Saturday, May 22, 2010

Murder in Mizusawa

Earlier this week there was a murder a few blocks from our house.  Apparently a 68 year old man stabbed a 70 year old co-worker in his home.  We walked past the house when we found out, to see what was going on.  Real life Japanese CSI everyone! Come watch!

 A news van was there, with a camera set up across the street from the house.  Police cars were everywhere.  But life went on as usual, with kids and old ladies riding by on bicycles.

You would think everyone would lay low until they found the murderer, but that isn't the mindset here.  It is so safe that I don't think people feel fear.  We certainly didn't feel threatened; we were standing across the street in the dark.  Violence is such a rarity, that it is viewed more as an abberation and tragedy than it is something fearful.  This murder just left people shaking their heads.

It turns out the 68 year old wasn't caught in the act, but they are pretty sure he's the one.  The man who told me about the case was laughing while he explained.  The suspect denies that he did anything, but the police have testimonies from cab drivers, one saying "I dropped him of at the house," and another saying, "he called me to pick me up from the house."  Rules for Murdering People 101: Not having your own car makes it hard to establish an alibi.

3 comments:

  1. What organization are you over there with?

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  2. I can't really talk about what organization I'm with. I would never want anything I say here to reflect on my boss.

    I can tell you it is a small English conversation school that does private lessons and contracts with local public schools to provide Assistant Language Teachers in this region.

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