Akiyoshi Umekawa (梅川 昭美, Umekawa Akiyoshi, March 1, 1948 - January 28, 1979) was a Japanese mass murderer who killed a woman on December 16, 1963 and shot dead four people on January 26, 1979.

He was also called Teruyoshi Umekawa, Terumi Umekawa, Akimi Umekawa and Akemi Umekawa though those weren't his real name. He was one of the rare criminals who was shot dead by Japanese police.

Early life

Umekawa was born in Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture. He was a great reader and loved hardboiled fictions. He also saw the film Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma, which had an impact on his life.

On December 16, 1963, while he was 15 and still a minor, he killed a women. Although he was a murderer, he was still allowed to have guns because Japanese juvenile law protected his criminal history. He wanted to make a big incident 15 years after he committed the first murder.

Mitsubishi Bank sporting gun kidnapping

Umekawa shot dead two employees and two policemen on January 26, 1979 in a Mitsubishi Bank in Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka. He took 40 hostages at the bank. He asked them, "Do you know the city of sodom (Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma)?" He stripped women of all their clothes and gave them ignominy.

Rokuro Yoshida, who joined criminal investigations of Kiyoshi Okubo and United Red Army, was appointed as the incident commander. Osaka armed police (now Special Assault Team) were called, which was the first case in the history of Japanese armed police. They fatally shot Umekawa on January 28, 1979. Yoshida did not make excuses, claiming that there had been no alternative to deadly force.

Media

His crime had an impact on Japanese youths. Neko Oikawa said that he was the main reason why she didn't have leftist views. A film Tatoo Ari in 1982 was based on his crime. The words of Kazoku Hyakkei by Japanese rock band Jagatara in 1983 was said to be inspired by the crime. The situation of Japanese Eroge Gakuen Sodom in 1994 was similar to his crime.