In "20 Unsolved Mysteries of Japan," author Tristan Shaw explores some of the most bizarre and intriguing mysteries ever to have happened in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Among the cases included in this book are:
The Disappearance of Shinya Matsuoka
In 2002, North Korea admitted that it used secret agents to abduct Japanese citizens from Japan and Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. While the Japanese government only recognizes 17 missing people as having been kidnapped by North Korean spies, others believe the real number of victims might be in the hundreds. Could Shinya Matsuoka, a 4-year-old boy who vanished from Tokushima Prefecture without a trace in 1989, be one of the uncounted victims?
The Contest to Kill 100 People Using a Sword
During the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Japanese newspapers eagerly reported a race between two Japanese soldiers who were trying to see which one of them could kill 100 people with a sword the fastest. The two soldiers were later executed for war crimes in 1948, but some historians argue the contest was nothing more than a sensational myth.
The Inokashira Park Dismemberment Incident
In April 1994, the remains of 35-year-old architect Seiichi Kawamura were found in a garbage bag in Tokyo's Inokashira Park. Seiichi's killer completely dismembered his body, dividing each part of flesh into an exact chunk of 20 centimeters. A third of Seiichi's body has never been found, while his killer remains unidentified to this day.
The Kumatori Chain Suicides
In the space of a single month, from June to July 1992, the small town of Kumatori was the site of an unusually large number of youth suicides. Were the suicides an unfortunate chain of copycat acts, as the police alleged, or was there something more sinister involved?
Among the cases included in this book are:
The Disappearance of Shinya Matsuoka
In 2002, North Korea admitted that it used secret agents to abduct Japanese citizens from Japan and Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. While the Japanese government only recognizes 17 missing people as having been kidnapped by North Korean spies, others believe the real number of victims might be in the hundreds. Could Shinya Matsuoka, a 4-year-old boy who vanished from Tokushima Prefecture without a trace in 1989, be one of the uncounted victims?
The Contest to Kill 100 People Using a Sword
During the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Japanese newspapers eagerly reported a race between two Japanese soldiers who were trying to see which one of them could kill 100 people with a sword the fastest. The two soldiers were later executed for war crimes in 1948, but some historians argue the contest was nothing more than a sensational myth.
The Inokashira Park Dismemberment Incident
In April 1994, the remains of 35-year-old architect Seiichi Kawamura were found in a garbage bag in Tokyo's Inokashira Park. Seiichi's killer completely dismembered his body, dividing each part of flesh into an exact chunk of 20 centimeters. A third of Seiichi's body has never been found, while his killer remains unidentified to this day.
The Kumatori Chain Suicides
In the space of a single month, from June to July 1992, the small town of Kumatori was the site of an unusually large number of youth suicides. Were the suicides an unfortunate chain of copycat acts, as the police alleged, or was there something more sinister involved?
