The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Japan and its predecessor entities ranging back to the Tokugawa shogunate (Some historical numbers may be approximate). The massacres are grouped into different time periods. Massacres have become a growing problem in contemporary Japan in recent years, with at least 110+ deaths during the 2010s.
Most notably, the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack claimed at least 36 lives and injured an additional 34. It is one of the deadliest massacres in Japan since the end of World War II and the deadliest building fire in Japan since the 2001 Myojo 56 building fire. It was considered "suicidal terrorism" by one criminology professor at Rissho University, as the attack was reportedly intended to be a suicide mission by the suspect. In December 2021, another arson attack occurred, this time at a building in Osaka, specifically at a psychiatric clinic located on the fourth floor. It killed 25 and injured an additional 3. The suspect, who died in hospital two weeks later, is believed to have been inspired by the 2019 attack in Kyoto.
Massacres
Heian period (794–1185) DateNameLocationPerpetratorDeathsNotes15 January 1181Siege of NaraNaraTaira clan4,500The Taira clan set fire to temples and monasteries, in all 3,500 civilians, and 1,000 warrior monks died in the burning.
Kamakura period (1185–1333) DateNameLocationPerpetratorDeathsNotes28 June 1193Revenge of the Soga BrothersKamino, Fujino, Shizuoka PrefectureSoga Sukenari and Tokimune5+The Soga brothers, Soga Sukenari and Tokimune, assassinated Kudō Suketsune, the killer of their biological father. The incident included a failed assassination attempt on the shogun, and resulted in many deaths and injuries of unrelated participants.
Sengoku period (1467–1603) DateNameLocationPerpetratorDeathsNotes27 March 1569Horikawa castle massacre [ja]Horikawa castle, Hamamatsu, ShizuokaIshikawa Hanzaburo700After it was captured, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered Ishikawa Hanzaburo to massacre the castle prisoners and castle denizens, including women and children. It was recorded that around 700 people were beheaded on the banks of the Miyakoda River.30 September 1571Siege of Mount HieiInside the Enryaku-ji temple complex on Mount HieiOda Nobunaga's army1,500-4,000 Massacre of the Buddhist warrior monks who refused to submit to the warlord Oda Nobunaga.1574Third siege of NagashimaNagashima fortress, Owari ProvinceOda Nobunaga's army20,000Massacre of 20,000 Ikkō followers by the forces of Oda Nobunaga.1579Siege of ItamiItami Castle, Settsu ProvinceOda Nobunaga's army670 Defenders from the Itami clan and their families were killed after the capture of Itami Castle.27 August 1585Odemori Castle massacre Odemori Castle. Harimichi, Nihonmatsu, Fukushima PrefectureDate Masamune's Forces1,000Date Masamune's soldiers stormed Odemori Castle, killing 1,000 people, including women and children.13 March – 4 September 1591Kunohe rebellionKunohe Castle, Mutsu Province (present-day Ninohe, Iwate Prefecture)Forces of Toyotomi HideyoshiunknownToyotomi Hideyoshi forces executed the prisoners, along with Kunohe Masazane himself. The remaining defenders, including women and children, were forced into the second bailey, which was then set on fire. According to contemporary records, the fire burned for three days and three nights and killed all within.5 September 1595 The massacre of Toyotomi Hidetsugu's entire familySanjogawara, KyotoToyotomi Hideyoshi39Hideyoshi ordered the execution of Hidetsugu's entire family, including children, wives and concubines.
Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868) DateNameLocationPerpetratorDeathsNotes12–15 April 1638Mass beheadings at the final days of the Shimabara revoltInside and around Hara Castle, MinamishimabaraShogunate army37,000Rebels and sympathizers were beheaded by military forces. Afterwards, the Hara Castle was also burned to the ground.Yoshiwara spree killingYoshiwaraSano Jirōzaemon?Sano Jirōzaemon murdered dozens of prostitutes with a katana in Yoshiwara
Empire of Japan (1868–1947) DateNameLocationPerpetratorDeathsNotesKawachi JūningiriChihayaakasaka, Minamikawachi District, OsakaKumatarō Kido and Yagorō Tani13 (including the perpetrators)A farmer and his accomplice targeted the families of the farmer's wife and her lover in a series of stabbings before the farmer killed his accomplice and himself after hiding in the mountainside for two weeksMarch 1st demonstrationsKorea under Japanese ruleImperial Japanese Army7,50915,849 Koreans woundedJeamni massacreHwaseong, ChōsenImperial Japanese Army20 to 30Killing of 20 to 30 unarmed Korean civilians inside a church in Hwaseong by the Imperial Japanese ArmyGando massacreJiandaoImperial Japanese Army5,000+Shinano River incidentShinano RiverOkuragumi Shokai Company100+Massacre of up to 100 Korean laborers who tried to escape the construction site by the Plant foremenKantō MassacreKantō regionImperial Japanese Army, Police and vigilante civilians 6,000+With the explicit and implicit approval of parts of the Japanese government, the Japanese military, police, and vigilantes murdered an estimated 6,000 people: mainly ethnic Koreans, but also Chinese and misidentified Japanese, and Japanese communists, socialists, and anarchists, Multiple incidents occurred, including the Fukuda Village Incident, Kameido incident and Amakasu Incident1931 Empress of Canada stabbingsaboard RMS Empress of Canada, off JapanGraciano Bilas242-year-old Filipino passenger Graciano Bilas killed two people and wounded 29 others with a knifeTsuyama massacreTsuyamaMutsuo Toi31 (including the perpetrator)After cutting off electricity to his village, 21-year-old Mutsuo Toi proceeded to go on a late-night killing spree with a shotgun, a katana, and an axe before killing himself, 3 injuredChichijima incidentChichijima, Ogasawara IslandsImperial Japanese Army 8Japanese soldiers killed eight American airmen on Chichi Jima, in the Bonin Islands, and cannibalized four of them. The ninth, and only one to evade capture, was future U.S. President George H. W. BushTonokiya massacreTonokiya, Shioya, Ogimi Village, Okinawa PrefectureImperial Japanese Armed Forces35Ten Japanese soldiers under the command of a sergeant major appeared in the village of Watanokiya, rounded up civilians on the beach, and killed them with grenades and other weapons. 35 people, mostly women and children, were killed and 15 were injured. June - August 1945Kumejima MassacreKumejima, Kume Island, OkinawaImperial Japanese Navy20Murder of 20 residents by Imperial Japanese Navy, after they were considered spies for the American army. Part of Battle of Okinawa.Hanaoka incidentŌdateImperial Japanese Army 418113 prisoners of war executed; 307 also died
Occupied Japan (1947–1952) DateNameLocationPerpetratorDeathsNotesTeigin caseTokyoSadamichi Hirasawa12False verdict suspectedMitaka incidentTokyoKeisuke Takeuchi820 injured. False verdict suspectedMatsukawa derailmentBetween Kanayagawa and Matsukawa, Fukushima PrefectureUnknown3A Japanese National Railways passenger train derails and overturns on the Tōhoku Main Line between Kanayagawa and Matsukawa stations in Fukushima Prefecture due to sabotage, killing three crewmembers; all 412 passengers survive
State of Japan (1952–present) DateNameLocationPerpetratorDeathsNotesHakamada IncidentShimizu, ShizuokaUnknown4False verdict suspectedMitsubishi bombingTokyoEast Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front8 Powerful bomb explodes at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Marunouchi. Eight killed, 378 injured. Eight left-wing activists are arrested May 19, 1975, by Japanese authorities.1975 Aki shootingAki, Kōchi PrefectureIkuya Hatakeyama631-year-old Ikuya Hatakeyama shoots eight of his neighbours with a 12-gauge shotgun, killing six and critically injuring two26 - 28 January 1979Mitsubishi Bank hostage incidentMitsubishi Bank, Sumiyoshi-ku, OsakaAkiyoshi Umekawa5 (including the perpetrator)Akiyoshi Umekawa shot dead four people in a Mitsubishi BankNigishima murdersNigishima, Kumano, Mie PrefectureKazumichi Ikeda8 (including the perpetrator)Farmer Kazumichi Ikeda kills seven members of his family and injures 3 with an ax and a shotgun before killing himselfShinjuku bus attackShinjuku, TokyoMaruyama Hirobumi 6A mentally disturbed man Maruyama Hirobumi throws a bucket of petrol and a lit newspaper into a bus. The ensuing fire killed 6 and injured 14.Japan Air Lines Flight 350Haneda Airport, TokyoSeiji Katagiri24Flight 350 was on approach to Haneda Airport when the pilot Seiji Katagiri deliberately nose-dived the plane to crash it. The pilot was then subdued by other flight crews, yet the plane remained descending. It then crashed into Tokyo Bay. The pilot who deliberately nose-dived the plane was suffering from mental illness before the incidentTaneichi murders Taneichi, IwateHidetake Kakuchiyama5Hidetake Kakuchiyama, a former fishing crew member, murders his wife and 4 children over a divorce dispute in Taneichi, IwateSakamoto family murdersIsogo-ku, YokohamaAum Shinrikyo3Tsutsumi Sakamoto, a lawyer working on a lawsuit against the cult Aum Shinrikyo, was kidnapped and murdered by members of the cult along with his wife and 14-month-old son 5 - 6 March 1992Ichikawa Family Murder CaseIchikawa, Chiba PrefectureTeruhiko Seki4Robbery-murder of 4 members of an executive's family by Teruhiko Seki27–28 June 1994Matsumoto incidentMatsumotoAum Shinrikyo8Members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult released sarin gas near the homes of several judges who presiding over legal cases involving the cult. 500+ injuredTokyo subway sarin attackTokyoAum Shinrikyo136,252 injuredWakayama curry-poisoning incidentSonobe district of Wakayama, WakayamaMasumi Hayashi4Four people are killed and 63 injured after eating curry laced with arsenic at a community festival in Wakayama. Festivalgoer Masumi Hayashi was sentenced to death and is currently appealing.Ikebukuro massacreTokyoHiroshi Zota26 injuredShimonoseki Station massacreShimonosekiYasuaki Uwabe5Yasuaki Uwabe, a former architect, drove a rented car into Shimonoseki Station and hit at least 7 people, two of whom died before the car got stuck. He then proceeded to stab pedestrians at random with a kitchen knife, injuring 4 and killing a further 3. Uwabe was eventually apprehended by a station worker and was arrested shortly after. Uwabe was executed in 2012.Setagaya family murderSetagayaUnknown4A family of four are murdered at their home in suburban Tokyo by an unknown intruder, the case remains unsolved.Takefuji Hirosaki branch arson murder caseHirosaki, Aomori prefectureMitsuhiro Kobayashi5A former taxi driver Mitsuhiro Kobayashi kills 5 employees and hurts 4 during a robbery followed by arson at a Takefuji Corp branch in Hirosaki.Ikeda school massacreIkedaMamoru Takuma837-year-old former janitor Mamoru Takuma entered an elementary school in Osaka, then used a kitchen knife to kill 8 students. He wounded an additional 13 other students and 2 teachersMyojo 56 building fireShinjukuUnknown44Perpetrator never caught.Fukuoka family murder caseHigashi-ku, FukuokaWei Wei, Yang Ning and Wang Liang4Businessman Shinjiro Matsumoto, his wife Chika and two children aged 11 and 8 are murdered in a robbery by three Chinese students who broke into their home and dumped their bodies in Hakata Bay. Two of the three - Yang Ning and Wang Liang – fled to China where they were arrested. Yang was executed and Wang sentenced to life imprisonment. The third, Wei Wei, was arrested in Japan and was held on death row until finally executed in December 2019.18 - 20 September 2004Ōmuta murders Omuta, FukuokaKitamura-gumi4Married Yakuza couple Jitsuo and Mami Kitamura