The body of an elderly man was found in the toilet of his apartment on Monday after emergency services were called to an apartment block in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, when a neighbor noticed smoke coming from the first floor apartment.
When fire fighters arrived on the scene, they found the fire was emanating from the toilet, inside which they discovered the man's body. Police have identified the deceased as Yasutaka Ohisa, 76.
Alongside Ohisa, who was found sitting on the floor, were an electric heater and an electric cooking stove, both of which were plugged in. Police are continuing to investigate the cause of death and the source of the fire, although they believe Ohisa may have died of natural causes.
© Compiled from news reports
17 Comments
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ebonyninja
Rest in peace old guy!
Disillusioned
Eh? A stove and a heater in the toilet? I am guessing it was not your normal 1m square dunny. Can't imagine why there would be a cooking stove in there.
timeon
probably a mistake for "bathroom"? バストイレ?
wanderlust
Maybe the poor old guy was freezing? The smallest room is the easiest, quickest and cheapest to warm up. So sad, such a lonely way to go...
mikihouse
The old guy has not enough money to heat the whole house so he lived in the toilet which has a smaller space and can be heated by cheap space heaters. Makes sense to me.
goddog
No tv in there? My grandmother when on a roll used to bring a tv into the toilet, but never a cooking stove.
sidesmile
Poor guy. The hazards of multi-tasking maybe?
Laguna
Beware of electric heaters. Not only are they dangerous, their efficiency is low compared with kerosene heaters. He probably was too frail to be able to obtain kerosene.
lovejapan21
Stove in Japanese English = heater by kerosene. @Laguna electric heaters these days are great especially in small spaces such as outside the shower room. Kerosene gives me a headache within 5 min especially if it is in a small room (so for bathrooms, definitely an electric).
TheBigRiceBowl
When I first read the title I wondered how the heck the "murderer" had stuffed a body into the toilet...
mrskit
Poor old man,,,,At least he can rest now,,,,, My MIL has a small heater in the toilet also, usually coz Japanese houses are drafty
KSB1978
He was in the bathroom with a electric cooking stove? That is mysterious...
Disillusioned
Hey! The article clearly states "AN ELECTRIC COOKING STOVE" - Where did you read anything about a kero heater?
xpompey8
So if the 'toilet' is the room then what the heck do you call that porcelain thing that flushes your you know what?
cleo
The throne or the loo or the toilet.
Livinginokinawa
While it is truly sad that the old gent passed away, I must say that there are plenty of people here in Japan that dont have enough money to heat their entire houses. That is a different topic altogether really.
OssanAmerica
I saw the headline and quickly pictured a guy stuffed into a round white ceramic coffin. The non-American English speakers probably just pictured a bathroom.