Kodaira Yoshio

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Kodaira Yoshio ( Japanese 小平 義 雄 ; born January 28, 1905 in Tochigi Prefecture , † October 5, 1949 in Miyagi Prefecture ) was a Japanese serial killer .

Life

Childhood and youth

Kodaira Yoshio grew up in a family home where her father kept coming home drunk and regularly beating his son. Even as a child, Kodaira showed his aggressive tendencies through repeated fights with his classmates. Due to his handicap - he was noticed by stuttering - he found few friends. Even his school grades suffered when he finished compulsory school as one of the worst in his year. As a young man, Kodaira began his apprenticeship at a metalworking factory in the capital Tokyo , but broke it off quickly and changed his apprenticeship as a factory worker several times in the years to come.

In 1923 he joined the Imperial Japanese Navy . As a young marine, Kodaira traveled all over the world, including Europe and Australia , but was also dispatched to the Japanese war against China. In 1927 he was a soldier in the so-called Jinan Incident .

He later described his actions as follows:

“Four or five of my comrades and I broke into a Chinese house, handcuffed the father and locked him in the closet. We stole their jewelry and raped the women. We also slit open a pregnant woman with the bayonet and pulled the fetus out of her belly. I also took part in such depraved actions. "

Series of murders

Kodaira Yoshio resigned from the Navy in 1932, and in the same year married the daughter of a Shinto priest . Since his father-in-law did not approve of his daughter's marriage, there was often an argument with Kodaira, who one day out of anger killed his father-in-law with an iron bar and seriously injured six other family members in his rampage. Kodaira Yoshio was sentenced to 15 years in a forced labor camp; but already in 1940, after almost eight years, in the course of a large-scale general amnesty, he was pardoned and released. Kodaira then found work as a shipyard worker in the port of Tokyo. Since many men fought as soldiers in the war, most of his employees were women. Kodaira was after them because he began to chase after them.

He found his first victim on May 25, 1945 in 19-year-old Miyazaki Mitsuko ( 宮 崎 光子 ), whom he raped and, after strangling her, hid the body behind an air raid shelter . At a time when Japan could have been attacked by US bombers at any time and there was chaos all around, the police had to do other than tending to a woman's corpse. This favored Kodaira's actions when he murdered 30-year-old Ishii Yori ( 石井 ヨ リ ) on June 22nd . Victim number three was 32-year-old Nakamura Mitsuko ( 中 村 光子 ) on July 12th . Three days later, on July 15, he murdered the 22-year-old Kondō Kazuko ( 紺 藤 和 子 ), who followed the 21-year-old Matsushita Yoshie ( 松下 ヨ シ 江 ) into death on September 28 . Shinokawa Tatsue, who was only 17 years old, died on October 31st and Baba Hiroko ( 馬 場 寛 子 ), a 19-year-old woman , on December 30th .

In the first half of 1946, Kodaira paused until he murdered his proven youngest victim, 15-year-old Abe Yoshiko, on June 30th. After Yoshiko's death, he murdered two other women, but their identities were not disclosed to the public.

Arrest and death

After Kodaira had ambushed women so far, he changed his tactics. He invited women and young girls on the streets and in public places to go shopping with them, or offered them to buy groceries from the flourishing black market in Tokyo .

So he met 17-year-old Midorikawa Ryūko ( 緑 川 柳 子 ) on July 10, 1946 . Although Kodaira was already 41 years old, the two soon had a friendly and close relationship. Ryūko even introduced her boyfriend to her parents. Kodaira made his biggest mistake when he introduced himself to them by his real name. After more than a month, Midorikawa Ryūko disappeared without a trace on the evening of August 6, 1946. Only days after her disappearance was her body discovered near the Zōjō-ji in Minato ; next to it are the remains of Shinokawa Tatsue, who had been murdered eight months earlier. Since Ryuko's parents could remember the name of their daughter's friend, it was easy for the police to arrest Kodaira on August 20, 1946.

Soon afterwards he made confessions in numerous murder cases. He also confessed to a series of rapes against women - his estimate was 30 victims - who survived the attack. After more than a year, the trial against him was opened on June 18, 1947. On August 20, 1947, he was sentenced to death . The execution "by hanging" took place again two years later, on October 5, 1949, in Miyagi County Jail.

Aftermath

Commenting on the execution of Kodaira Yoshio, Japanese writer and critic Edogawa Rampo said:

“It happened because all of us - the criminals, the victims, and society as a whole - share the same guilt. Moreover, the atmosphere of social neglect caused by Japan's defeat has spawned the beast in such individuals, especially in men who have returned from battle. "

The author David Peace wrote the novel Tokyo Year Zero (OT: Tokyo Year Zero ) in 2007 , in which he lets a serial killer rage in post-war Tokyo. The novel is based on the true story of Kodaira Yoshio.

An episode of the film Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa: Ryōki Onna Hanzaishi by Teruo Ishii deals with Kodaira Yoshio.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Michael Newton (ed.), The great encyclopedia of serial killers. (5th updated and expanded edition) Verlag für Collectors , Graz 2009, 534 pages

literature

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Kodaira is the family name, Yoshio the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Kodaira, Yoshio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese serial killer
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Tochigi prefecture
DATE OF DEATH October 5, 1949
Place of death Miyagi Prefecture