News On Japan

Chiba police accuse man of dumping body of wife

Nov 16, 2020 (tokyoreporter.com) - A 47-year-old man in custody in connection with the disappearance of his wife earlier this year has been further accused of dumping her body, police have revealed, reports TBS News (Nov. 14).

On November 13, police accused Akira Ono, a company employee, of abandoning the body of his wife, 32-year-old Rina.

Police believe that Ono transported the body of his wife from Chiba Prefecture to a beach at Ibaraki Prefecture on March 6 and 7.

In contradicting previous statements, Ono denies the allegations. “I didn’t abandon [her body],” the suspect was quoted by police.

Rina’s whereabouts became unknown after she left her company in Narita on March 6. her family reported her missing with police three days later. Thereafter, investigators found her vehicle parked at a park in Narita.

In October, police first arrested Ono for fraudulently using his wife’s name for the registration document for a vehicle he purchased for himself in January.

During questioning, Ono said, “I stabbed her in my car and buried her at the beach,” police quoted the suspect.

The beach is in Hokota City, Ibaraki. Investigators used dogs and excavation equipment to search a more than 15-kilometer-long stretch of beach between Hokota and Kashima cities over 67 days between June and October. However, a body has not been found, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Nov. 15).

Last week, police also revealed that security camera footage showed Ono to have used one of the vehicles to travel between Narita and the Hokota area on the night Rina disappeared.

Ono, a resident of Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, and Rina have been separated for more than two years. She lives in Inzai City, Chiba.

The couple has one child. When Rina disappeared, she and Ono were believed to have been fighting over custody of the child.

During a search of his residence, police found Rina’s driver’s license, a knife and hair smeared with blood later confirmed to be hers.

The couple have a total of three vehicles. Stains of Rina’s blood were found inside one of them. Police also found signs of blood having been wiped up.

Prior to Ono’s first arrest, he told police under voluntary questioning, “I thought that I [would have custody of] my child if my wife were gone. I wanted to talk [to her] about custody.”

Source: ANNnewsCH

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Airports and railway stations across Japan were crowded on September 23 as travelers returned from their hometowns and holiday destinations on the final day of the five-day Silver Week holiday, with international flight arrivals reaching their peak and many afternoon Shinkansen services fully booked.

Extensive railway disruption continued across Chiba Prefecture on September 23 as JR East warned that several lines damaged by Typhoon No. 25 would remain closed beyond the Silver Week holiday, even as flights returned toward normal, all typhoon-related expressway closures were lifted and some highway bus services resumed. The storm has left widespread damage to railway tracks and embankments, with flooding, landslides and fallen trees complicating restoration work.

The death toll from Typhoon No. 25 rose to nine on September 23, with four people still missing in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, as renewed rainfall raised fears of further landslides in communities devastated by the storm.

The road leading to Otemon Gate at Tokyo's Imperial Palace was flooded on September 22 after heavy rain from a typhoon caused water in the surrounding moat to overflow.

Japan came within two runs of producing one of international cricket's biggest upsets on September 22, pushing reigning T20 world champion India to the final ball before losing a rain-shortened match at Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

An emu that escaped from the home of a traveling zoo operator was captured after wandering through a residential neighborhood in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, on September 23, following a police report from a resident who mistook the bird for an ostrich.

People aged 65 and older accounted for a record 29.6% of Japan's population in 2026, the highest proportion among major countries worldwide, while the number of elderly people in employment also reached an all-time high as Japan marked Respect for the Aged Day on September 21.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture on September 20, touring exhibits that recreate famous scenes from Studio Ghibli films and posing for a photograph with the character No-Face.

Police in Kanagawa Prefecture have rearrested four teenagers on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old high school student who died after being assaulted in Sagamihara in August.

Drinking parties remain a lively part of social life in Kansai even as younger generations increasingly turn away from alcohol and izakaya bankruptcies rise at a record pace, with customers describing the gatherings less as occasions to drink heavily and more as opportunities to maintain friendships, meet new people and build connections across generations.

Anonymous and fluid criminal groups known in Japan as "tokuryu" are adopting increasingly elaborate tactics, including a scheme in which elderly victims are persuaded to hide cash inside refrigerators before thieves enter their homes, as authorities struggle to combat networks whose members often have no direct contact with one another.

A luxury mansion in Bangkok described as resembling a palace was being used as a base for a specialized fraud operation targeting Japanese people, with Thai authorities detaining 14 people, including four Japanese men.

Copper roofing has been stripped from Shinano-no-miya Shrine in Oshika Village, Nagano Prefecture, leaving the wooden structure exposed in the latest of a series of similar thefts reported at shrines across the prefecture.