A bone of contention

[japslapper]

The Fucking J-cops are unbelievable! I have a story guys.....this is real and F'd up!

10 days ago I was hiking with FG-girlfriend in mid Wakayama and discovered on a river bed a human ulna and radius. After some discusson with a few members of this forum I decided to inform the cops....

I made statement, as did FG-gf in both English and Japanese. I included a detailed map and all my details - Photocopy of Passport, gaijin card etc. I prepared everything. I informed several senior members of the local community (doctor, lawyer and head teacher) all of who know me quite well and hopefully would vouch for my character. Knowing J-cops I prepared my ground





I handed in the info and the local police station. Was interviewed twice again by senior and more senior cops - It was agreed with the cops that that afternoon I would drive with the cops to the spot - to help them. No not my taking a lift in one of their panda cars - but them following behind my "honda life" as I drove. Before this they also wanted to see my driving license and insurance and passport one more time for good measure (relevant? ).......on realising they were too interested in my ability to drive than in the issue of bones and my good citizenship - I quickly got FG-gf to drive instead. If I had gone 1km over the speed limit I am sure they would have pounced!

On arrival at the scene me , FG-gf and J-Holmes and J-Watson hiked to the spot. Bones still there. The J-cops picked them up - looked at them , put them in a plastic bag. No photo of scenes, no gloves. No comment. They went their way home and me and FG-gf went ours.

Not heard anything since. Bizzare. .....before you guys ask - yes they were definately human - I have an MS Biology - I know bones!

[Caustic Saint]

Why would they take any pictures? You'd already confessed by knowing they were there.

[Big Booger]

You're their prime suspect.. no need for photos LOL

[Taro Toporific]

The Fucking J-cops are unbelievable! ...Not heard anything since. Bizzare. .....before you guys ask - yes they were definately human

You won't hear anything because, most likely, the bones were of a sucide "missing" person who already was on their list. They'll just try to match the height and age of the bones with their missing/suicide lists. Otherwise, the cops will just go back to sleep in their patrol car.

[Col.Kilgore]

Jeez- so if I wanna do away with my J-wife in the future all I gotta do is boil her down to the bone and dump the remains on a Wakayama river bed right? Gotta love this country!

[cstaylor]

japslapper, you are one brave man. When this story first broke two weeks ago, I asked my wife what she'd do. She said she'd do the same thing you did: take a chance and report it to the police.

I don't think I could do what you did. I got burned by someone I helped in high school (it's a long story), a hard lesson that makes me always think twice before sticking my neck out like that, especially when the risks are high and the payback minimal.

[kurohinge1]

You won't hear anything because, most likely, the bones were of a sucide "missing" person who already was on their list. They'll just try to match the height and age of the bones with their missing/suicide lists. Otherwise, the cops will just go back to sleep in their patrol car.

The odds are in favour of Taro's theory here - The Suicide Forest and simlar spooky groves certainly sap the fun out of taking the kids bushwalking !

On Thursday 6 February 2003, the Fuji-Yoshida police station in Yamanashi Prefecture issued its now grim annual report on the number of suicides committed in the Aokigahara woods area around the base of Mount Fuji. In 2002, the corpses of 78 suspected suicide victims were found hanging in the vicinity of what has now become known in the media as the "suicide forest." The 2002 figure was an all-time high, eclipsing the previous 1998 record of 73 cases. This increase is almost certain to be mirrored in the national suicide rate for 2002 which will be issued later in 2003. Reflecting recent national suicide trends, the overwhelming majority of the dead found in the "suicide forest" were men, many in their forties and fifties. These tragic findings highlight the suicide crisis amongst middle-aged Japanese men.

[Alcazar]

This situation is truly amazing and I am glad that things went OK. We all read about the finding of bodies etc, but it has to be someone who finds a person or their remains. Just as well that it was only bones, and not a corpse, that would be horrible to find.

About the suicide forest, I remember when I was in Japan back when I was much younger and our family was with one of our Japanese friends visiting Mt Fuji. We were visiting a special cave in a forest somewhere down the mountain, and our Japanese friend said the forest was full of ghosts, must have been related to the large amount of suicides in the forests at the base of Mt Fuji. Probably a nicer way of saying it......I originally thought she was just refering to a Japanese folk myth or something.

[AssKissinger]

In related news...

Woman's right arm found in mountains near Tokyo




The right arm of an adult woman was found on the road in a secluded area of Okutama in the suburbs of Tokyo, police said.

A passerby found the arm shortly before 3 p.m., Saturday, and soon alerted police, prompting officers to investigate the area.

Ome Police Station officers said that the arm probably belonged to an adult woman after carefully looking at the fingers.

When they searched the area later on Saturday, they found no other body parts. The mountainous area is some 2 kilometers from Lake Okutama and is surrounded by forests, officers said.

The officers continued searching the area on Sunday. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Oct. 5, 2003)

[Taro Toporific]

In related news...

Woman's right arm found in mountains near Tokyo
The right arm of an adult woman was found on the road in a secluded area of Okutama in the suburbs of Tokyo, police said......
....The officers continued searching the area on Sunday. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Oct. 5, 2003)

Hacked arm belonged to male restaurant worker
Mainichi Shimbun / Monday Oct. 6, 2003
An arm found dumped in a secluded area of Okutama, Tokyo, belonged to a 26-year-old man, not a woman as earlier thought, police investigations have revealed....
...nvestigators said the skin on the arm, which had been cut off near the shoulder, was macerated. They said the arm had probably either been left in a nearby river and then pulled out for some reason, or been soaking in bath water for some time.

The nails had fallen out of the fingers. An autopsy revealed that both a blade and a saw had been used to cut off the arm.

[Big Booger]

Sounds gruesome... and disgusting.. why keep an arm? I hope the guy is still not alive and they are ripping parts off...

Humans can be so demented.

[canman]

Hey Japslapper, I just finished watching the news and they found three bodies that were buried. The report said they got a tip from a hiker about a bone or something like that. I'm not 100% sure due to my limited Japanese ability, but I wonder if that is the same case as yours. Did you hear anything back from the police. Just wondering, if there was any connection to your case.

[japslapper]

Hey Japslapper, I just finished watching the news and they found three bodies that were buried. The report said they got a tip from a hiker about a bone or something like that. I'm not 100% sure due to my limited Japanese ability, but I wonder if that is the same case as yours. Did you hear anything back from the police. Just wondering, if there was any connection to your case.

FG-gf saw the report - we think it was "our" bones they were on about.
I have not heard anything from the police in this issue - or even a thankyou. However the same cops I spoke to before turned up on my doorstep a week or so ago to ask/tell me that I was required to translate for them while they were playing cat and mouse with Green Peace/Sea Sheppard anti-whaling protesters........more about that in another thread... [/list]

[Taro Toporific]

Sounds gruesome... and disgusting..
Humans can be so demented.

Mushroom picker finds legMainichi and wire reports, Japan, Oct. 29, 2003

MAEBASHI -- A man picking mushrooms in a forest area stumbled upon a leg sticking out of the ground, leading to the discovery of a dead body, police said Wednesday.

"I've found a human leg," the mushroom picker said when he alerted police shortly before 5 p.m., Tuesday.

Officers arriving on the scene in Takayama, Gunma Prefecture dug up the area to find the body of a dead person Wednesday. They have yet to determine the age and gender of the body.

The body was badly decomposed and no shoes were found in the area, the officers said.