crime

Man arrested for beating wife to death with wooden sword

16 Comments

Police in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, have arrested an unemployed 50-year-old man on suspicion of beating his 48-year-old wife to death with a wooden sword.

According to police, Kiyoshi Kobayashi beat his wife Haruko several times with the one-meter-long sword at their house between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, Fuji TV reported.

Just after 8 a.m. Thursday, Kobayashi called 119 and reported that his wife had died. Police rushed to the scene and found Haruko, wearing shorts and a tank top, sitting hunched on the floor of a closet. She was confirmed dead at the scene. Police said she had several bruises on her head and back.

Police said Kobayashi has admitted there was trouble between his wife and himself and that he beat her with the sword but said he didn’t think she would die.

The couple’s teenage son was also home at the time but he was unharmed, police said.

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16 Comments
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Unemployed man in his 50's, trouble between them, didn't think he would kill her...

There's a pattern ! I will figure it out someday !

A thought for the poor kid who had to see that...

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Police said Kobayashi has admitted there was trouble between his wife and himself and that he beat her with the sword but said he didn’t think she would die.

So, in his mind, spousal abuse is ok as long as it doesn't kill? She was found in a closet, where she was most likely hiding from the beating. I can't comprehend this kind of stuff. I am divorced, but there was never any violence between us. Even the arguments were quite mild and quickly over. We just agreed to split, which is what these two should have done years ago. A sad and violent end to this lady's life.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

I feel sorry for the son to be in the same house as his mother's killer....

14 ( +14 / -0 )

I'm speechless... poor woman. RIP Haruko.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Murderer. Put him away for the rest of his life or hang him.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Japanese need to study what causes people to react in violence, and learn how to better stop it.  People with problems, need to learn how to better express themselves in words, rather than react in violence.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Male chauvinism and a perverse sense of entitlement carried to extreme disaster.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

I feel sorry for the son to be in the same house as his mother's killer....

Yes.

It may even be the son's sword. The simplest explanation for the killer having a wooden sword is someone in the household doing kendo. In kendo, wooden swords are used to demonstrate techniques, not for actual bouts. A wooden kendo sword is very sturdy and could easily kill.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Man-child arrested for beating wife to death with wooden sword.

RIP victim and hope the son can move on somehow and get the support he needs.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

kohakuebisuAug. 18  10:35 pm JST

It may even be the son's sword. The simplest explanation for the killer having a wooden sword is someone in the household doing kendo. In kendo, wooden swords are used to demonstrate techniques, not for actual bouts. A wooden kendo sword is very sturdy and could easily kill.

Kendo practitioners use a Shinai, a leather laced bamboo sword that makes a lot of impact noise but is not heavy enough to cause extreme damage. Culturally it is often considered a weapon when serious damage is not intended. On the other hand a Bokuto (wooden sword) used in Iaido is quite heavy and certainly can cause much damage. I have no doubt that the latter was used.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Kendo practitioners use a Shinai

I think most Kendo practitioners will possess a bokuto too. As kohakuebisu said, it is used to demonstrate techniques, and not for actual bouts. My son still has one from his Kendo days.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

albaleoToday 02:06 am JSTKendo practitioners use a Shinai

I think most Kendo practitioners will possess a bokuto too.

You may be right depending on what degree of practitioner we are talking about. I was thinking of high school to inter collegiate kendo tournaments that my nephew was active in and a bokuto wasn't used to demonstrate techniques from what I've seen. But yes, a practitioner of many years could well have one, or be a practitioner of iaido as well. But it's hard to imagine such a person going nuts on his wife and beating her to death with it.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Ossan

My son got a bokuto about eighteen months after starting kendo. He was eight at the time. You need one to get the "kyu" levels.

Martial arts teach respect for their techniques and, in kendo's case, the equipment. So the temptation is to assume that a kendo practioner wouldn't thrash a kendo sword around, let alone his/her own. Hence my suggestion that the sword might belong to someone else.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think most Kendo practitioners will possess a bokuto too.

Yes, they do. DH's father, DH, and our son all did/do kendo, and son has his, and we have the other two.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Ossan, albaleo, kohakuebisu, Himajin

You can get a wooden sword in a recycle shop for 1000 yen anyway.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

just get a divorce why kill

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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