Reconstructing

On February 28, 1994, Juntaro Suzuki, a sixty-one-year-old managing director of Fuji Photo Film Corporation was stabbed to death on the doorstep of his home.Suzuki and his wife, Michiko, lived in a modest home on a narrow side street in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, a fashionable residential area near the shallow Tamagawa, the river that serves as the border between Tokyo and the industrial city of Kawasaki. Mrs. Suzuki was taping a television program for her son, who was on an overseas trip. The doorbell rang and Mr. Suzuki answered the door using an intercom. The man at the door said his car had hit part of the wall surrounding Suzuki's home. He asked if someone could come out to inspect the damage.Suzuki agreed and went out. Neighbors said later that there was some brief shouting, perhaps even a few cries for help. Mrs. Suzuki said that all she heard was her husband weakly calling "Mama" when she found him on the step, dying from wounds on his head, legs, and arms. According to police reports, the wounds were consistent in shape with those made by a Japanese sword. The nature of the wounds gave rise to the suspicion that Suzuki was a victim of right-wing terrorism. Japan's radical right is well known for its attacks against corporations and their executives. The Japanese sword is one of their favorite weapons, although the right wing is also known to use Molotov cocktails and the occasional firearm to shoot into a vacant home or office. But radical-right involvement became less and less a possibility as Suzuki's encounters with extortionists became increasingly known. The details of the case pointed toward sokaiya.1