Yoshio Kodaira

Overview

Yoshio Kodaira ( 小平 義雄 , Kodaira Yoshio , January 28, 1905 - October 5, 1949) was a Japanese soldier. He was a rapist and serial killer. His biography included participation in the Jinan Incident, and he killed six Chinese soldiers in 1928.

Background

Kodaira suffered from stuttering during his childhood. He joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1923. He was involved in Japanese actions against mainland China, participating in atrocities that included the rape and murder of helpless civilians.

He was also described by his first-grade teacher as "inattentive and listless; gets into fights on a daily basis." The biography said he was an unwed father at age 18 and joined the Imperial Japanese Navy to escape parental obligations. The biography also said that he drifted through a series of blue-collar jobs, none lasting more than a few months, before joining the navy.

The biography described him as the son of a violent alcoholic. It said that he became accustomed to low-rent brothels in various ports of call.

Before the Second Sino-Japanese War, he said that the Japanese military had committed atrocities.

The offence

Kodaira killed six Chinese soldiers in 1928. The exact number of his victims in China was unknown.

He raped or murdered many Chinese women in China. In Taku Forts, the biography said: he stuck a sword into the belly of an expectant mother.

He married in 1932 after he returned to Japan. His wife ran away from him because he had a child by another woman. The biography said Kodaira became angry and attacked the house of his wife, killing his father-in-law and injuring six others with an iron rod on July 2, 1932.

The biography said that it was believed he raped and murdered ten women between May 25, 1945 and August 6, 1946 in Tochigi and Tokyo. At the fifth murder, the biography said he raped a dead woman.

For the war and post-war period, the biography listed individual victims and dates:

• On May 25, 1945, he raped and strangled 19-year-old Miyazaki Mitsuko and hid her corpse behind an air raid shelter on the premises.
• He raped and strangled 30-year-old Ishikawa Yori on June 22.
• Three weeks later, on July 12, he repeated the procedure with 32-year-old Nakamura Mitsuko.
• A fourth victim, 22-year-old Kondo Kazuko, died on July 15.
• Matsushita Yosh'e, age 21, was killed on September 28.
• 17-year-old Shinokawa Tatsue followed on October 31.
• 19-year-old Baba Hiroko was killed on December 30.
• Kodaira took a six-month breather and then claimed his next victim, 15-year-old Abe Yoshiko, on June 30, 1946.
• Two more would follow before he was finally caught by police.

The biography described a change in approach after having no more female employees to victimize, saying he loitered in public places offering to help young women purchase food or other items on Tokyo’s black market.

It stated that he met 17-year-old Midorikawa Ryuko on July 10 and struck up a friendship that included visits to her home, where he gave his real name to her parents. The biography said Ryuko disappeared on August 6 after leaving home to meet Kodaira for an alleged job interview. It then stated that her nude corpse was found at Tokyo’s Zoōji Temple a few days later, and that a second body found nearby was identified as Shinokawa Tatsue, reported missing by her parents in Shibuya.

The biography also stated that, in addition to the murders, he confessed to 30 or more rapes where the victims survived.

Quotation(s) connected to the offences

Kodaira described an incident as follows:

"Four or five of my comrades and I entered a Chinese home, tied up the father, and locked him in the closet. We stole their jewelry and raped the women. We even bayoneted a pregnant woman and pulled out the fetus from her stomach. I also engaged in those depraved actions." The biography added: "And loved every minute of ¡t."

Investigation

Police went looking for Kodaira after obtaining his name from Ryuko’s parents. The biography said that he freely confessed his crimes and was sentenced to death on August 20, 1947.

Arrest

Kodaira was arrested on August 20, 1946. It said he denied three murders in court, and that the district court admitted seven of ten murders on June 18, 1947. It also stated that one of the unproved three victims was unidentified.

Trial

In court, Kodaira denied three murders. The district court admitted seven of ten murders on June 18, 1947.

The biography included a description that he freely confessed his crimes with no plea for leniency after police went looking for him following his name being obtained from Ryuko’s parents.

Sentencing

The Supreme Court sentenced him to death on November 16, 1948.

The biography said he was sentenced to death on August 20, 1947 as a result of his confession.

Appeals

The record stated that the Supreme Court sentenced him to death on November 16, 1948.

Outcome

Kodaira was executed on October 5, 1949 by hanging.

Aftermath

Before he was executed, the biography said he smoked a cigarette and was calm.

After his execution, the biography said Japanese author Edogawa Rampo tried to make sense of the case. It reproduced Edogawa Rampo’s statement as follows:

"The type of crime he committed was not particularly unusual," Edogawa wrote, "but to have repeated it, using the same methods, was definitely unusual. This incident can be attributed to the relaxation of morals that has occurred since the end of the war. This is because all of us-the criminal, his victims, and society at large-all bear some guilt. Moreover, the atmosphere of social neglect brought on by japan's defeat has brought out the beast in such individuals, particularly men who have returned from battle." The biography then stated that Edogawa did not seem to think that "the beast" had been deliberately evoked by Japanese wartime tactics reflected in such incidents as the Rape of Nanking, and it reproduced the claim as: "where at least 300,000 unarmed civilians were murdered in cold blood, girls and women raped by the tens of thousands in an orgy of violence officially condoned-and shared-by superior officers."

The biography also said that Michael Newton included Kodaira in his work.

The biography additionally stated that David Peace published a novel titled Tokyo Year Zero in 2007 based on Kodaira’s case.

Timeline

• January 28, 1905 — Yoshio Kodaira was born.
• 1923 — Kodaira joined the Imperial Japanese Navy.
• 1928 — Kodaira killed six Chinese soldiers.
• 1932 — Kodaira married after returning to Japan.
• July 2, 1932 — Kodaira attacked the house of his wife, killing his father-in-law and injuring six others with an iron rod.
• 1940 — Kodaira was released in the general amnesty.
• May 25, 1945 — Miyazaki Mitsuko (19) was raped and strangled; her corpse was hidden behind an air raid shelter.
• June 22 — Ishikawa Yori (30) was raped and strangled.
• July 12 — Nakamura Mitsuko (32) was raped and strangled.
• July 15 — Kondo Kazuko (22) died.
• August 6, 1946 — Midorikawa Ryuko disappeared; her nude corpse was later found at Zoōji Temple.
• August 20, 1946 — Kodaira was arrested.
• June 18, 1947 — The district court admitted seven of ten murders.
• August 20, 1947 — Kodaira was sentenced to death (as described in the biography).
• November 16, 1948 — The Supreme Court sentenced Kodaira to death.
• October 5, 1949 — Kodaira was executed by hanging.

Other details

The biography said Kodaira had a severe stutter and that he scraped by with low grades, graduating barely-with the rank of 21st in a class of 23 students.

It said he became an apprentice to a Tokyo metalworks in lieu of higher education and then drifted through blue-collar jobs.

The biography said one of his subordinate women had been a target when he raped and strangled on May 25, 1945.

It said he took a six-month breather before claiming his next victim on June 30, 1946.

The biography said Kodaira gave his real name to Midorikawa Ryuko’s parents.

It also said a second body found nearby was identified as Shinokawa Tatsue, reported missing by her parents in Shibuya.

The record stated Kodaira was executed at Miyagi Prison on the morning of October 5, 1949.