Police officers searching for ex-Aum fugitives failed to recognize them during 2006 visit

According to the press, police visited the apartment twice in the past, but comparing the wanted posters and mug shots, I don't blame the cops.

More fail.

And how many other people did they interview over the years? Hand anyone a crappy ten year old picture, then have them find that person in an amusement park full of people, with the caveat that the person may or may not be there.

I was pretty surprised when they found Kikuchi on an anonymous tip. She looked like more than "totally" different. Whoever suspected it was her and called the cops might've been delusional and just was right by accident.

Still, another embarrassment.

The excuse that it was hard to recognize them doesn't fly, since they recognized and caught them 6 years after the fact. My guess is that these were just typical J-cops who probably didn't even know what they were doing in the first place.

My guess is that these were just typical J-cops who probably didn't even know what they were doing in the first place.

My guess is that you could not have done any better, and in any case its noted that you didn't lift a finger to help.

Lowly, relative of Kikuchi's live in (non-Aum) partner is said to have given police the tip off. The two fugitives were absolutely unrecognizable.

It was not the wanted posters but the recent security camera images that led to his arrest.

Well, it is a fail. I mean a "special investigation team" was created to look specifically for these people and all they do is compare some old pictures and ask their names? First thing people on the run who don't want to get caught do, is change identity. It wasn't a house-to-house search, they must have gone to that place for a reason and they obviously took it for granted when they were told "No, we're not the Aum fugitives, we're the Sakuras, honto da yo!" Not you and me, but detectives look for other things than the obvious. Finger prints for instance, particular features etc. They are supposed to be trained in this sort of thing, unless this task force was put toghether from volunteers among the Honda Cub squad. Fail.

I don't know how they conduct their police business in Kanagawa but... Incompetent is one word that comes to mind. These are bot your ordinary day purse snatchers - surely the police must have been aware of that?! Aren't you allowed to swab suspects for DNA? Or were they not suspects? If so, why the "interviews"?

I hope it's not as bad as what I read around here but the impression is that the Japanese police force is a fairly lazy, incompetent one with far too many officers that have risen through the promotins based on seniority.

Opinionhated: "My guess is that you could not have done any better, and in any case its noted that you didn't lift a finger to help."

I certainly would have done better if it were my job, I can promise you that. But it's not -- so why would I spend my time looking for Aum cult people when I'm required to be at my company? How much did YOU help? You seem to miss the fact that J-cops let people out the back door constantly, be it the groper that got out the unlocked door yesterday, Ichihashi escaping while the J-cops decided they'd chew the fat and let him go, or the dozens of other times they neglect simple rules. I seriously wonder what it takes to be a police officer in this nation -- you just put up your hand and say you'll serve tea?

In any case, this is yet another example of J-cop incompetence, which is why I've been suggesting for a couple of years J-cops get their own section on this site, or at least put together with the crime section. Are you saying they did a good job?

You seem to miss the fact that J-cops let people out the back door constantly,

And you seem to miss the fact that protecting the rights of the innocents is more important than nailing guilty within a certain period of time. The groper you mention is not a groper but a SUSPECTED groper. Ichihashi is in jail, and all the Aum people got caught. Much, much better this way than to have all the above caught within days and hundreds of innocents hounded, harrassed, and raked over the coals in the process.

I seriously wonder what it takes to be a police officer in this nation -- you just put up your hand and say you'll serve tea?

And I seriously wonder what sort of skull-cracking police force you would be happy with. Oh sure, we can dream of perfection, but the reality is that I much prefer the Japanese police like this than the gruff, brutal and unforgiving police back home. Japan is still a relatively safe, calm, and gentle place and it does have something to do with how the police conduct themselves. There are certainly points where I think the Japanese police could and should improve, but I put this at the bottom of the list.

Are you saying they did a good job?

All things considered, yes. It beats the hell out of harrassing the wrong people then making an empty apology.

Finger prints for instance, particular features etc.

There is no reason to think the police had any of that available. These guys had never been in police custody their whole lives, and I doubt Aum had a complete dossier on their members. Fingerprints? They had no way of knowing these guy's fingerprints from yours, unless of course yours were on file. Would like them to be on file, along with everyone's, so they can say hey, your prints are not in the system, so you must be a criminal!

You people want the moon, but you don't want to pay the cost!

Opinionhated: "And you seem to miss the fact that protecting the rights of the innocents is more important than nailing guilty within a certain period of time."

So these Aum figures were innocent?

"The groper you mention is not a groper but a SUSPECTED groper."

Yes, and he fled without having any name or ID taken, he was just put in a back room with an unlocked door. VERY professional!

"Ichihashi is in jail..."

Thanks to a very brave person at the Osaka port terminal, and no thanks to the police, who simply let him waltz out the back door in the first place while the British woman's body was rotting in the tub.

"And I seriously wonder what sort of skull-cracking police force you would be happy with. Oh sure, we can dream of perfection..."

Actually, what we can dream of is simple competence, which the police here seem to lack. Trust me, I'd love for a week to go buy where you don't hear about a police chief getting drunk and crashing his car, denying it, then admitting it later; a police officer groping people on the train or stealing panties and saying "I did it because I like the reaction"; or like today and yesterday police simply being completely incapable of doing their job, but alas not only does a week not go by without one of these stories, but barely a day! No, I don't want a military dictatorship or trigger happy police, but it'd be nice to be able to think the people who are supposed to protect you can do their jobs. As it stands, we cannot.

Errr the guilty get to roam, the innocent, unproven get jail...it's been a theme for years. A systems failure. Where is the independent investigators? Their internal investigations? The review of training, procedures...nothing just a caravan of mistakes, they were a special squad! They were formed specifically to find these people! Interviewed them and didn't recognize them. Got to be at least a little embarrassed.

Re: the above

What on earth has basic police competency and personal common sense got to do with "innocent before proven guilty" and police brutality. I don't know what connection Opinionhated sees between them.

Just the other day at Narita I saw a guy ask 2 policemen where Terminal 2 was. They both turned towards Terminal 2 and pointed with their gun hands, away from the guns in their holsters which were then stuck pretty much up the guys nose and which he could easily have snaffled. The logical course of action which even most non-policemen with a grain of common sense would choose would have been to keep a hand on their guns while pointing with the other hand, or have only one officer engage in conversation with passengers. Their choices when asked for directions were not, 1) act like bumbling buffoons from a Pink Panther film and give him a chance to steal their guns, or 2) Beat him to a pulp for daring to ask simple directions.

You can't really blame the cops. The fugitives gave false names.. so how were they to know?

And even if they did confess, maybe they are fast runners and could have run away.

People are too hard on the police. The thin blue line!

Incompetence in the public sector wins again.

Both Kikuchi and Takahashi were positively identified through their fingerprints, which the police must have had on file then. Kikuchi even didn't report two burgleries for fear the police might find/take her prints as well. These Aum people were the nation's most wanted fugitives. At every koban and police station wanted posters of these folks were prominently displayed. Every cop in this country would have been familiar with at least their names. So it was rather odd that when Hirata tried to turn himself in last year at a koban as "I am Makoto Hirata and I want to turn myself in", he was sent of his way again as being a nuisance. No, they should have checked him out, even if they thought the fellow was a nutcase. Luckily for the cops, Hirata didn't give up and went to a police station. Oh yeah, before Hirata turned himself in, in person, he first called the cops on how to surrender, but they hung up on him. Ok, the cops showed up when the manga cafe employee called to inform them Takahashi was in his place, but he had to keep pressing that it was really Takahashi. Go figure, the cafe employee recognised him and the cops said that he didn't look like Takahashi. That's not exactly competent.

Japanese police are either idiots or didn't want to catch them to keep their "special budget"

Obviously, in a country which only has ID cards for foreigners, it is very easy to hide.

According to the press, police visited the apartment twice in the past, but comparing the wanted posters and mug shots, I don't blame the cops.

I agree...Many people encountered these two in their lives (some on a daily basis) and could recognize them. As a matter of fact, I had a neighbor who looked more like Naoko Kikuchi (her wanted poster picture) than Naoko Kikuchi did.

yasukuni: "You can't really blame the cops. The fugitives gave false names.. so how were they to know?"

So then what makes these officers any different than a consensus taker, save that the latter asks for more details than simply a name? Again, I ask, what qualifications are required to be a police officer here, other than inability to do one's job?

I wonder how or why the police went to see the couple on those two occasion. Was it a door to door, random search or was it on tips buy the public. If it was a random search, what was the bits of information do they have with them. Was it some decade old photos of the fugitive or photos that has been digitally enhanced to give some ideas on how they might looked like after decade long. Unless they opt for plastic surgery like that guy who murdered that British woman, some little tricks on how a face would look like with different hair cuts or specticles or other things might give slight ideas. But then, if it was on a hunch or public tips, I wonder how the intelligence works in Japan. Don't they have people who works undercover or something to investigate?

The same old, the same old.

No matter what the article of the day is on, the Japan bashers are always here and always the same.

Sure, they would have done much better than any of the Japanese they so adamantly criticize but it is easy to say that you are the best when you know you will never have to prove it in any of the situations you write about.

Now, look, they told the police their names were Mikuchi and Bakahashi. They were both wearing fake moustaches at the time and all of their Aum books were shelved upside down. How could we expect the police to see through such clever subterfuge?