May 26 Arrest: Frustration Grows with Parents of Suspect Who “Responded Lacking Consideration and Sincerity” in Killing Four People in Nagano Standoff

Shocking! Parents who reopened their gelato store are in a state of shock.

He stabbed two women who were out for a walk to death with a knife, and killed two police officers who rushed to the scene with a hunting rifle and a knife. The murderer then holed himself up in his house for half a day, a horrific incident in a peaceful rural town.

The home of Masanori Aoki, 32, in Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture, where the crime took place, is still under a police cordon.

After three months of evaluation and detention, Aoki was determined to be criminally responsible and was indicted in November 2011 on two counts of murder and a violation of the Firearms Control Law. A resident who lives not far from the scene of the crime said that the aftermath of the crime continues to this day.

The factory where the crime took place has since been turned into a warehouse for ski and snowboard companies. Local residents who know what happened are not going to go near the area. Even at meetings of the festival preservation society, to which Masanori belonged, everyone shuts their mouths when the incident is mentioned, and it has become a taboo subject.

Aoki grew up the eldest of three siblings, with a father, Masamichi, a city council member who resigned after the incident, and a mother who ran a gelato store.

Both Aoki and Aoki’s parents used to be regarded as good parents, but the local community has become increasingly dissatisfied with the sloppy way they handled the situation after the incident. Another neighbor who had a close relationship with the Aoki family voiced her dissatisfaction.

One neighbor who was in close contact with the Aoki family said, “In June, the parents told us, ‘We are sorry for the trouble we have caused you. They are now hiding out at an acquaintance’s house. It seems that they have not returned to their home in Nakano City. I sometimes see a car parked in front of the main house. …… The couple only gave an interview to a local newspaper right after the incident, and there is no sign that they apologized to the victim’s family.
In November, a man who was mowing the grass in Masamichi’s orchard said on a local TV program that he was doing it at the request of his father, but it was later discovered that it was actually Masamichi himself who was being interviewed. Some people have questioned, “Isn’t it a lack of consideration and sincerity on his part to disappear after such an incident?

After the incident, it is rumored that the parents’ gelato store in the city was transferred to a ramen store that operated next door. However, less than six months later, the parents quietly reopened another gelato store about an hour’s drive away.

When a man from the community went to the vicinity of the store in October, he was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Aoki as he passed by the gelato store. He was wearing a deep hat and a mask, perhaps fearing that his “identity” would be revealed.
I understand the parents’ feelings. But this is a small town with a close-knit community. I think that a sincere response to the bereaved families should come before the reopening of the restaurant.

The scars of the murderous act that shook the residents are deeply engraved. Aoki is expected to be tried by a jury trial.

From the January 5 and 12, 2024 issues of FRIDAY