TOKYO (TR) – The Tokyo District Court earlier this month sentenced two men to 30 years in prison for their roles in the gruesome murder and corpse disposal of a wealthy couple whose charred bodies were found dumped in Tochigi Prefecture two years ago.
Ryutaro Takarajima, 55, and his wife Sachiko, 56, were shrewd entrepreneurs who operated 14 dining establishments in Tokyo’s bustling Ueno-Ameyoko district. Their dominance in the area was so prominent that the strip of their affiliated eateries was locally dubbed “Takarajima Road.”
However, growing resentment over the couple’s business management led their eldest daughter, Manami Takarajima, 33, and her common-law husband, Seiha Sekine, 34, to orchestrate a murder plot, reports weekly tabloid Friday (July 31).
Ruthless and sloppy
The trial of Hikaru Sasaki, 30, and Ryoken Hirayama, 27, which concluded with their sentencing on July 3, laid bare a conspiracy that was as ruthless as it was remarkably sloppy. A total of seven people were arrested in the sensational case, which made national headlines due to its sheer brutality and the involvement of a former popular child actor.
According to court proceedings, the mastermind Sekine ordered his underling, Sasaki, to arrange the hit. Sasaki then consulted Hirayama, whom he had met at a Shibuya nightclub. Hirayama subsequently hired the executioners: Kang Kwang-gi, 23, and Kirato Wakayama, 22, a former child star known for his roles in NHK historical dramas.
Testimony revealed that Sekine’s original plan was to simply assault the couple on the streets of Ueno. Sasaki recalled being stunned by the mastermind’s incompetence, testifying in court that he thought the plan was incredibly “sloppy.”
Setting corpses on fire
Instead, Hirayama suggested finding a closed room to carry out the deed. Ryo Maeda, 38, a real estate executive and acquaintance of Sekine, provided a vacant house where the couple was lured and subjected to a gruesome murder.
The aftermath was similarly botched. Sekine instructed the crew to dump the bodies on a plot of land owned by the Takarajima family in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, and ordered them to use a stolen vehicle for the transport. However, the conspirators failed to procure a stolen car in time, forcing them to haphazardly use Hirayama’s personal vehicle to move the corpses before setting them on fire.
Following the 30-year sentences handed down to Sasaki and Hirayama, the court is now preparing for the upcoming trials of the accused executioners, Wakayama and Kang.
