the middle of the night cause suspicion or is this a fairly normal occurrence?

There are detailed posts about this back in the previous threads. From what I recall under 18’s had a curfew but over did not. It was a 24/7 situation and not much fuss was made when returning back to base at any time.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

One thing that jumps out to me. I was browsing 3 years of the yearbooks today (1998, 1999 and 2000) and was looking at all the misc. pics of the clubs, candid photos etc. to check out the young kids and their style, shoes and hats and so on.

There are a few kids that stand out who seem popular (quite a few pics of them) or semi-flamboyant in style and are into sports, music, drama, and academics. I think I can kind of see who the skaters are and there is one pic I can see that is of skaters.

What strikes me though is - I do not see any of those high school kids wearing an outfit similar to what the killer wore. It was almost 'too fancy' and 'too trendy' for a high school student. All the kids in those pics looked to be dressed really casual.

I get this was typical Japanese and year 2000 style, I remember that year well! But I almost think the clothes are more something a 20-something year old would wear. Maybe it's the hat, scarf and jacket that's throwing me off.... If you take those away it looks more something a young person would wear. MOO

 

[Captain Hastings]

Thanks @Lalalacasbah and @Incoherent for the replies, so much info on these threads it's hard to keep track!

 

[Captain Hastings]

I found a US military document online dated 2022 which seems to cover the whole of Japan. The curfew is listed as being 1am-5am for anyone 19 or under. Those 20 and over are not covered by this. Now 2022 isn't 2000 so we don't know if this was the same back then but I think it's safe to assume there was indeed some form of late night/early morning curfew for those under 18/19 at the time.

Another contemporary document I found was from the base at Okinawa where it details the restrictions around service personal and their dependents driving in Japan. There it states that anyone under 18, regardless of if they have a valid US licence or not, are restricted to driving on the base only. They are not permitted to drive on Japanese roads. This is presumably to tie in with the Japanese driving age for cars which is 18.

So, if we take all of that into account then what does it tell us? Based on the killer being a dependent from a US military base and assuming similar restrictions were in place at the time either -

A) The killer is 15-17/18 and he managed to leave the base via car, possibly against base regulations, and proceeded to drive illegally to the murder site and back. This obviously adds a further element of risk both in terms of being stopped by base security when leaving/arriving but also the possibility of being stopped by Japanese police for driving under age.

He breaks the curfew whilst committing the murders. Perhaps this was unexpected and he intended on killing the family and being back in time. The hand wounds possibly delayed this and he was required to stay until the curfew was lifted in the morning. Or perhaps his plan was to do this regardless. Either way he's banking on nobody noticing/caring that he's gone overnight. Would seem a bit strange for a teenager not to be missed overnight but perhaps he had a viable excuse.

B) The killer is 18/19+ and as such no driving restrictions are in place nor any curfew times imposed and so these things do not affect his ability to commit the crime. As an adult he is less likely to be missed overnight or to draw suspicion on leaving/arriving at the base.

 

[Incoherent]

I found a US military document online dated 2022 which seems to cover the whole of Japan. The curfew is listed as being 1am-5am for anyone 19 or under. Those 20 and over are not covered by this. Now 2022 isn't 2000 so we don't know if this was the same back then but I think it's safe to assume there was indeed some form of late night/early morning curfew for those under 18/19 at the time.

Another contemporary document I found was from the base at Okinawa where it details the restrictions around service personal and their dependents driving in Japan. There it states that anyone under 18, regardless of if they have a valid US licence or not, are restricted to driving on the base only. They are not permitted to drive on Japanese roads. This is presumably to tie in with the Japanese driving age for cars which is 18.

So, if we take all of that into account then what does it tell us? Based on the killer being a dependent from a US military base and assuming similar restrictions were in place at the time either -

A) The killer is 15-17/18 and he managed to leave the base via car, possibly against base regulations, and proceeded to drive illegally to the murder site and back. This obviously adds a further element of risk both in terms of being stopped by base security when leaving/arriving but also the possibility of being stopped by Japanese police for driving under age.

He breaks the curfew whilst committing the murders. Perhaps this was unexpected and he intended on killing the family and being back in time. The hand wounds possibly delayed this and he was required to stay until the curfew was lifted in the morning. Or perhaps his plan was to do this regardless. Either way he's banking on nobody noticing/caring that he's gone overnight. Would seem a bit strange for a teenager not to be missed overnight but perhaps he had a viable excuse.

B) The killer is 18/19+ and as such no driving restrictions are in place nor any curfew times imposed and so these things do not affect his ability to commit the crime. As an adult he is less likely to be missed overnight or to draw suspicion on leaving/arriving at the base.

Or,

C) someone knows what he did and helped him.

Escaping into the night in central Tokyo without being seen by a single person, picked up on camera, spotted on a morning train, not one single person noticing him. Perhaps someone knew what he did and was there to help him get there and away. I wouldn’t find it farfetched someone out there knew what he did.

 

[Captain Hastings]

Found a post on the Yokota AFB Facebook page from 2019 where the curfew is listed as 10.30pm-5:30am. It is relaxed slightly for 17-19 year olds on weekends to midnight-5:30am. This curfew states that anyone covered by the curfew must stay at home unless accompanied by an adult. So you can't even leave your house, let alone the base during they time. That's not to say the rules can't be broken of course, the post itself is in response to an increase in violations at that time.

Again I'm not sure if the rules would be the same for 2000 so this is just speculation, but it's interesting to note that the murders were committed on a Saturday night/early Sunday morning and so if the killer was say 18 he would benefit from the relaxed curfew time.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Found a post on the Yokota AFB Facebook page from 2019 where the curfew is listed as 10.30pm-5:30am. It is relaxed slightly for 17-19 year olds on weekends to midnight-5:30am. This curfew states that anyone covered by the curfew must stay at home unless accompanied by an adult. So you can't even leave your house, let alone the base during they time. That's not to say the rules can't be broken of course, the post itself is in response to an increase in violations at that time.

Again I'm not sure if the rules would be the same for 2000 so this is just speculation, but it's interesting to note that the murders were committed on a Saturday night/early Sunday morning and so if the killer was say 18 he would benefit from the relaxed curfew time.

@Captain Hastings, I've spoken with many people who lived on base at that time. They all said the same thing: curfew was regularly disregarded, particularly those with parents in positions of power. These kids went off-base all the time. Many of them either had a car or access to one.

Given the timing of the murders, it's easy to imagine a young man slipping off base for the night on the pretext that he's staying out late with friends in the city / over at his girlfriend's / or, as @Incoherent says, didn't need a pretext at all.

 

[Captain Hastings]

If the rules aren't/weren't strictly enforced then that would certainly make the curfew timings or indeed the illegality of driving under the age of 18 much less of a factor.

I still find it hard to believe a 15/16 year old would be able to disappear over night without anyone being concerned by this, but again it's possible the killer had a viable excuse for his whereabouts and so no alarm was raised.

 

[Captain Hastings]

As you say @FacelessPodcast, it's possible that it was a fairly common occurrence for dependents of that age to stay away overnight and so nobody thought much of it. It would seem somewhat strange to me, but I'm not familiar with the day to day of a US overseas airbase. As such it's hard to know what was normal for the base or not. If you have spoken to people who are/were familiar with the base at that time and they think this would not be out of the ordinary, then I would assume they are correct and therefore the curfew/underage driving are not going to cause the killer much of an problem.

 

[Eliver]

If the rules aren't/weren't strictly enforced then that would certainly make the curfew timings or indeed the illegality of driving under the age of 18 much less of a factor.

I still find it hard to believe a 15/16 year old would be able to disappear over night without anyone being concerned by this, but again it's possible the killer had a viable excuse for his whereabouts and so no alarm was raised.

Remember that it was the night between 30 and 31st December, in the middle of a festivity season.
Hence, in my opinion, not at all difficult to explain why you would be out of the base at that date and time.

 

[Captain Hastings]

@Eliver I agree the time of the year makes total sense for people to be coming and going from the base at all hours.

I suppose what I find a bit strange, if we go with the idea the killer was 15/16, is that the parents don't seem concerned about their son breaking curfew and disappearing off into Tokyo on his own at night and only coming back in the early hours. The counter to this of course is he may of had a good excuse e.g. staying over at a friend's, they may not have even realised he was out if he went late enough and came back early enough, or maybe it was just the norm for dependents of that age to stay out all night, I don't know.

 

[Eliver]

@Eliver I agree the time of the year makes total sense for people to be coming and going from the base at all hours.

I suppose what I find a bit strange, if we go with the idea the killer was 15/16, is that the parents don't seem concerned about their son breaking curfew and disappearing off into Tokyo on his own at night and only coming back in the early hours. The counter to this of course is he may of had a good excuse e.g. staying over at a friend's, they may not have even realised he was out if he went late enough and came back early enough, or maybe it was just the norm for dependents of that age to stay out all night, I don't know.

What you have suggested, or perhaps he was 17/18.

I would personally go with 17. Why this specific age?
Because he would have been old enough to bypass the circumstances you have proposed, but perhaps in his mind not old enough to be easily persecuted (it doesn't work like that in Japan, but did he know?).
Of course JMO.

 

[Incoherent]

Remember, he also returned home with deep cuts to his hands, wearing bandages and sanitary pads that were wrapped around it, and wearing none of his own clothes besides trousers and shoes.
Even if he did manage to go and return by himself without being spotted at all, I find it unlikely a boy of 17 (for example) managed to keep the whole thing a secret from absolutely everyone under the circumstances. The wound itself required immediate medical attention to stop infection and there were no reports of anyone going to hospital to get it. At least, not out in Tokyo.

Someone knew. JMO.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

Remember, he also returned home with deep cuts to his hands, wearing bandages and sanitary pads that were wrapped around it, and wearing none of his own clothes besides trousers and shoes.
Even if he did manage to go and return by himself without being spotted at all, I find it unlikely a boy of 17 (for example) managed to keep the whole thing a secret from absolutely everyone under the circumstances. The wound itself required immediate medical attention to stop infection and there were no reports of anyone going to hospital to get it. At least, not out in Tokyo.

Someone knew. JMO.

Someone did and does know. If not a parent, maybe sibling but hard to hide that injury from a parent I would think MOO

Perhaps someone in the family had medical expertise or a family friend even... They may have asked for help from, but then I would think those folks would have come forward by now.

If the killer was into sports and/or skateboarding, I wonder if he tried to pass his injury off as a sporting/skating accident.

I am still interested in that island by the water. Might be nothing but I think he'd need another wash up before going home, especially the shoes. It sounds isolated there and maybe a place at night not to be seen? IIRC it was in opposite direction but who knows when the killer actually went home. Couldn't been early daylight.

 

[Bobban]

@Incoherent when more than one person shares a secret it's so much more likely that the secret travels further. Had someone else known or helped the killer I think it's almost impossible that they would have been able to keep it amongst themselves for more than 20 years.

Something to consider is that maybe the place he returned to that night/morning didn't have any other occupants or he had a reasonable excuse as to why he would be home late that night.
I think we all agree that the killers stay in japan was not permanent nor had been planned to be permanent. The jacket he wore is said to have first been available for purchase in November of 2000 so even if the killer bought it the day it went up for sale he could have owned the jacket for a maximum of about 2 months. Did he not have an older jacket he could wear if he knew he was likely gonna have to discard it anyways after the crime?
This is my own speculation after reading too much into it but I'm gonna look away from the military brat theory for a second.
Someone who moves with family and uproot their entire life would probably bring along all their clothes including winter jackets as they don't plan to go home for a longer time.
But a young person who is not uprooting their entire life but simply going to live away from home for some time might not bother bringing as much luggage and instead plan on buying things when it becomes necessary. All this to say the jacket might have been new because it was his first winter away from home.

 

[Incoherent]

@Incoherent when more than one person shares a secret it's so much more likely that the secret travels further. Had someone else known or helped the killer I think it's almost impossible that they would have been able to keep it amongst themselves for more than 20 years.

While I do agree in normal circumstances, in this instance if the secret did get out and the killer was found it would almost certainly mean execution. Not to mention if this were to do with the USAF, potential diplomatic fallout.

The TMPD estimates he was as young as 15. Who is the most likely to assist or protect the person in this case? It would be a family member, no? His father or mother. Could we with certainty say that his parents would have given him up to the Japanese authorities after a while if they did know? You agree that his stay was not permanent, so perhaps none of their’s was either and they all left Japan.

I don’t find it so unimaginable that a parent would patch their son up and ship them off almost immediately after the murder if they had a way and the means to protect them.
Perhaps they didn’t even know the full story. Just that something had gone horribly wrong, he needed medical attention, he’d done something awful, and he needed to leave. If he were leaving anyway in the months ahead why not just send him early?

It’s now been 24 years. Do they even think about it anymore?

MOO.

 

[Bobban]

@Incoherent I agree that there are enough twisted people in this world and that the parents covering for their son is a possibility. Kristin Smart's murder is a good example where the killers father was charged with accessory after the fact.
But in that case everyone in town seemed to know who the killer likely was and rumors about the family became widespread the more time passed.
The Miyazawa case is so incredibly silent. How did the family's actions go unnoticed by police and neighbors if they shipped away their young son or all left quickly after the murders. I would think that is the kind of suspicious activity police would have spent 20 years searching for.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

@Incoherent I agree that there are enough twisted people in this world and that the parents covering for their son is a possibility. Kristin Smart's murder is a good example where the killers father was charged with accessory after the fact.
But in that case everyone in town seemed to know who the killer likely was and rumors about the family became widespread the more time passed.
The Miyazawa case is so incredibly silent. How did the family's actions go unnoticed by police and neighbors if they shipped away their young son or all left quickly after the murders. I would think that is the kind of suspicious activity police would have spent 20 years searching for.

1) Respectfully, how do you know there was much of anything to be noticed in the first place?

My research made it clear that these murders were NOT common knowledge on-base. Back then, there was only one English language newspaper in Japan to my knowledge. American newspaper readership, while not as low as today, was not high in 2000. I don’t think there was an English language Japanese news channel. It follows, then, that many of the people that I spoke to who had been on Yokota had never heard of the Miyazawa case.

One single boy leaving around, say, graduation, or one family being rotated suddenly off base — not only does that seem like something that would go UNnoticed, it seems entirely in-keeping with the conversations I’ve had with USAF folks. I think it’s more likely someone would remember a sudden scar, let’s say, though almost certainly one with some excuse or other.

2) I’m yet to see a single poster here show me how the TMPD would even get on to a US military installation in the first place — let alone start questioning kids as young as 15.

3) My own view is this: the love of a parent for their son is often going to be stronger than ‘doing the right thing’ in the name of justice. I picture that, upon finding that his son was mixed up in a terrible crime (let alone murders that could incur execution by hanging), a parent decides to get him out of the country. This wouldn’t be the exception to the rule. I think phoning a foreign police force to turn him in would be the exception to the rule. And that’s assuming the parent even knew of the Miyazawa murders. I can envisage a scenario where the killer’s father, let’s say, sees the injury, knows the boy has been mixed up in a violent crime but buys a BS story. Maybe the father intuits it’s all lies but chooses to believe them anyway because that’s an easier world to live in.

 

[Eliver]

I would also like to add this:
Everything in that house and even in the behavior of the killer shows us he was no criminal mastermind by any means.
In any way one looks at it, it is clear a series of unlikely and unrepeatable circumstances aligned for him in order to get away with it.