An assault that lasted for six hours… The truth about the “lynching and murder” case as seen by Toyoko Kids

I kept kicking him even after he passed out.

That day, I went to the rooftop with those guys. I had no idea that such an awful thing would take place. …… I still can’t get Akira-san’s face out of my head. I keep regretting that there was something I could have done to help him.

On November 27th of last year, Akira Ujiie, 43, a homeless man, was lynched to death on the roof of a crowded building in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. Of the six members of the group, the main suspects, Juki Sekiguchi (26) and Aoi Kametani (24), as well as 18-year-old boys A and B, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. The remaining boys, C and D, were not arrested because they were not involved in the assault.

The boys are said to be the “Toyoko Kids” who hang out next to the TOHO Cinemas in Kabukicho, and Sekiguchi, Kameya, and the victim, Ms. Ujiie, were also regular visitors to the Toyoko. Toyoko has been the focus of public attention for a number of incidents, but this lynching and murder was the ultimate example of its lawlessness.

FRIDAY interviewed boy C, Satoru (pseudonym, 17), who was with the suspects on the day of the incident. He told us about the whole incident (all statements in parentheses are from Satoru).

I started going to Toyoko around the summer of last year. I didn’t have any particular problems with my home environment, but I couldn’t get along with my hometown or school, and I wanted a group of like-minded people, so I ended up at Toyoko. It was also at Toyoko that I met Sekiguchi and Kameya, the two guys who were arrested. They were in their twenties, so they were older than the rest of us. They told us that they were yakuza, but they were usually good people who bought us lunches and drinks at convenience stores.

Boys A and B also met at Toyoko, but I didn’t get along with them; A was a delinquent and B was said to be a member of a biker gang in Kisarazu. A was a delinquent and B was said to be a member of a biker gang in Kisarazu. They were violent guys who would show me pictures of themselves beating people up and brag about it, saying, ‘Isn’t it great?

Mr. Ujiie, on the other hand, was a member of the volunteer group “Kabukicho Manji-kai”, which was involved in cleaning up Kabukicho. He was also well known by the Toyoko kids.

Satoru usually hangs out at the “Hotel Rib Max” in Kabukicho. On the morning of November 27th, the day of the incident, Satoru was at the Hotel Rib Max with boy D. “That day I was with Kameya and A,” he said.

Kameya and A were with us that day,” he said. When we all got off the elevator together, we happened to run into Akira. When Kameya found Akira-san, he threatened him, saying, ‘Come here a minute. Then he ordered me and D to follow him. Kameya and A forcibly took Akira to the parking lot of the “Lions Mansion” in Shinjuku, where A lived. I think the time was around 7:00 in the morning.

When I arrived at the parking lot, A and Kameya started to assault Akira. Surprised by the suddenness of the situation, D and I stood there, and after about 15 minutes of repeated punching and kicking, we moved to the building where the incident took place, as the residents of the apartment building had come out. It seems that Kameya had figured out that he could get on the roof of that building. I’m not sure about my memory, but I think Sekiguchi joined them while they were moving to the building.
On the way to the building, Akira-san repeatedly asked me, “Please help me. On the way to the building, Akira repeatedly pleaded with me, “Help me, I’m going to get killed if I don’t do something.

I knew in my head that I should help them, but I was afraid that if I stopped them, I would be lynched. I can still vividly remember the look of desperation on Akira’s face at that time.

According to Satoru’s memory, it was around eight in the morning when he went up to the roof of the building.

At first, Kameya and A had Akira sitting on the floor and were discussing something. At first, Kameya and A were sitting on the floor and discussing something, but they broke down, and suddenly Kameya kicked Akira. Sekiguchi followed, and then A kicked him as well. He made the cowering Akira-san sit upright and kicked him again. When he fainted, they woke him up and kicked him again. After B joined him in the middle of the lynching, the scene became even more spirited, and they surrounded each other and took turns kicking.

Akira just kept apologizing, saying ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I’m sorry’. Seeing how awful the scene was, I said to them, ‘You’d better stop now,’ but they didn’t listen. I was afraid that if I said anything else, they would turn on me. D and I were too scared to move and could only watch. It was a time that felt like an eternity. Kameya and Sekiguchi laughed and said, ‘We’re the gentle ones.

I wanted to beat someone up.

After 2 p.m., Boy B signaled, “Let’s get out of here,” and the assault finally ended. The lynching had indeed been going on for more than six hours. At around 2:45 p.m., a call came in and Mr. Ujiie was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

We don’t know who made the call. I found out about Akira’s death on the news that evening. I didn’t expect him to be dead, and my eyes went black. That night, D and I turned ourselves in at a police box in Kabukicho and cooperated as much as possible with the investigation to at least atone for our sins.

Why was Mr. Ujiie lynched? It is said that he had financial troubles with a biker gang group in Kisarazu to which Boy B belonged. In fact, on November 7, 20 days before the incident, Mr. Ujiie was assaulted by a group of bikers at Nishi-Okubo Park in Shinjuku, and was seriously injured by an acute subdural hematoma.

It is said that B paid for 100,000 yen for his hospitalization at that time, or that Akira borrowed the money from a member of Toyoko. At the time of the lynching, Sekiguchi and Kameya said, ‘Don’t you dare mention our names,’ so he may have asked them to solve his problems, which in turn may have angered them.

However, I don’t think that …… Sekiguchi, Kameya, A and B had any particular grudge against Akira-san. I think they just wanted to beat someone up as a way of letting off steam. Akira, who was having a bit of trouble, happened to be the target. That was my impression after watching the lynching up close for over six hours. Even if I had put my body on the line, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop them. But if I had called the police when I saw a chance, I might have been able to save them from dying. I’ve always regretted it.

On January 28 this year, the Metropolitan Police Department announced the arrest of Yasuhiro Mizuno, 24, who called himself the “King of Toyoko,” for indecent behavior with a junior high school girl. On February 1, it was also announced that four more people, including two juveniles, were newly arrested as suspects in the November 7 assault on Ms. Ujiie.

The police have stepped up their crackdown, and the Toyoko Kids have disappeared. However, if we just kick them out without recognizing the darkness they are facing, eventually a second “Toyoko” will be born and incidents will occur frequently again.

From “FRIDAY” February 18, 2022 issue