Yoshio Kodaira

Yoshio Kodaira
Yoshio Kodaira
Born	Yoshio Kodaira; January 28, 1905; Tochigi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
Died	October 5, 1949 (aged 44); Japan
Cause of death	Hanging
Criminal penalty	Death
Details
Victims	8-11 (in Japan only)
Span of crimes	July 2, 1932 – August 6, 1946
Country	Japan
State(s)	Tochigi, Tokyo
Date apprehended	August 20, 1946

Yoshio Kodaira (小平義雄, Kodaira Yoshio, January 28, 1905 – October 5, 1949) was a Japanese rapist and serial killer. He killed one person in 1932 and was later sentenced to death after being convicted of killing seven others in 1945 and 1946.

Life as a soldier

Kodaira suffered from stuttering during his childhood. He joined the Japanese Navy in 1923 and participated in the Jinan incident. He killed six Chinese soldiers in 1928, and raped many women in China. In Taku Forts, he stuck a sword into the belly of a pregnant woman.^[1] The exact number of his victims in China is unknown.

First murder and trial

Kodaira married in 1932 after he returned to Japan. His wife eventually left him because he had a child by another woman. He became angry and attacked his wife's household, killing his father-in-law and injuring six others with an iron rod on July 2, 1932. He was arrested, and was released in 1940.

Second murders and trial

He is believed to have raped and murdered 10 women between May 25, 1945 and August 6, 1946 in Tochigi and Tokyo. After the fifth murder, he committed necrophilia with the corpse. His murder victims included teenagers. He also raped about 30 women in addition to his murder victims.

The police searched for Kodaira after they got his name from Ryukos' parents, On August 20, 1946, Kodaira was arrested. He denied responsibility for three murders in the court, and the district court tried him for seven of his 10 suspected murders on June 18, 1947. One of the victims was never identified. The Supreme Court sentenced him to death on November 16, 1948.

Execution

He was executed on October 5, 1949. On his final day, he said "I am fortunate to be able to die on such a calm and peaceful day."^[2]

Media

Based on his case, David Peace published the novel Tokyo Year Zero in 2007.^[3]

References

^ 小平義雄連続殺人事件 (in Japanese). 無限回廊. Archived from the original on November 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
^ "Peace, It's Wonderful". Time. 1949-10-17. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
^ Steve Finbow (2007-08-12). "A dark dissection of Tokyo at war". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2007-11-12.

External links

Weekend Beat: Tokyo writer returns to the scene of the crime Asahi Shimbun^{[dead link]}, December 22, 2007
(in Japanese) Yoshio Kodaira serial murders case

[1] 小平義雄連続殺人事件 (in Japanese). 無限回廊. Archived from the original on November 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-15.

[2] "Peace, It's Wonderful". Time. 1949-10-17. Retrieved 2008-02-09.

[3] Steve Finbow (2007-08-12). "A dark dissection of Tokyo at war". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2007-11-12.

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