Police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder after he allegedly beat to death his boss staying at the same guest house facility in Tokyo's Kita Ward.
According to police, the incident occurred shortly after 2:30 a.m. on Sunday at the guest house. Fuji TV reported that the suspect, Makoto Saito, 44, a plumber from Nishigaoka, Kita Ward, beat to death his boss after an altercation. The victim was taken to hospital where he died shortly after arrival.
Police said Saito has admitted to the charge. He was quoted as saying he hit his boss in the face several times with his bare hands. Saito said he lost his temper after his boss grabbed him during their argument because he returned to the guest house drunk. Saito called 119 himself after the incident.
The guest house is a renovated residence that has become a lodging facility for tourists, business travellers and foreign visitors.
© Japan Today
45 Comments
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sensei258
That's not going to look good on his resume, assuming he gets fired for murdering the boss that is.
David Blue
It takes two people to murder! One victim one perpetrator and both not thinking clearly.
oldman_13
I wonder if there were any foreigners staying there that witnessed or heard the event happening.
dogz
These company trips seem more trouble than they are worth in Japan. If they aren't murdering their bosses, the salarymen are ordering hookers from delivery services.
Tatanka
Headline should read "Winter bonus negotiation turns ugly"
samwatters
Too bad for the boss but the majority of bosses I know in Japan are bullies and think they can rough people up because they have a special title or because they are the "sempai" or something. Well, guess what? Just 'cause you're the boss doesn't mean your bones won't break so behave yourself.
Strangerland
What a ridiculous comment. A victim may be the most clearly thinking person on the entire planet and still be killed.
1) "If they aren't murdering their bosses..." - you talk as if this is a regular occurrence. It's not.
2) Some businessmen order hookers while on business trips everywhere in the world. Many, if not most, don't.
3) Your supporting evidence for these company trips being more trouble than they are worth is that the salarymen are ordering hookers. How exactly would this be trouble? Trouble for who?
JT - where blaming the victim without any evidence whatsoever is the modus operandi.
Aly Rustom
agree with sam. there are ALOT of bosses in Japan that are bullies and could use a good thrashing, though not to the point of death.
borscht
Two to murder? Like all the children whose parents toss them off bridges are cooperating in their own death? The boss may have provoked anger in the plumber but hardly willingly submitted to being beaten to death.
sf2k
Blue; I think you've mixed up the revenge saying about digging two graves.
samwatters
@Strangerland. Paragraph 3, line 3. The boss grabbed the worker. The worker responded, albeit in an excessive manner. That's assault. It's also evidence.
Strangerland
There you have it. The victim's fault he was murdered.
Strangerland
I have a few. But while I'm 'working', I definitely enjoy calling out people's ignorance on JT.
Dan Lewis
Now passive aggressive workers can drop a copy of the article on their boss's desk and invite them to go on a trip...
Tahoochi
dogzNOV. 15, 2016 - 07:23AM JST
Company trip????? Maybe these guys were on a business trip. Maybe they were entertaining customers. The article states that the guesthouse is a lodging facility for business travelers and tourists. Besides, if you can't see the benefits of a "these company trips", then you're more than welcome to not participate.
samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 08:19AM JST
Leaving the fact that you said "majority of bosses" aside, the article states that Saito came back to the guesthouse drunk some time around 2:30 AM. What if they were on a business trip and had an important job in the morning? What if they were entertaining an important customer and he took off, not coming back until 2:30 AM? What if Saito's boss had been worried sick about him and got a little emotional by grabbing him? Where is the evidence that Saito's boss was a chronic "bully"? If anything, I'd say he cared very much for Saito's well-being...
Now I'm just being the devil's advocate here, but there is not enough evidence in this simple article to stereotype Saito's boss as an ignorant boss on a power-trip.
Richard Wood
Strangerland needs a hobby??? I am sure he has several hobbies, one being the ability to articulate his posting quite well with a basis of truth and not wild (ass)umptions.... Here-say is NOT evidence without collaborating evidence, especially when it comes from the mouth of a drunken suspect.
turbotsat
The hidden cameras are there not only to catch employees stealing office supplies, but also employees dropping articles on their boss's desk or in the complaint box.
Daniel Neagari
...well I can relate to that feeling... how many times I have imaged to rip the head off my boss....(sigh)
I am sure that many have that feeling... yet another thing is to literally do it.... that is going over the top too much.
samwatters
@Tahoochi. You got my quote half-right. I said the majority of bosses THAT I KNOW. There is a difference. The rest of your post appears to ignore the fact that grabbing a person is considered assault in Japan. Doesn't matter if there is an important meeting or a customer who is being ignored. You ...cannot...grab....a....person.
And for one other person..... Did the boss deserve to get killed? Of course not. Did the boss's action contribute to the event that got him killed? I think you can build a case that it did.
Strangerland
Thanks Richard.
You could build that case for any murder that is not random.
But that doesn't mean the actions that led to the killing mean the killing had any justification whatsoever.
therougou
It's hard to imagine the boss would be angry at him being drunk if it was a company trip. I wonder if he beat him excessively, or the boss was really old and died after a few punches?
Dre Hund
So, you tell me what's going on in the mind of young Japanese men (and older) that's not being discussed. How bad is this pressure? By the way, was he a single man, this punch drunk?
samwatters
@Tahoochi. You got my quote only half right. I wrote, the majority of bosses THAT I KNOW. There is a difference. In regards to important meetings and ignored clients, you cannot grab a another person. It is illegal. Did the boss deseve to be killed? Of course not. Did the boss's actions contribute to the event that got him. I think you can build a pretty good case that it did.
DaDude
Some people say that a person's true character or feelings comes out when they are drunk. If I go out drinking with friends, I am able to read what type of drunk they are and whether or not it is safe to hang with them in the future. The ones who become temperamental or debate everything are the ones I never drink with again.
Not sure what the moral of my story is but hey, I said it.
dcog9065
What a maniac, feel much safer that he'll rot in prison for the rest of his life
kurisupisu
the suspect states that he was assaulted by his boss in the first instance, we will never know whether this is the case since the boss isn't around to opine on that......
Kobe White Bar Owner
@ David Blue
"It takes two people to murder! One victim one perpetrator and both not thinking clearly."
Interesting point David, kind of like a short cut to thinking.
Tahoochi
samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 09:53AM JST
My bad. I understand that people form their own stereotypes based a lot on personal experiences. My personal experience in my many years in Japan and meeting thousands of people is that the majority of bosses are not the bully-type like you say.
The article states:
Does that mean he grabbed Saito by the front of his shirt? Did he grab his arm as Saito turned to walk away from him? Did he grab Saito's shoulders with both hands as if to talk intently? Did he grab him by his hair? Was this the FIRST time he ever touched Saito? The article doesn't say, and my point is that you are stereotyping Saito's boss as a "Bully" from this one phrase in the article which could mean anything.
Saito's boss could have been a mild-mannered, professional, and respected boss, and not like the MAJORITY of bully-type bosses that you know, but we won't know from the statement taken from the guy that killed him, will we?
therougou
This article says "grabbed", but the NHK article says 殴りかかってきた, which would translate more as, "began throwing punches at him", no?
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20161113/k10010767161000.html
Goodlucktoyou
Old bosses think they can treat workers like Shi. Probably had high blood pressure. From my experience, a couple of drunk punches doesn't kill people.
therougou
Regarding my above comment, the below tbs article says "つかみかかってきたから殴った", so I guess the translation "grabbed" came from this one. Other articles simple say "口論になった" (they got into an argument). Either way, I guess we'll never know the exact truth.
http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye2913915.html
samwatters
@Tahoochi. "My bad." No problem!
You are correct; we don't know exactly what happened except that an physical action on the part of the boss preceeded an attack by Saito. Saito deserves what punishment he gets; no question. The points that I am trying to make is that 1.) being a boss in Japan no longer means roughing up your employees with the expectation that the employees will take it and 2.) sometimes people fight back and go too far. We live in a tense world and we should all think twice before touching anyone in anger.
Dan Lewis
Well, in the process of inviting your boss when you drop off the article, he's likely to realize it was you. Like I said, passive-aggressive. It's not so much of a threat as it basically says, "I would like to punch you until you die."
Tahoochi
samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 01:00PM JST
And you are correct, with the exception that the physical action (which btw is only based on the killer's statement) does not necessarily mean that the boss was a bully, which is what you're implying. That's my point.
I know I'm splitting hairs, but I still don't get why you keep referring to bosses "roughing up" their subordinates. Do most bosses you know physically abuse their employees?
samwatters
@Tahoochi. Most of the bosses I know abuse their employees one way or another. This is one of the reasons for the explosion of harassment claims in recent years. Some bosses punch, some kick, some threaten with firing or demotions, others humiliate etc. It (bullying) is part of Japanese culture. The victims are expected to take it and not complain.
Now if the boss was a bully or not we may never definitively know and it really doesn't matter. What matters (to me at least; I'm sure Strangerland will disagree) is that we need to remember that there is a lot of stress in today's world and people can snap which is why we shouldn't touch people in anger. I have no doubt that the boss grabbed Saito and Saito over-reacted and as a result the boss was killed. Did the boss deserve it? Nope. Did he contribute to it? I think yes. If he doesn't grab Saito, Saito doesn't hit him.
Outrider
lots of japanese bosses are office psychopaths. going on a freakin trip with one is asking for trouble.
Thunderbird2
So who was drunk? The plumber or his boss?
Robert pearce
There gos the xmas bonus!
CH3CHO
Definitely not a company trip. The suspect lived in Kita ward Tokyo. He would not go on a company trip to Kita ward.
There are "guest houses" that are used mostly by people in poverty, who would be homeless otherwise. Most probably, both the suspect and his boss lived in such a facility. Middle class Japanese would never go near such "guest houses" for safety reasons.
Interesting thing is that many foreigners unknowingly use such "guest houses", thinking them as budget hotels. I wish them best of their luck.
Matthew Stennett
That will make for some interesting comments on HostelBookers.Com
Tahoochi
samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 02:29PM JST
It does matter because my whole point was that your very first comment clearly implied that Saito's boss was a bully despite the fact that we don't know.
Aydamn
it is fact that some bosses r unfair to their employees even most of them has casting lewd looks at their women employees with evil intentions....
Nessie
Hostel work environment?