Hunting ‘Rat Man’: The Unbelievable Crimes of Tsutomu Miyazaki

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There's something uniquely unsettling about a person who lives two completely separate

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lives, one that looks normal on the surface, and another one that no one sees coming until

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it's too late.

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Sutomo Miyazaki was one of those people.

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To the outside world, he was just an awkward guy from a well-connected family.

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The kind of quiet, withdrawn person you wouldn't really notice.

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But behind closed doors, he was deeply unwell.

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This wasn't a case of a misunderstood loner.

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This was something darker.

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He went to extreme lengths to taunt his victims' families, and was so detached from reality.

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When he finally got caught, his defense was, let's call it, "creative."

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Today we're talking about the man, Japan dubbed the Otaku Killer, a name that somehow

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makes him sound far less terrifying than he actually was.

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Be ready, because this one gets weird.

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But before we dive in, if you like your true crime brief and bingeable, you're in the

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right place.

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Hit follow now for at least two new episodes every week.

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This is 10 Minute Murder.

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Let's get into it.

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[Music]

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Tsutomu Miyuzaki came into the world already marked as different. Born in

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Tokyo in the 1960s, he had a rare birth defect that fused the bones and his

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wrists together, preventing him from bending them upward. In most cases a

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condition like this might not be life-altering, but in mid-century Japan where

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disabilities were often hidden away in institutions, it set them apart in ways

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that went beyond the physical. Miyuzaki's family had money and influence.

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Generations of his relatives had served on the town council and his parents owned

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the local newspaper giving them significant sway in the community. That

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influence likely kept him out of an institution and in the family home. That

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didn't mean he was particularly seen in that home. His parents were busy, wrapped

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up in business, politics, and social obligations. So Tsutomu spent most of his

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childhood either alone or under the care of his aging grandfather. He didn't

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seem to mind. Being at home was infinitely better than school where his wrist

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condition made him an easy target. He couldn't play the same games, couldn't

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keep up in class, and kids then, now, always, are merciless to anyone who stands out.

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By the time he graduated high school, he had cemented himself as an underachiever

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ranking 40th out of 56 students. His dream of becoming an English teacher never

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materialized. He couldn't get into his preferred university. Instead, he pivoted

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to photography, a skill that could have been useful in his family's newspaper

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business. But Tsutomu wanted no part of that legacy. His family expected him to

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follow tradition. He wanted to be left alone. His family had other plans for him.

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As their only son, he was expected to follow tradition. Take his place in the

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family business and uphold the Miyazaki name. The only person who ever seemed to

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consider what he wanted was his grandfather. That unfortunately wouldn't last. In

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1988, his grandfather passed away and whatever sense of stability Tsutomu had

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unraveled. He withdrew even further, sinking into isolation and depression.

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And what can only be described as a desperate and deeply disturbed act of grief, he

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consumed part of his grandfather's ashes. Whether this was some misguided attempt to

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stay connected or a sign of something far more concerning, it marked a turning point.

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Shortly after, his behavior became more erratic. His younger sister called him

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watching her through a crack in the door while she was showering. When she confronted him,

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he lashed out, attacking her. Their mother already frustrated by his reclusive lifestyle,

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blamed his obsession with anime and demanded that he get a job. Instead of

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responding like any rational adult, he turned violent once again, attacking her too.

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Then, the disappearances began. For town-like-ish Tukaiji, this was

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extremely unusual. Even today, it's common for Japanese children to run errands

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alone at a young age. In the 1980s, in a place where neighbors knew and trusted one another,

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the idea that a child could simply vanish wasn't something parents worried about.

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That was about the change. The first to go was four-year-old Mary Kono. She'd been playing

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at a friend's house when she accepted a ride from a man she didn't know was a predator.

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That man was Tsutomu. He drove her out of town, parking his car in a secluded area. What

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happened next was horrific. Mary was murdered and her body was left in a

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wooded area near his home. For weeks, when decomposition made her remains easier to move,

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Tsutomu dismembered her, keeping her hands and feet as twisted souvenirs. The rest of her body was

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burned in his furnace. Then, he sent her parents a package. Inside was a box containing some of her teeth,

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photos of her clothing, and a note that read, "Mary, bones, cremated, investigate, prove. Was this

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his version of a confession, a taunt, or was he daring the police to stop him before he did

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something worse? A month later, he struck again. Seven-year-old Masami Yoshizawa was walking along a

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rule road when a car pulled up beside her. The man behind the wheel offered her a ride. She accepted.

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Like Mary, she was taken to the same secluded location. Like Mary, she never made it home. Her remains

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were left under the bridge, but Tsutomu kept her clothes, another trophy, another sign that he

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wasn't planning on stopping. Two months after Masami Yoshizawa's disappearance, Tsutomu Miyazaki struck

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again. This time, he didn't bother with tricks or false kindness. Four-year-old Erica Namba was

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walking home from a friend's house when Miyazaki pulled up beside her. He didn't offer her a ride.

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He didn't try to lure her in with a story. He grabbed her off the street and forced her into his car.

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He drove to an empty parking lot. A place he knew would be deserted and ordered her to undress.

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There was no hesitation. No slow build-up. Just the full weight of his depravity on display.

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He murdered her. He tied her hands and feet behind her back, covered her body with a bedsheet,

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and banned in her in another parking lot. Three days later, someone found Erica's remains. Her parents

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were already living through a nightmare, but it wasn't over. Days after she was discovered,

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they received a note in the mail. Words cut from magazines and arranged into a chilling message.

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Erica, cold, cough, throat, rest, death. It was meant to taunt them, to twist the knife into their

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already unbearable grief. It was also a warning. Sutomo wasn't finished. Six months passed before

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he took another child. Five-year-old Ayako Nomodo was outside when he approached her and asked

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if he could take her picture. She agreed, unaware that she had just made a decision that would cost

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her her life. She followed him to his car and he killed her soon after. Unlike his previous

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victims, he didn't leave her remains in the open. He placed her body in the trunk and drove home.

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There, over the next two days, he continued his ritual of taking photographs and videos.

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Eventually, decomposition set in and he knew he couldn't keep her there any longer. At first,

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he discarded her remains in separate locations around town, scattering evidence like it was garbage.

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But then something changed. He decided he didn't want anyone to find what was left,

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after all. He gathered her remains and placed them in his wardrobe. Right beside Mary

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Kono's hands and feet, his collection was growing. Sutomo had already shown no remorse for what he had

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done. But in the weeks that followed, he took things even further. He later admitted to drinking blood

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from Ayako's severed hands and even eating pieces of her remains. In his mind, this wasn't just about

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control or power. It was about ownership. He would often take the body parts he had kept and lay

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them out beside him all night. Then, a year after murdering Ayako, by Izaki went hunting again. He spotted

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two young girls playing in a park and managed to convince one of them to follow him. He had done this

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before. Separate a child from their friends, lead them somewhere isolated and make sure they never

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came back. But this time, there was a variable he hadn't accounted for. The girl's father had been

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watching from a distance. When the man saw his daughter with a stranger, something in him knew. He

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moved fast, running toward them and caught Miyazaki in the act. Before Miyazaki had the chance to react,

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the father attacked him, beating him to the ground. Miyazaki scrambled and ran, slipping from his

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grasp for the moment. But the father wasn't done. He called the police. Officers arrived at the park

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quickly, searching the area for the man described to them. Then an hour later, Miyazaki did something

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so reckless it was almost unthinkable. He went back. He returned to the park to retrieve his car,

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completely unaware that the police were still there. The girl's father spotted him again and

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immediately pointed him out. This time, there was no escape. The officers arrested him on the spot.

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When they searched his home, they found something far worse than they expected. Miyazaki had documented

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everything. He had photographs and videotapes of his victims, cataloging his crimes in a way that

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suggested he had no real fear of being caught. But even more disturbing, they found the remains.

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The hands and feet of Mary, along with other pieces of his victims, hidden inside his wardrobe.

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There was no question about who had been taking the children. The only question now was what to do with

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him. The media wasted no time in branding him the Otaku Killer, a name that came from his obsession with

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violent anime and manga. Whether his interest in those things had any connection to his crimes

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is debatable, but it didn't matter. He had already become a figure of public outrage.

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In court, he tried to dodge responsibility. He claimed that he wasn't the one responsible for the

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murders. His alter ego, Ratman, was. He leaned into the idea that he was mentally ill, playing up

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the possibility that he suffered from multiple personality disorder. For a while, it worked. Some experts

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hesitated wondering if there was any truth to his claim. But the courts weren't interested in his

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performance. Tsutomo Miyazaki was sentenced to death. In Japan, the wait time between sinensing

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and execution is usually long. The average is about eight years, sometimes longer if the inmate appeals.

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Miyazaki tried. He appealed multiple times, but each time the court rejected him with remarkable

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speed. Then, on June 17th, 2008, it was over. With no warning, Miyazaki was taken from his cell

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and hanged in a Tokyo prison. There was no media spectacle, no drawn out legal battle. His life

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ended quietly and start contrast to the horror he had inflicted on so many others.

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Thanks for listening to this episode of 10 Minute Murder. I'm Joe, the host. And I do have one quick

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favor to ask of you before you go off to binge more episodes of the podcast. If you're a new listener,

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make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening right now and follow on social media.

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If you have any questions about the podcast, you want to see photos that go along with it. You can

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go to 10minutemerter.com. And if you go to the Murder Blog section of 10minutemerter.com,

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you'll see the photos that go along with this story. If you want to get in touch with me,

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my email address is joe@10minutemerter.com. And that's going to do it. That's your episode for today.

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Again, thank you so much for listening.