JAPAN’S MOST WANTED

You can’t walk far in Japan without stumbling across a Koban (交番) – referred to in English as a ‘police box’. These decentralized police outposts serve primarily as a place to report a lost phone or fill up the air in your bike tires. But visit any Koban and you’ll be met with the same faces staring back at you – a wall of wanted posters, or Shimei Tehai (指名手配).

Each photo has a name, an age and any known physical characteristics of the criminal and may offer cash rewards of up to 6 million yen. Some of the posters even (poorly) use software to predict what the person may look like now based on projected aging.

A few of the Most Wanted in Japan are listed below:

1. OSAKA MASAAKI
Crime: Murder of a police officer in Shibuya during a protest of US military presence in Okinawa
Year of Crime: 1971
Current Age: ~71
Osaka was arrested in 2017 in Hiroshima. He spent nearly 50 years on the run making him Japan’s longest running fugitive until his arrest.

2. MITATE SHINICHI
Crime: Murder of a customer with a metal bat in a Roppongi nightclub
Year of Crime: 2012
Current Age: 41
Mitate was the ringleader of a group that carried out the murder. All other members have been arrested but Mitate remains at large. He fled the country soon after the crime but it’s believed he may have returned to Japan. There is a 6-million-yen reward for his capture.

3. KIRISHIMA SATOSHI
Crime: Serial bombing of locations in Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Year of Crime: 1975
Current Age: 66
Part of the same radical left-wing group as Osaka Masaaki, Kirishima planted bombs at strategic targets throughout Chuo-ku. Nothing is known of his potential whereabouts.

4. OCHI KIYOSHI
Crime: Murder and dismemberment of his wife
Year of Crime: 2006
Current Age: 68
Ochi is believed to have been in monetary debt to his wife and murdered her. He was suspected of fleeing to a remote island in Kagoshima and at least one person claimed to see him heading into the mountains. It is suspected he may have died in the wilderness.

5. UECHI KEIEI
Crime: Knife murder of a bar manager in Mitaka, Tokyo
Year of Crime: 2005
Current Age: 64
Uechi is noted as having no front teeth and is still on the run.