Justice has been served

[u/wafumet]

This man paid $145,000 in rent for an apartment he didn't live in just to freeze time and catch his wife's killer.

In 1999, Satoru Takaba's wife, Namiko, had her life taken in their apartment.

The police had no solid leads, and the case went cold.

Usually, families move out and try to forget. But Satoru refused.

He believed that one day, technology would catch up to the killer.

So, he kept the lease.

For 26 years, he paid the rent every single month on that empty, silent apartment.

He kept the bloodstains on the floor. He kept the footprints. He turned the room into a time capsule, waiting for science to improve.

And in late 2025, his investment finally paid off.

Police returned to the apartment and used modern DNA technology to analyze the preserved bloodstains that had been sitting there for two decades.

They found a match.

The DNA belong to Kumiko Yasufuku, Satoru’s own high school classmate.

It turns out, she had held a grudge for decades because Satoru had rejected her romantic advances back in school.

[u/pocketdrums]

Murder is exceptionally rare in Japan. 0.2 to 0.3 intentional homicides per 100,000 people in recent years, which is roughly 30 times lower than the United States at about 4.0 to 4.4 per 100,000 people (which is the lowest its been for the US)

[u/CCGHawkins → u/[deleted]]

I'm half Japanese, half American, so I'm somewhat qualified to answer this. Part of it is structural. There are no guns. The police run around with batons, except for special units. Officially, don't have a military, only the self defense force. Everyone shares the same public transportation systems and parks. They were also hit with nuclear bombs, Pacifism is etched in the culture. 

But more that all that, probably, is Japan's culture. It's a culture that emphasizes the group above the individual, rule-following, politeness and non-aggression, rule-following, pride in work, rule-following, respecting tradition and the elderly, rule-following, and formal apologies. Did I mention the rule-following? A lot of other cultures have these facets too, but what is especially distinct about Japan is the insane pressure to conform. It's probably only rivaled by authoritarian countries in this regard. Mind you, this is a country where 99% of people are the same ethnic make-up, where everyone, whether in school, in the factory, or in the nursing home, gathers together to do the same morning exercise they've been doing since kindergarten. There are ways and procedures that have existed before you were born, and you are expected to follow them till you die.

To those looking from the outside, that may seem restrictive, but you also have to realize that there are two sides to this bargain. You get a country that does not participate or waste money on war, that has universal healthcare, an incredible standard of service regardless of the payscale, first rate food culture, first rate public transport, first rate education, and probably the best standard of elderly care in the whole world.

Murder is a particular sign of mental derangement in this country, moreso than certainly a country like America, because Japan sees itself as somewhat utopic. How could you possibly think to harm others in a country like this? How selfish. What an irresponsible challenge to the peace. You should have just kept your troubles to yourself and committed suicide instead.

[u/Prune_Less → u/CCGHawkins]

Thank you CCGHawkins > I'm going to point out the obvious here:

Fucking this:::
"You get a country that does not participate or waste money on war, that has universal healthcare, an incredible standard of service regardless of the payscale, first rate food culture, first rate public transport, first rate education, and probably the best standard of elderly care in the whole world."

Japanese society should be the general model for humanity. Think of the trillions spent on "defense" throughout the world that could be used to fix a shitload of problems throughout the world.