Police hold ‘hikikomori’ after five OAPs stabbed to death in Japan

A man suspected of stabbing five people dead at a family home in rural Japan was being quizzed by police Monday, with reports saying he is a “hikikomori” or social misfit who lived nearby. Police called to the scene found the bloodied bodies of a man and a woman, both aged around 80 years, in the main house on the site. Two unconscious women, aged around 60 and 80 years were discovered in another building, while a badly-injured man in his 60s was found outside.

[Hikikomori] are tormented in the mind. They want to go out in the world, they want to make friends or lovers, but they can’t.

Tamaki Saito, psychiatrist, speaking to BBC News

All three were rushed to hospital where they were later confirmed dead. Detectives arrested unemployed Tatsuhiko Hirano, a police spokesman said, with reports saying he initially admitted the multiple killing. The 40-year-old Hirano lives in the area with his father and grandmother, Jiji Press reported. Locals told the agency he rarely leaves his home and has largely been isolated from society since his school days.

Asia-Pacific