Japan shocked by massacre of 6 people in a village

GuardianInvestigators found the body of a woman outside her home in Takachiho Village, Miyazaki Prefecture, on November 26. Inside the home, they found the bodies of five other people, including a young girl. Some of the victims appeared to have been stabbed, according to local media.

They included the homeowner, Yasuo Iihoshi, 72, his wife, Mihoko, 66, their 21-year-old son, their 41-year-old daughter-in-law, their 7-year-old granddaughter, and Fumiaki Matsuoka, 44, a family friend. A relative called the police after calling the family but no one answered.

Authorities later discovered the body of a seventh person in the river 3 km away. This person was Masahiro Iihoshi, 42, Yasuo's son. Masahiro apparently drove the family car there and jumped into the river.

According to investigative sources, Matsuoka died while visiting Iihoshi's home to help mediate a family dispute involving Masahiro.

Takachiho, a village of 12,000 people, is located in the Takachiho Valley, a popular tourist destination known for its scenic beauty and indigenous Shinto religion. The massacre has left locals shocked and fearful. Officials have advised them to be cautious and not to let their children walk home from school alone.

Mass shootings are rare in Japan, one of the safest countries in the world thanks to strict gun control laws. However, knife killings are not uncommon in the country.

In 2001, a man with a history of mental illness stormed an elementary school in Osaka and stabbed eight children aged six to eight to death. In 2008, seven victims were killed when a truck driver plowed into a crowd on a busy shopping street in central Tokyo, then went on a knife attack.

In July 2016, Satoshi Uematsu, who claimed he wanted disabled people to “disappear,” used a knife to kill 19 people and injured 27 others at a nursing home in Sagamihara, south of Tokyo.

Mr. Ngoc