Society

Shizuoka: Man found with corpse of girl in tent ‘planned double suicide’

Mar 20 (tokyoreporter.com) - Shizuoka Prefectural Police arrested a 33-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping a middle school girl whose body was found inside a tent in a mountainous area of Hamamatsu City on Wednesday, reports Fuji News Network

At around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Dai Irie, 33, of no known occupation, allegedly abducted the 15-year-old girl with his car in Hamamatsu.

Early the following day, the parents of the girl, who lives in Hamamatsu, reported her missing. At around noon on Tuesday, Irie called police. “We tried to kill ourselves, but only I survived,” he reportedly said.

Police arriving at a campground in Tenryu Ward found the body of the girl inside the tent. Burned charcoal briquettes were also inside.

Irie, a resident of Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, met the girl through social media. After the discovery of the body of the girl, he was nearby and in poor health. But he later recovered. “We planned a double suicide,” he said.

Police arrested Irie on suspicion of abducting a minor on Wednesday. He was sent to prosecutors the next day.

“We still cannot wrap our heads around [what happened],” the father of the girl was quoted by the Mainichi Shimbun.

Police sent Dai Irie sent to prosecutors on Friday

On Thursday, the middle school the girl attended held its graduation ceremony. “We didn’t hear anything from the police,” the principal of the school told the Mainichi. “We had not heard of any trouble at school or anything like that.”

Kazutaka Kawamura owns the campground. “Nobody from Fukuoka comes here. He was the first,” the owner said in referring to Irie.

After Irie and the girl arrived on the night of March 15, an employee collected the fee from them. Kawamura didn’t notice “anything unusual” about them at the time.

“There were briquettes found in the tent,” Kawamura added. “But they were normal ones [and not those used for suicide].”

Source: FNNプライムオンライン

Do Bears Prefer Acorns or Berries?

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region.

Copper Thieves Target Japanese Shrines

Copper roofing panels were stolen from several shrines in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, including a city-designated cultural property, in the latest case amid a nationwide surge in copper thefts targeting shrines and temples across Japan, where soaring metal prices have fueled crimes that leave historic religious buildings damaged, exposed to the elements, and facing repair costs of millions of yen.

1200-Year-Old Temple on Miyajima Reduced to Ashes

Flames broke out on the morning of May 20th on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, home to one of Japan's World Heritage sites, destroying Reikado Hall near the summit of Mount Misen.

From Bento Boxes to Garbage Bags, Rising Costs Hitting Daily Life Across Japan

Uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East is beginning to affect daily life in Japan, as concerns over crude oil supplies spread to restaurants, cleaning services and even household garbage disposal systems across the Kansai region.

Tochigi Robbery-Murder Suspect’s Wife Posted Dance Videos on Social Media

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Garbage Burnoff Spreads to 3 Buildings in Okayama

A fire that broke out in Kagamino, Okayama Prefecture, shortly after noon on May 20th destroyed three buildings, including a home, after flames from open burning spread to dead leaves and then to nearby structures.

Gang Members Arrested After Opening Office Near Nursery

Six people, including a senior member of a group affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate's Kohei-ikka faction, have been arrested on suspicion of opening a gang office in a prohibited area near a nursery school in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward.

Six Police Officers Injured After Man Sprays Liquid at Station

A man who visited a police station in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in the early hours of May 21st allegedly sprayed a transparent liquid inside the building, causing six police officers to complain of eye and throat pain and be taken to hospital with minor injuries.