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Police in Akaiwa, Okayama Prefecture, on Wednesday arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of killing his 50-year-old wife with a sword.
Police said they received a call at around 4:50 a.m. Wednesday from a 77-year-old woman saying that her son was threatening his wife with a sword at their home, Sankei Shimbun reported. Shortly after, an employee at a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store called 110 and said a man had stabbed a woman with a sword in the store.
Police rushed to the scene and found the body of Rie Kobayashi, 50, bleeding from several stab wounds to the stomach. She was taken to hospital where she died about one hour later.
Police went to her home, which is about 250 meters from the store, and detained her husband, Yoshinobu, 51, who is self-employed, on suspicion of murder. They also found a blood-stained sword with a 72-cm-long blade.
Police said Kobayashi’s mother had also suffered a light injury to her head when she tried to stop her son from attacking his wife.
© Japan Today
19 Comments
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Chip Star
Its possible to buy real katana and relatively high quality replications of katana here.
JJ Jetplane
@Chip Star
You can't ask store clerks to confront a man with a sword and potentially risk their own lives. That's why they called the police. What if the store clerk tried to help and ended up being the person that's now dead?
AgentX
I agree in essence, but there are too many people here that do NOTHING to help those in need in these type of situations. Look at the guy killed in-front of dozens of onlookers in Nagoya last year as an example. Only two WOMEN made ANY attempt to at least try to talk him out of it. The rest stood well back with, some simply used their phones and took video.
In less extreme circumstances I recall a story about a guy who died on a platform from a heart attack, while the morning commuters ignored him and walked straight past... These stories are all too common here.
Don't expect help from people in your time of need in Japan.
Mocheake
MacolecoToday 07:03 am JST
Poor woman. No matter what was going on, it certainly didn't warrant her being killed.
When I was able to get my hands on an authentic samurai sword, I leaped at the chance but the wife was dead set against it. It took weeks to convince her because she looked at it as an instrument of death while I saw it as a piece of Japanese history. Hope she doesn't see this story.
AgentX
A lot of families still have heirlooms from earlier days.
Maria
We can expect posters to appear shortly, asking why the man didn't consider other options than murdering his wife - like moving out, or going to the police, or getting psychiatric help, or -
Oh, wait, no, that's only if it's a woman that kills a male relative, like the young girl who killed her abusive father.
Let's talk about what this man used to murder his wife instead. That's much more important.
602miko
Whoah, scary, this man too much on Samurai movies
nandakandamanda
Maria, those are very valid questions you ask. He could have asked for help, or gone to the police, or moved out. Why didn't he? And at 4:50 am why wasn't he asleep? What had he been drinking or swallowing to be awake at that hour? What was his 'normal' frame of mind, or more recently? What did his wife ever do to him to drive him to choose such a method to get rid of her? Did she not realize what was boiling up inside him? The questions go on and on.
quercetum
Maybe the revolver would’ve been okay.
fillmore2
i guess people like this killer in Japan, would rather kill than go to see a shrink , this is place need to invest on counseling on youth and adults as priority. It's not taboo to talk to someone, rather than commit this kind of crimes.
AMS
so sad!
Fighto!
Rest in Peace to the poor lady. Absolutely horrific way to die.
Please, make the evil scum who did this face a short drop ASAP.
OssanAmerica
It's hardly just Japan.
Bugle Boy of Company B
Well if you’re going to do it... yah, I GUESS!
Jeniffer
How could he possibly get a sword in Japan??
Chip Star
What exactly did the employees of 7/11 doing when a man with a sword walked into the shop?
I know everyone reacts differently to different situations, but holy heck.
SaikoPhysco
So he was arrested for killing her with a "sword"..... maybe he should have used something else.
Macoleco
How do you get a sword like that in Japan A katana?