, known as The Osaka Ripper, was a Japanese serial killer responsible for the murder and dismemberment of four women and one girl in Osaka between 1985 and 1994.(March 14, 1996) Asahi Shimbun: "Defendant K denies murdering women in Osaka" (in Japanese) The case was designated by the National Police Agency as "Metropolitan Designated Case No. 122".(June 13, 1995) Asahi Shimbun: "Re-arrest of suspect K in Metropolitan Designated Case No. 122" (in Japanese)
At the time of the incident, the Osaka Prefectural Police considered it one its most important cases, investigated alongside the Glico Morinaga case.(March 24, 1999) Sankei Shimbun: "Defendant K sentenced for killing C-chan" (in Japanese)
Background Yasutoshi Kamata was born on July 10, 1940, in the city of Ōzu.(May 13, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Suspect K confesses killing fifth woman 10 years ago" (in Japanese) The son of an inn proprietor, he married a local woman and worked as a disposable chopsticks salesman at a local inn, but learning that his wife had been cheating on him, he took their two children and moved to Nishinari-ku in 1960. He made a living by selling stolen merchandise to women working in the restaurant business at high prices. Kamata was regarded as an amiable, soft-spoken and kind individual, who was well-liked by his business partners. However, it was also known that he was prone to sudden outbursts of anger.(May 19, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Statement of suspect K in stragulations of 5 people: 'Good-natured, two-faced'" (in Japanese)
Kamata's modus operandi was to lure women to his various condominiums and apartments around Osaka, where he then proceed to strangle them. While he had around 20 known addresses, he committed the first three murders in Nishinari-ku, and the last two were committed at another residence in Naniwa-ku.(May 25, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Suspect K, who killed in two places, tells the whole story" (in Japanese)
In addition to the murder charges he would later be found guilty of, he was also charged and subsequently convicted of theft in the third and fourth murders.(January 8, 1999) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Defendant K, who killed a woman, was given two death sentences" (in Japanese)
First and second murders The first victim was a 46-year-old housewife from Higashisumiyoshi-ku, who was married and had three children, but on May 14, 1985, she had decided to go to a local bar in Nishinaru-ku under a pseudonym.(August 16, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Fifth victim in Osaka dismemberment murders determined to be a housewife from Osaka" (in Japanese)(August 16, 1995) Asahi Shimbun: "Defendant K re-arrested for murder of Osaka housewife in Osaka dismemberment murders" (in Japanese) Kamata visited the bar as well, and came across the woman, whom he invited to have a meal and some drinks with two other people, but by the end of the night, he brought his drunken acquaintance back to his condominium.(August 16, 1995) Mainichi Shimbun: "Fifth victim from Metropolitan Designated Case No. 122 determined to be Osaka housewife from dental characteristics" (in Japanese) There, he strangled the woman when she started resisting his sexual advances. Her body was only found after Kamata's arrest, having been dumped in a wooded area near the National Route 175 in Kobe's Nishi-ku ward.(May 29, 1995) Mainichi Shimbun: "Body found in forest near Kobe" (in Japanese)
The second victim was a 19-year-old college student, who went missing after she left her dormitory at around 17:00 on April 16, 1985,(May 13, 1995) Chunichi Shimbun: "Re-arrest of suspect in Nara dismemberment, admits three other murders" (in Japanese) while en route to her job as a dry cleaner for a treatment facility in Tondabayashi.(May 10, 1995) Chunichi Shimbun: "Theft suspect involvement in Nara dismemberment killing, two other victims in Osaka" (in Japanese) Kamata had met her near the Tsūtenkaku tower, and around 14:00, the two were seen eating at a sushi restaurant in Naniwa-ku.(May 18, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Suspect K killed Mrs. B at his home" (in Japanese) After that, he took the girl to his condominium, but when she requested 10,000 yen as pocket money, Kamata became angry and proceeded to strangle her with both hands.(June 3, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Suspect K's statement: dismembered girl's body dumped in garbage" (in Japanese) After killing her, he spread out carpets and vinyl sheets on the floor, and then cut up the body into pieces using a saw and a kitchen knife. After he was finished, Kamata put the remains in a cardboard box, put them in a rental car and then ditched them along a country road.
Early next morning, the victim's remains were discovered near the Miyoshi family's farm in Kōryō, Nara Prefecture, who immediately notified the district police about the gruesome discovery.(June 18, 1995) Asahi Shimbun: "Nara/Koryo-cho female dismembered corpse, was it carried away?" (in Japanese) Three months after the finding, on September 6, Kamata sent a taunting letter to the police chief, signed "The Monster with 22 Faces" (alluding to the Glico Morinaga case), postmarked from Sakai.(May 15, 1995) Asahi Shimbun: "Challenge to Takada Station from 'Monster of 22 Faces', suspect in Osaka dismemberment murders" (in Japanese) After sending the letter, he temporarily fled to Tokyo after learning that an investigator had come to his favorite snack bar, using the Tokaido Shinkansen (from the Shin-Ōsaka Station to Tokyo Station), where he resided until things could quiet down.
In the letter, Kamata provoked police by telling them to "catch [him], if they can", naming the sushi restaurant that he took the victim before killing her and what body parts he had cut off,(May 15, 1995) Mainichi Shimbun: "Suspect K proclaims innocence in murder of Mrs. B" (in Japanese) providing information only the killer could have known. When the Nara Prefectural Police traced the girl's whereabouts on the day of her supposed disappearance, they learned that she had been seen visiting the exact same sushi restaurant with an unidentified middle-aged man. When the circumstances were deemed consistent with the letter writer's claims, police concluded that the killer had indeed written it.(May 10, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Suspected thief's fingerprint matched to Nara dismemberment murder 10 years ago, connected to three other murders" (in Japanese)
Third murder Around 17:30 on January 22, 1987, Kamata stopped a 9-year-old walking home from school, ostensibly to ask her for directions towards the Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine and pay her 200 yen,(September 26, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Suspect K re-arrested in murder of C-chan" (in Japanese) whom he then kidnapped. He brought her to his home, intending to sexually assault the girl, but the girl's screams scared him off from doing so, and he instead strangled her. After killing her, he discarded the body in the mountains, and then called the Sumie Elementary School four or five times, where the victim was attending, requesting them to prepare a ransom of 30 million yen in exchange for the girl.(October 18, 1995) Mainichi Shimbun: "Suspect K to be prosecuted in C-chan murder" (in Japanese)
On May 4, the girl's body was found in a cypress forest near Toyono.(May 5, 1987) Asahi Shimbun: "A girl's skeletonized corpse found in Yamanaka Heights, is it C-chan?" (in Japanese) While this victim hadn't been dismembered, Kamata would later admit later claimed that he felt no need to, as the girl's body was small enough to fit in a cardboard box.(May 19, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Suspect K and his bizarre techniques for cutting up bodies" (in Japanese)
Fourth murder Shortly after killing his third victim, Kamata was convicted for several thefts committed between October 1989 and August 1991, and remained in prison until March 1993. Soon after his release, he started killing again. In an attempt to change up his modus operandi, he started frequenting the forested road near Todoromi, which he often used to travel to and from Fukuchiyama, as well as the National Route 423.(May 10, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Prefectural police investigating the forest road near Toyono, Osaka for C-chan's dump site" (in Japanese)
Around July 24, 1993, Kamata paid money to a 45-year-old snack bar employee to accompany him back to his house.(July 25, 1994) Asahi Shimbun: "Dismembered corpse found in Minoh determined to be a housewife from Nishinari-ku, Osaka" (in Japanese) When they arrived at his condominium, he strangled her. He then dismembered the victim's body with a saw and abandoned the remains in the mountains outside Minoh.
On April 4, 1994,(April 9, 1994) Yomiuri Shimbun: "New corpse of a woman found in Osaka" (in Japanese) an investigator from the Minoh Police Department, while searching for the body of Kamata's fifth victim, was examining the cypress forest grounds.(April 5, 1994) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Discovery of another female skeleton in investigation of dismemebered women" (in Japanese) Eventually, he found the skeletonized remains of the fourth victim, whose identity was subsequently verified on July 24 via her dentalwork.(July 25, 1994) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Minoh's dismembered skeletal snack bar employees" (in Japanese)
Fifth murder Around the end of March 1994, Kamata paid a 38-year-old restaurant clerk to accompany him to his apartment, where he then strangled her. He then cut her corpse into pieces, which he then discarded along the forested road in the cypress forest.(April 4, 1994) Asahi Shimbun: "Woman's dismembered corpse found in the mountains near Minoh" (in Japanese) Aside from that, he also stole the woman's clothes, which he then sold for a high price. Her remains were found on April 3, and her identity established on November 4.(November 5, 1994) Asahi Shimbun: "Nishinari-ku restaurant employee's identity established as that of dismembered corpse found in Minoh" (in Japanese)
Arrest and trial On February 23, 1995, Kamata was seen stealing clothes from a warehouse in Chūō-ku,(May 10, 1995) Asahi Shimbun: "Is the thief in Osaka involved in the Nara dismemberment murder?" (in Japanese) and later arrested for the theft in April. Kamata was considered a viable suspect in the serial murders, as he was familiar with the land surrounding the sushi restaurant visited by the second victim, as well as his rental car being sighted on the day of her murder, so his fingerprints were taken by the Osaka Prefectural Police. When examined, they matched those of the mysterious letter writer claiming to have killed that particular victim. In addition, it was known that he was acquainted with the last two victims from work,(May 11, 1995) Asahi Shimbun: "Was thief related to three victims dismembered in Osaka?" (in Japanese) and the knives used at his workplace were similar to the supposed sharp tool used to dismember the corpses.(May 12, 1995) Asahi Shimbun: "Are the Nara-Minoh crimes connected?" (in Japanese) Because of these circumstances, on May 10, the Osaka and Nara Prefectural Police began cooperating to connect their respective cases back to Kamata.
After learning that a joint investigation had been initiated, Kamata admitted to killing and dismembering the second victim, and was subsequently charged with the killing two days later.(May 13, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Unemployed man accused of theft and murder of woman" (in Japanese) Not long after, he admitted to three other known murders, as well as to killing the first victim, whose case was considered unrelated until then.(May 13, 1995) Yomiuri Shimbun: "Unemployed man charged with theft, murder of woman in Osaka" (in Japanese)
Trial
Initial trial