<figure id="attachment_405446" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-405446" style="width: 4032px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6900f23a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/587b379852a3eb5802f0cfcae6932ab0.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-405446" class="wp-caption-text">The &#8220;Kawasaki Nursing Home Deaths&#8221; I: A Death Row Inmate&#8217;s Memoir to Mr. Takagi was &#8220;blacked out&#8221; to the point that its contents could not be deciphered (from &#8220;Reminiscence of Murder&#8221;).</figcaption></figure>
<h2> The line between &#8220;do&#8221; and &#8220;do not&#8221; is not blurred.</h2>
<p> Where is the &#8220;borderline&#8221; between a person who has committed a murder and a person who has not?</p>
<p> Just because someone is a murderer does not necessarily mean that he or she was destined to be a &#8220;murderer&#8221; from the time of birth. They must have experienced joys and sorrows in their daily lives just as we do.</p>
<p> And yet, people still kill. How was this &#8220;darkness of the heart&#8221; born? The book, &#8220;Reminiscence of Murder: Why the Tragedy and Tragedy Happened, Written from the Confessions of Five Murderers,&#8221; was published by Tetsujinsha on December 25. The author, nonfiction writer Mizuho Takagi, wrote the following in the &#8220;Introduction&#8221; of the book.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I, too, have wanted to kill people. Not only have I wanted to kill people, but I have also unintentionally picked up a knife in anger. The line between &#8220;do&#8221; and &#8220;don&#8217;t&#8221; is not blurred. It was one of those moments that made me lose confidence in my ability to say so.</span><br>
<span class="strongInContent"> But even so, I did not do it. Because the regret that seeps into my mind before &#8220;doing&#8221; comes first.</span></p>
<p> The book consists of &#8220;confessions&#8221; about the five murders, sometimes directly from the mouths of the perpetrators, sometimes in letters, and sometimes from people who were close to the perpetrators and knew their circumstances. The following is a partial summary of the book.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> The Kawasaki Nursing Home Series of Deaths by Falls</span></h3>
<p> The incident occurred between November and December of 2002. Until the second death, the police treated it as an accident, but when the third death occurred, they changed their investigation policy. I (then 21), an employee of the home, came to the forefront of the investigation as the murderer, and when he was arrested in February 2004, he confessed to the three murders.</p>
<p> However, at his first trial in January 2006, I reversed his testimony, saying that he <span class="strongInContent">had done nothing wrong.</span> He claimed that he had no recollection of what happened at the time of the murders and that he had made a false confession under pressure from the interrogators. However, the interrogation was recorded, and there was no indication that he was coerced into confessing. The confession was considered credible, and he was sentenced to death in March 2006.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" A year and a half with I, who pleaded not guilty"></div>
<h2>A man sloppy with money and with women</h2>
<p> It was in October 2009 that Mr. Takagi met I at the Tokyo Detention Center. I, who had appealed the case, contacted him through a supporter, <span class="strongInContent">saying, &#8220;I want to prove my innocence.</span></p>
<p> This meeting marked the beginning of an exchange of letters between Mr. Takagi and I. Although I confided in him about my upbringing and even my propensity for stealing, he refused to tell me the &#8220;truth,&#8221; while Mr. Takagi tried to extract the truth from him, a tactic that continued for about a year and a half. In the end, I confessed to Mr. Takagi that he had committed the crime <span class="strongInContent">, saying, &#8220;Actually, there is no mistake that I did it.</span></p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Murder of two women in Shizuoka</span></h3>
<p> K (44 at the time), who was arrested in &#8217;10 on suspicion of fraud, was found to have murdered his remarried partner, Ms. A (25 at the time), and dumped her body wrapped in a blue sheet in a storage room of the house where she used to live. K was sentenced to death in December 2002.</p>
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<p> K <span class="strongInContent">was</span> not divorced from his ex-wife, and he and Mr. A forged documents to remarry. It was said that he was a man who was sloppy with both money and women.</p>
<p> He would have relationships with women for money, and when the situation became inconvenient, he would commit violent acts. Yumi, who was still young at the time of the incident, changed her mind about K and her mother as she learned more about the case.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" I am not a strong woman."></div>
<h2>Don&#8217;t eat ramen all the time.</h2>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Serial Suspicious Deaths in Tottori</span></h3>
<p> The case caused a stir when six men died suspicious deaths around U., a hostess at a snack bar in Tottori City. In April 2009, a truck driver (47 at the time) was found drowned in the Sea of Japan along the Hokuei River in Hokuei Town, Tottori Prefecture, and in October of the same year, an electrician (57 at the time) was found drowned in the Mani River in Tottori City. U was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in July 2005.</p>
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<p> Two months before the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision, Mr. Takagi met U (43 at the time) at Matsue Prison in Shimane, Japan. 146cm tall and petite, U told him, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I am not a strong woman.</span> This book contains a 7,000-word memoir that she entrusted to Mr. Takagi, <span class="strongInContent">saying, &#8220;I want you to know the real me.</span></p>
<p> At the last visit to the prison after her death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court, U told him as she was leaving, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Don&#8217;t eat only ramen noodles because it&#8217;s late at night (for work),&#8221;</span> but on January 14, 2011, she choked on her food and died at the Hiroshima Detention Center where she was being held.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Akita 9-year-old girl abused and murdered</span></h3>
<p> In June &#8217;16, at an apartment in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, a mother, Coko (then 40), strangled her daughter, Misaki (then 9), who was temporarily home from an orphanage, to death and then tried to commit suicide herself with a kitchen knife. She had left Misaki in the care of an institution because Coko had neglected her. Even so, Misaki was so happy to see her mother that she went home.</p>
<p> It was not clear at the trial why Child C killed Misaki and tried to take her own life. However, it is known that her murderous acts were determined by oracles, prophecies, and &#8220;oracle cards,&#8221; which are used to receive the word of God.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Misaki&#39;s father told"></div>
<h2>I had my sister call the cops on me.</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent">&#8221;I&#8217;ve been thinking for a long time.</span> I <span class="strongInContent">thought this would happen someday,&#8217;</span> said Mr. X, 51, Coko&#8217;s ex-husband and Misaki&#8217;s biological father.&#8217; Mr. X spoke of his regrets and his feelings for his late beloved daughter and child.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Chiba Elderly Care Murder Case</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t regret (killing her). But I feel lonely now that I&#8217;m all alone.</span></p>
<p> These were the words of O, who strangled his wife, Doko (then 73), with a towel in July 2003. He told Takagi that he felt guilty but had no regrets.</p>
<p> The couple had been together for 50 years and ran a dry cleaning business together in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture, but about 10 years ago, Doko developed Alzheimer&#8217;s disease. O was brought to the police on the spot after his sister called the police, and was given a suspended sentence on the grounds that he had the burden of caring for his wife, who was having trouble communicating with him.</p>
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<p> The memories of his wife and the days of caring for her that she was gradually losing cannot be considered as something that is happening to anyone else in this day and age when murders due to &#8220;caregiver fatigue&#8221; are on the rise. And the &#8220;moment that led to the murderous act&#8221; is also something that is hard to say will never happen to him.</p>

<p> The testimonies of the five people involved in the murders reveal something. The line between &#8220;do&#8221; and &#8220;don&#8217;t&#8221; may be blurred.</p>

<p> In the book, the murderers and those on death row are referred to by their real names, but the editorial staff has decided to use their initials.</p>

<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" [Image] The &quot;truth&quot; about the murderers."></div>
<figure id="attachment_405447" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-405447" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="da61facb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/0de09dc4c1ecc98bfe228bf1c4d4cfcb.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-405447" class="wp-caption-text">K., a death-row inmate in the &#8220;Shizuoka 2 murders,&#8221; was a &#8220;good father,&#8221; says Yumi (pseudonym, from &#8220;Reminiscences of Murder&#8221;).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_405448" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-405448" style="width: 3008px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7f7dab62"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/be1d238daec45bbfc21c22bf58e302fb.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-405448" class="wp-caption-text"> The room where U, who was sentenced to death in the &#8220;Tottori Serial Suspicious Deaths&#8221; case, lived in disarray (from &#8220;Reminiscences of Murder&#8221;).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_405449" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-405449" style="width: 2016px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8d06908f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/c9f9638d361ed662a9c99514caef592c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-405449" class="wp-caption-text"> Mr. X, the former husband of the murderer of a fourth-grade girl in Akita Prefecture and the father of the victim, Misaki (pseudonym), expressed his regrets (from &#8220;Reminiscences of Murder&#8221;).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_405451" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-405451" style="width: 5184px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="118a6d42"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/e31eaee7ec46a97371a428ec836c957d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-405451" class="wp-caption-text"> The &#8220;Chiba Elderly Care Murder Case. O was interviewed in his bedroom on the second floor of his home, where he took his wife&#8217;s hand because he was tired of caring for her (from &#8220;Reminiscence of Murder&#8221;).</figcaption></figure>
<p><span style="font-size: 1rem;"></span></p>
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<p></p>
<figure id="attachment_405498" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-405498" style="width: 1941px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="18157615"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/d31f9a7e8c07f06b56264fc421af2a4b.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-405498" class="wp-caption-text"> Reminiscence of Murder: Why the Tragedy and Tragedy Happened, Written from the Confessions of Five Murderers&#8221; (Mizuho Takagi, Tetsujinsha)</figcaption></figure>
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<p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%AE%BA%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AE%E8%BF%BD%E6%86%B6-%E9%AB%98%E6%9C%A8%E7%91%9E%E7%A9%82/dp/4865372903/ref=sr_1_3?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._NX7wTW4N1dIa0dju4X6eGfDfm8akq_pR-7KyAIeQCJFAAEFADoetWgvgHRj709l5FppCdOSbZrBw0m2N9i7Nr3mpO9voP3daXV2J0Iwa9mEGw6i2YHSbyOtHb8be2LfwaYTMioloGXwDMz_-obOkH1tr9v_Fk2z0uOt2aNCwt76aY0WgzRRX9B3xz0BdYeM4rP7Wad7nSvs9i6t1UE2wulD_DYcnDPMHGqJgSNTFPE.KBxpidudhdjNf88M9dd4XD4yAZdylOMbN9-tfgq-6gM&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;qid=1734930641&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-3"> Reminiscence of Murder: Why Tragedy and Tragedy Happened, Writing the Confessions of Five Murderers (Mizuho Takagi, Tetsujinsha)</a></p>
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 Mizuho Takagi (1st, 2nd, 4th), Takaaki Yagisawa (3rd), Hiroyuki Komatsu (5th)

 Why did the murderers kill people? In "Reminiscences of Murder," nonfiction writer Mizuho Takagi interviews the "confessions" of the murderers in five different cases. How did Takagi get close to the murderers? Let us introduce some of her findings.

Remembrance of Murder” tells the “dark side of the mind” of the murderers in the five murders.

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