26-Year-Old Man’s Dead Body Dump Sparks Debate on Accountability in Youth Crimes

“I can’t die alone”

With a solid build and a chin beard, his appearance was intimidating at first glance. Yet while walking, he would suddenly close his eyes, then flash a faint smile—his expressions were far from steady.

On February 22, Kazuhide Owada (26) emerged from the Higashiyamato Police Station to be sent to the prosecutor’s office. He had been arrested the previous day on suspicion of abandoning the body of a male acquaintance in a van.

“According to the police, around 8 p.m. on the 20th, Owada called 110 himself from a parking lot at an apartment in Musashimurayama, Tokyo, saying, ‘I got into an argument with a friend and stabbed him to death.’ When officers arrived, the body of a man in his 20s with stab wounds to his back was found in the trunk of the van.

Owada reportedly told investigators, ‘We argued over work,’ and that he moved the body from the man’s apartment to the car around February 10. The police are expediting identification and are also investigating on suspicion of murder,” said a social affairs reporter from a national newspaper.

Even in murder cases, suspects are often initially arrested for abandoning a corpse. In this case, given that Owada turned himself in, the likelihood that this is also a murder case is very high. Meanwhile, other corpse-abandonment cases continue to leave many unanswered questions.

In Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, Rina Ishii (30) was arrested on January 31 for abandoning the body of a man believed to be her partner in a hotel room.

“According to the announcement, on the night of January 26, Ishii left the body of a man (19), thought to be her partner, in a business hotel in Kashiwa. On the morning of the 30th, she called her family saying things like, ‘I can’t die alone. I’ll jump and kill myself.’ When her family arrived, they discovered the body.

The two had been staying at the hotel since the 24th. Ishii admitted to leaving the body, but there were no obvious external injuries, and the cause of death has not yet been announced,” said the same reporter.

On February 1, Ishii was brought out from the Nagareyama Police Station in Chiba Prefecture for submission to the prosecutor. Tall with long straight hair, she looked like a typical young woman, but her expression was completely exhausted. She did not react at all to camera flashes, walking weakly under the guidance of police officers with her gaze down.

Tahei Ogawa, a former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist, provides context:

“Ishii left the body for several days despite knowing the man was dead. If it were an accidental death, she likely would have called the police immediately, so that possibility is very low. Since the man was her partner, a forced double suicide (shinjū) is possible. Investigators are likely considering all possibilities—from murder to aiding suicide—and proceeding carefully.

However, regardless of the cause, leaving the body for several days constitutes a serious crime. Recently, there has been a rise in similar incidents occurring in hotels, so authorities may deliberately withhold certain details of the investigation.”

In both cases, there is no question that the crimes are serious and carry severe consequences.