Man from Aichi remains in the dark after unsolved murder of wife and children two decades ago

AICHI (TR) – On September 9, 2004, an unknown assailant stabbed then 38-year-old Toshiyo Kato and her three children to death in their home in Kutsukake Town, Toyoake City. The assailant then set the house on fire.

The case remains unsolved.

Monday marks the 20th anniversary of the incident. A week-long exhibition of about 30 items related to the incident began last Friday at Toyoake City Hall, including photos of the four dead and leaflets distributed to alert the public that the perpetrator is still at large.

“By holding an exhibition like this in Toyoake, we can prevent the incident from being forgotten,” Toshiyo’s sister Amami told Fuji News Network (September 8). “We are grateful that [the city] agreed to hold the exhibition. In this way we can prevent [this murder] so that it doesn’t happen again.”

Amami was among about 40 people, including police officers, who handed out tissues with information about the case at a shopping mall near the crime scene on Sunday.

Since the murders, similar events and memorial services for the family have been held almost every year. However, one person was conspicuously missing: Toshiyo's husband, Hiroto Kato.

Since the incident two decades ago, Kato has remained in the closet and refused to take part. This, along with his later participation in the pleasures of Nagoya's nightlife and his arrest for fraud, has raised questions among many about whether he is guilty or innocent of the murders.

“Time delay device made from mosquito coils”

The incident occurred on September 9, 2004 at around 4:25 a.m., when a fire broke out in the house. The bodies of Toshiyo, eldest son Yuki (then 15), eldest daughter Rina (13), and second son Shogo (9) were found in the rubble. All four had been stabbed.

“The perpetrator scattered kerosene and used a time delay device made of mosquito coils,” an investigator told the website of the weekly tabloid flash. The fire broke out some time after the murders, so it is possible that he had carefully constructed an alibi.”

Hiroto Kato was working the night shift and was not at home at the time of the murder. Since there was little evidence that his house had been searched, Aichi Prefectural Police began an investigation, believing that the murders were motivated by grudges.

Tens of thousands of police hours were spent on the case and 193 tips were received, but no useful information led to the arrest of the perpetrator.

On the day of the incident, an annual memorial ceremony was held at the crime scene, attended by family members and investigators from the Aichi Prefectural Police.

Although Kato lives near the crime scene, he has never appeared.

“It is understandable that he was not present because, for example, he has various emotions, such as wanting to forget the incident, but…”, the same investigator continues.

“Put your children first”

Amami often speaks in a soft voice to the portraits of her late sister and three children lined up on a Buddhist altar in her home in Aichi Prefecture.

Every morning she offers the children milk, which they love, and Toshiyo iced coffee. She also organizes small gatherings on each of their birthdays.

On the birthday of the eldest son, Yuki, they had a drink together in front of the Buddhist altar after the Obon festival. Before, he only got juice, but now that he is an adult, he gets beer. She also asks questions and makes requests. “Are you all OK?” “Are you four together?” “Yuki, please protect your mother!”

Amami still keeps family memorabilia, including Ultraman and Godzilla dolls, miniature cars, playing cards, paintings and woodblock prints, and Toshiyo's manuals on maternal and child health.

The house where the incident took place was demolished two years after the incident, but Amami returned the treasures beforehand. Here and there, burn marks could be seen, illustrating the cruelty of what had happened.

Amami, who has three children of her own, was four years older than Toshiyo. They were inseparable, writing emails and talking on the phone ten times a day.

“Toshiyo always put her children first,” she says tearfully flash“I wonder what she was thinking when she died. I think she wanted to help them. She and I were very close. Right after the incident, I felt like there was a big hole in my body.”

“I want him to risk his life to find the perpetrator”

The day of the incident was Shogo's birthday. However, that day never came for him.

“The children's dreams and hopes were taken away from them when they were just starting out in life,” says Amami. “If the perpetrator is not caught, these children will never grow up. That's why I need to know the cause of the incident. Otherwise, I won't be able to see Toshiyo and her children when I go to the other side.”

Encouraged by her children, Amami began giving interviews to the media and handing out leaflets on the streets. Five years after the incident, she asked the Aichi Prefectural Police to hold a memorial service, attended by members of Sora no Kai, a Tokyo-based group made up of families of murder victims.

Amami finds it strange that Hiroto does not attend these meetings.

“I heard through the rumor mill that he thought he had no role to play because I was doing something,” says Amami. “I sense how different their feelings are. As the father of three children, I want him to risk his life to find the perpetrator.”

“The man had a lover”

The relationship between Toshiyo and Hiroto was complicated before the incident.

“Actually, [Hiroto] “She had been away for several years before the incident,” says Amami. “The divorce was imminent and Toshiyo was worried about how she would live with three children. But she believed her husband would return to his former, kind self.”

That's not all.

“At the time of the incident, the husband had a mistress,” reveals the above-mentioned investigator. “He frequented nightclubs and squandered a lot of money. He got into debt and was arrested for swindling money from the company where she worked.”

In March 2005, six months after the incident, Kato was arrested by the Aichi Prefectural Police on suspicion of fraud. He was accused of obtaining about 5.2 million yen in cash by selling a computer he had illegally obtained at his workplace.

In addition, he was found to have obtained cash by placing inflated orders for machine tools at a trading company. The total amount of the thefts, including the sales of the above-mentioned computers, was approximately 13 million yen.

At that time, Kato was a fan of several exclusive members-only clubs in Nishiki, Nagoya, and he also began living with a hostess he met.

Although he earned more than 10 million yen a year, he found it increasingly difficult to cover his living expenses in addition to the hostess's expenses, so he took out consumer loans. To pay off his growing debts, he planned to sell the computers on the black market.

“Taken a lie detector test”

At the first hearing before the Nagoya District Court, Hiroto admitted the charges in full.

“The fraud case was a separate case that was primarily about the connection to the murder-arson case,” explains a person involved in the investigation.

However, this connection was never made, and the police were heavily criticized for it. The Nagoya District Court subsequently sentenced Kato, who was accused of fraud, to three years in prison, a sentence that was suspended for four years.

At a subsequent press conference, Hiroto thanked the police for the lenient sentence and also mentioned the arson and murder case. “I was investigated by the police as a suspect, even though I had nothing to do with it,” he said. “I was also subjected to a lie detector test. [lie detector] Test. It is unfortunate that some reports have given the impression that I was involved.”

Since then, Hiroto has not been seen in public.

“Gave women money”

Kato now lives with his relatives in a corner of a residential area, just a few minutes' walk from the crime scene. The house consists of a main house and a detached house where he lives alone.

A reporter for flash visited Kato one night in 2021 when he was returning home. After the reporter called him, Kato appeared in the pitch-black lobby with short hair and glowing dark eyes. The reporter revealed that he works for the weekly tabloid.

“I have nothing to say,” Kato said. “If you look at the articles you have written so far, I don't want to say anything.”

However, after the reporter explained the essence of the interview, Kato loosened up and revealed something about the fraud case and his affair.

“I paid for the computer [fraud]”, Kato said. “Well, fraud is a crime, if you will. I inflated bills at work and took kickbacks. I had fun in the nightlife and gave money to women. If you read an article about it, you would think there was something else [connecting me to that murder-arson case]right? So there's no point in saying anything anymore.”

Kato's gaze did not wander. He remained calm. He explained why he spent so much time in the nightclubs: “It was just fun, having fun. That's all. I was spoiled. When I look back now, I think it was stupid. I will always remember that. I was addicted back then. Because I had [more than one hostess].”

When the reporter tried to ask him more about his feelings, his voice sounded irritated. He said: “No matter what people say to me, the mere mention of my cheating past sounds like, 'It's all your fault. That's why [the murder-arson case] happened. Do you understand?'”

When asked if there was any connection to the murder-arson case, Kato replied, “That's impossible.” And with a fearless smile, he added sarcastically, “I can't say it's impossible. With the power of the pen, you can turn white into black, right?”

When asked if he hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon, he nodded slightly. “Yes,” he said.

“We have to leave that to the police. If the perpetrator is arrested and we can put an end to it, I think the past [that was made a big deal by the media] will probably become irrelevant. I'm getting old and want to spend my time in peace.”

After they talked for about an hour, the reporter left. Kato said calmly, “If this is an interview, then everything I said here is a lie.”