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Police on Sunday charged Shigeru Watanabe, 75, a resident of Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture, with the murder of 65-year-old farmer Jin Hodota on Saturday night. Police said Hodota was fatally wounded after being stabbed with a katana.
Watanabe was initially arrested on Saturday night for possessing a Japanese sword deemed illegal under the Swords and Firearms Control Law, then charged with murder Sunday on suspicion of stabbing Hodota in the stomach with a katana.
Hodota's family tipped authorities off regarding the location of the suspect, who was found in his home. Reports indicate that on Saturday around 7 p.m., the two men had gone drinking after participating in a neighborhood association meeting when they suddenly began to quarrel.
Watanabe told police: "I did it alone, and I don't really care what happens to me." Police are currently investigating into possible motives for the crime.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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combinibento
Does "senseless drunken rage" qualify as a motive? One too many "one cups" for this old samurai.
neverknow2
Is that too difficult for the police to do by themselves?
tuneintokyo
That's old school!
BBLeo
(Police are currently investigating into possible motives for the crime.) Was this fight about the shortage of food or only 'MILK?' Will this 57-years-old get death penalty? Now that this guy is already with one foot in his grave perhaps the judge will put his other foot into it. Sure he doesn't care about himself he heard them all he see them all.
Den Den
It was probably caused by nasty gossip in the neighborhood association.Those obachan have really sharp tongues.
buggerlugs
Well the police either need a tip off or failing that for the suspect to hand themselves in.
norinrad21
Hodota’s family tipped authorities off regarding the location of the suspect, who was found in his home.
heh
LoveUSA
If tipoff is ncessary I will give it too! Criminals should stay behind bars.
Elbuda Mexicano
Gosh, I am so happy to live in Japan! If these old drunk Japanese geezer were in the States, who would not be wasting his time with some katana, but would have used a gun or a rifle etc..and not only killed 1 guy but at least a few others, THANK GOD for Japan's strict gun laws! RIP old farmer and may the other get the death penalty very soon!
LoveUSA
Yep, criminals are not the smartest creatures, that is why they get caught so easily. Even if police are not so effective, they need a tip off, in Japan, europe, USA, Aus - it is the same.
grafton
LoveUSA at 01:25 AM JST - 14th April
“Yep, criminals are not the smartest creatures, that is why they get caught so easily.”
Perhaps you need to give the above some extra thought. Reason being that if a person is not a criminal they would not be caught because there would be no need for them to be caught.
You could also reason that the smart criminals are the ones that you don’t know about because they don’t get caught & therefore you don’t know that they are criminals.
LoveUSA
grafton. there is nothing like a perfect crime.