Yokohama City ″Kaekkei″ popular ramen restaurant murder case: “Disparity within the family” behind the stabbing death of the hot-blooded manager by a family member shopkeeper

Yokohama City is the birthplace of Ieke Ramen. The city of Yokohama is the birthplace of Ihekei-Ramen, and Konan-ku in particular is a hidden battleground, but at dusk in the pouring rain, a popular ramen restaurant that is usually lit up in the daytime was strangely quiet.

The incident was discovered just after 7 p.m. on September 15. Two days later, the restaurant’s employee, Akihito Ohashi, 35, was found and arrested in Nagoya City, where he had fled.

Akihito was a relative of Hiroki. Akihito told the police that he had a grudge against Hiroki and stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Hiroki was stabbed several times, mainly in the upper body, and there seemed to be marks where he desperately resisted. As per Akihito’s statement, we can sense a strong intent to kill from the corpse” (reporter for a national newspaper).

Hiroki opened the store about eight years ago. The noodles he purchased from his family’s noodle factory and the “Iekei” ramen, a pork-bone and soy-sauce broth that he was particular about, had a steady clientele. Akihito also worked at the restaurant, and the two would sometimes work on prototypes until late at night. Gradually, however, their relationship became strained. An acquaintance of Akihito reveals his emotional trauma.

Like Hiroki’s family, Akihito’s family also ran a noodle factory. Growing up watching his father’s back, Akihito got a job at a famous ramen restaurant around the age of 18. However, he soon became frustrated and moved from job to job after that. His father couldn’t bear to see him go, so he gave Akihito his own ramen store, but it soon collapsed.

Later, his father’s noodle factory also went bankrupt due to embezzlement by an employee. Akihito turned to a relative who ran another noodle factory.

Shohito was often teased about his appearance and was mentally unstable ever since he was in junior high school. Even when he was working at the store where the incident occurred, he may have felt guilty about being pampered by his younger relatives. ……

Hiroki, who was a hot-blooded man with many friends, and who developed his own ramen store into a popular restaurant, and Akihito, an older suspect who was bullied and never fulfilled his dreams: ……. The disparity that arose among the “ramen family,” a brilliant and locally famous family, may have resulted in the tragedy.

From the October 6, 2023 issue of FRIDAY.