Japan offers US$200k for help in solving notorious Setagaya murders – 20 years on

The Miyazawa family were slaughtered in their home on New Year’s Eve in a case that shocked the nation

Despite the killer leaving a host of clues, including fingerprints, DNA, clothing and even distinctive grains of sand, nobody has ever been arrested

Reading Time:4 minutes

A wanted poster created by Japanese police shows the attacker and how he concealed the knife. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:01pm, 14 Dec 2020Updated: 9:51pm, 14 Dec 2020

Police in western Tokyo have launched a campaign to jog the memories of anyone who may be able to shed new light on one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in modern Japanese history – the slaughter of a family 20 years ago that some people say altered the way they lead their lives.

Over the weekend, police began handing out fliers depicting an ordinary-looking family home in the Setagaya district of the city, along with an image of a person wearing dark-coloured trousers, a down jacket, gloves, a scarf, hat and distinctive trainers. An accompanying description of the man indicates he is around 170cm tall.

The flier also includes details of the 20 million yen (US$192,288) reward for the man, the only suspect in the killing of a family of four in their house as they prepared to celebrate the arrival of New Year on December 31, 2000.

With violent crime a rarity in Japan and a home invasion and the killing of an entire family almost unheard of, a case that is widely known as the Setagaya murders has become infamous – in part because despite all the evidence, the police have never been able to identify or arrest the perpetrator.

“That case really shocked Japan,” said Shinichi Ishizuka, a professor of law and director of the Criminology Research Centre at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University.