The family of Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara’s wife complained about the mysterious death of her ex-husband, which was “never investigated and kept in the dark.

Taneo was our precious, precious son. I have always believed in him. I have always believed in my son” (Taneo’s father).

Tearfully, he expressed his regret over the investigation.

On July 20, the hottest day in Tokyo (32°C), a room at the Judicial Press Club in Kasumigaseki was overflowing with reporters who had rushed to the scene.

On that day, the family of Taneo Yasuda, who died suspiciously in 2006, held a press conference, and many reporters crowded into the club. At the press conference, Taneo’s father and sister requested a reopening of the investigation into the suspicious death. The bereaved family members continued to appeal, sometimes with tears in their eyes,” said a reporter from the society section of a national newspaper.

The suspicious death in question occurred on April 10, 2006. Taneo Yasuda (28 years old) was found lying in a pool of blood at his home in Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo.

The first person to find the body is Taneo’s father. It is believed that Taneo stabbed himself with a knife from above his head to his throat, and the case was initially treated as a suicide due to methamphetamine abuse. However, in 2006, the Investigation Department began to question the case and reopened the investigation. However, in December of the same year, the investigation was suddenly curtailed. Since then, there has been no contact with the bereaved family.

At the press conference, Taneo’s father recounted his son’s tragic transformation.

My son was covered in blood and lying on the floor with his eyes wide open. Blood was splattered all over the ceiling, and a long, thin knife was neatly placed 2 to 30 cm away from his right thigh. The police at the time decided, ‘There will be no case, it’s probably a suicide. But Taneo’s wounds reached from his throat to his lungs. Is it really possible that he stabbed himself like that and then placed the knife neatly at his feet before he died?

Taneo’s two sisters also cited the lack of a motive for his suicide, as well as the fact that his last steps, including his phone records immediately before the incident, were not yet known.

Then, in July of this year, about five years after the investigation had been scaled back, Shukan Bunshun (Weekly Bunshun) mentioned Mr. Taneo’s suspicious death. It also reported that Taneo’s wife at the time, Ako, who is now the wife of Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara (53), had been interviewed and searched by the Metropolitan Police Department as a material witness in the case, and the case came under suspicion a third time.

According to the bereaved family, Taneo and Ako got married in May 2002. He married Ako, who was a magazine model at the time, and they later had a child together. However, the couple’s relationship gradually deteriorated, and in 2006, divorce talk surfaced.

Shukan Bunshun pointed out that Mr. Kihara, who is a key figure in the administration, may have had an influence on the investigation of Tanedo. In response, Mr. Kihara, through a proxy lawyer, refuted the report, saying, ‘The article in the Weekly Bunshun about me and my family has no basis in fact,’ and even declared that he would file a criminal complaint against Bunshun.

In response to Bunshun’s report, Taneo’s family submitted a written appeal to the Otsuka Police Chief on July 17, requesting that the investigation be reopened. The press conference at the Judicial Press Club took place three days later.

One of the sisters responded to Kihara’s claim that the investigation was “factually inaccurate.

We are here now, that’s all that matters. I don’t want to sue him, but I want an explanation. If there is nothing else, maybe you can explain.”

His voice shaking, he continued, “Even if the culprits were caught, I would still like to know what happened to my brother.

Even if the culprits are caught, my brother will never come back. I just want to know the truth. I don’t want to speculate, but I want them to reopen the investigation and reveal the truth.

Taneo’s father also reiterated his appeal.

When Taneo died, there was no proper investigation and he was buried in the dark, so I gave up and lived my life. When I received a call 12 years later that the case would be reopened, I was overjoyed. I promised my son that I would clear Taneo’s name. However, less than a year after the investigation began, I was told that the investigation would be scaled back, and the Investigation Section was disbanded and jurisdiction was transferred to the Otsuka Police Station. The investigation team was disbanded and transferred to the Otsuka Police Station. Please reopen the investigation.

About 17 years have passed since the incident. The hands of the clock are about to start moving again.