Hospital director, wife found dead in apparent murder-suicide

Another sick person who feels the need to take others with him or her when they take the cowards way out of a problem. I wish people who feel the need to kill themselves would seek help first, but seriously, if they want to kill themselves, PLEASE leave others out of it! Obviously this sounds like some kind of hate murder or revenge thing (maybe she was cheating, or going to leave him... we don't know), but still.

How does a hospital director get a gun in Japan?

Very vague details indeed to base a biased comment on, like smithinjapan does above. Why would one kill themselves with a shotgun load in the head (unless you're Curt Kobain)? Could as well be a murder, based on the lack of information here.

Go to a seedy-looking bar, preferably near a railway station, and ask around.

I reckon it's easier and cheaper to get your hands on a gun here in Japan than it would be back in England.

First of all, handguns are banned in Japan, not shotguns, so no problem there.

He was 75 and she was 30? Why not if you have the money? I can make some educated guesses though...1) You know she had friends with benefits on the side, 2) Ojichan found out about them and they had a big fight, 3) She threatened to divorce him and get a big settlement, 4) Ojichan played the trump card.

@How does a hospital director get a gun in Japan?

Although not widely known, hunting in Japan was quite popular at one stage. People of a certain social position used to go and blast a few poor birds, etc. A lot of these gun licenses were granted in a time of greater leniency. That being said, however, many of the old hunters are "very old". Actually, it is about this time of year when starving bears and pigs start to come down and raid vegetable patches. In country areas the old hunters are asked to come out and blast these interlopers. However, there is a rising opinion that putting a 12 gauge in the hands of an octogenarian isn't that safe.

Here, a Tofugu article on how it works. You can get a shotgun for hunting.

http://www.tofugu.com/2013/01/16/guns-in-japan/

"Denenchofu".. Isn't that a well to do, high end area? With lots of private security guards? I wonder if the neighbors may have heard the 3 blast? Shotguns usually make a very loud noise.

I know nothing about guns but if the one they're talking about is for hunting, the "hunting" pictures I've seen show it to be quite a bit longer than a pistol... not easy to shoot oneself in the head I would imagine.

I know this is completely unfounded and biased but I absolutely cannot see a 30 year old women married to a 75 year old without her own friends "with benefits." She needs it. He didn't like it. Why else would a husband kill a wife....adultery.

If it's the threatened divorce he should know better than to marry her without a prenup.

" a 75-year-old hospital director and his 30-year-old wife... police went to their home in Denenchofu"

Some hospital directors receive too much money.

As others have said, getting shot guns for hunting isn't a problem in Japan, in fact the sport has recently been promoting itself to women more of late & a few are taking it up, but overall the number of hunters is in decline, like so much of Japan

CGB Spender: "Very vague details indeed to base a biased comment on, like smithinjapan does above."

How do you get bias from that?

"Why would one kill themselves with a shotgun load in the head (unless you're Curt Kobain)?"

Why not, if you've got one? Given that it was 'still in his hand' when police arrived on the scene, to use the exact wording of the article, it stands more to reason that he did pull a Kobain after killing his wife than it is they were both murdered.

really simple on here gold digger cheated got caught or wanted out and rich d-bag J daddy pulls gun and ends it

What in the world could a woman see in a millionaire 45 years her senior?

"... for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."

Wow is wife was younger than his daughter! He probably met his young wife at a hostess club she went for the money he went for the honey! She probably had a lover probably on the side all alone and he found out and was probably angry. She probably wanted a divorce and he refused end of story no money no honey!

@ CGB - Why is it so hard to believe? That's what Earnest Hemingway (and his father before him) did.

When it comes to suicides of successful people in Japan... I never take the report at face value. I've seen too many "suicides" over the years in Japan that I still believe were just too convenient considering the circumstances. This, of course may not be the case, but you never know.

Life imitates art in this case. In the USA a seried was on called "The Knick" which is about a turn of the century hospital (1900) in NYC and the obstacles it faced. One of the characters was a hospital administrator much like this guy. The fictional guy was in debt to his ears from the local mobster, and to pay his debt, he was scimming off the funds being donated to the hospital, as well as doing other seedy things with hospital money and resources to pay his debt. Also, as a married man, he had a mistress who was a "working girl" whom he funneled money to.

I wonder in this case if a similar pattern will be found. Much older guy, young wife, and probably a few "creative accounting" tricks have been found at the hospital that would probably call into question this guys behavior. Whatever the case, sad to see someone have to take the life of another just becuase they couldn't hack it themself.

CGB SpenderOct. 18, 2014 - 04:42PM JST Very vague details indeed to base a biased comment on, like smithinjapan does above. Why would one kill themselves with a shotgun load in the head (unless you're Curt Kobain)? Could as well be a murder, based on the lack of information here.

Shotguns are not at all uncommon in gun suicides around the world because,

1) Shotguns are about the easiest weapon to get a hold of, especially in Japan. 2) Efficiency, if you aim it in the general direction of a vital area you're fairly sure of getting the result you want.

I find it stranger that people jump in front of trains, which has a much higher maiming / survival rate than shotguns do.

I hate to hear in this kind of incidents people saying 心中 (Shinju, euphemistic way to describe murder-suicide.) With the wording 心中 everything appears like it can't be helped as oftentimes the Japanese go, facing up difficult issues. But the fact is it's not Shoganai at all, it's murder after all. Leave the word 心中 for novels, never use it for news report. People without second thought choose to use this word unaware of its connotation.

I wonder, was she planning to leave him?