Hiroto Oyama, the Son of a Man on Death Row, Talks about His Life in the Hiroshima Serial Insurance Money Murders

Hiroto spent his time delinquent and lonely, and before long he became a central figure in the group. However, he stopped his delinquency once and for all after a comment from his father.

“One time, I was being chased by a motorcycle driver without a license, and I ran into an intersection and was seriously injured,” he says. “I dislocated both arms and received several stitches in my jaw. I went to visit my father at the Hiroshima Detention Center in that condition, and he told me in tears, ‘Please don’t do anything rash.’ At that moment, for the first time since my father’s arrest, I felt affection for him as a parent. I felt that I could give up the feelings of resentment and hatred towards my father. I was able to stop my delinquent behavior and face my family ties in order for me to move forward.”

 

Although Hiroto now wants his father to “live to atone for his sins,” he still feels guilty about his mother.

“Just before she was killed, she was in the bathroom on the first floor shouting my name, ‘Hiro-kun!’. I was asleep in the bedroom on the second floor at the time and didn’t hear her cry. I felt more guilty for not being able to help my mother than I feel grateful for her raising me. I used to want to kill my father, but now I have forgiven him. Because I have two conflicting feelings toward my father and mother, I am able to keep my mind balanced without being partial to either of them.”

 

After quitting high school after three days, Hiroto has worked at a butcher store, a pachinko parlor, and other places since he was 17 years old, but has been fired many times because of his background. In July of this year, he began working as a boy at a brothel in Nagoya under the supervision of an understanding man, and for the first time in 17 years, he had a girlfriend.

“I feel that after more than 20 years, I have finally been able to experience the happiness that I could never have before.”

With mixed feelings toward his father and mother, Hiroto is gradually regaining his normal life.