“No matter what I say, Sawako will never come back. I honestly can’t express my emotions. It still feels unreal.”

-Father of Sawako

We’ve all heard of the roommate from hell. The person who is loud at night never cleans up their messes, and always finds ways to ruin your day. This is the story of Terumi Morishima, a 29-year-old Japanese woman who in 2015 was sharing a house with a group of men and women.

One of these women, Sawako Watanabe became close with Terumi and they became friends. But what Sawako didn’t know was that Terumi was slowly…

Murder is committed for a variety of reasons; jealousy, greed, passion, hate, or anger. A lover murders their cheating partner, a person high on drugs robs and kills a stranger, a racial killing, a hate crime, a person suffering from delusions or mental illness. But sometimes it’s a bit harder to pinpoint the exact motive.

Someone randomly attacks a stranger, kidnaps a child, rams a truck into a crowd of pedestrians, and so on. These murders can’t be explained away by a specific cause. These crimes are the ones that shock, confuse and frustrate society.

This story is about one…

I usually write about true crime, shows on Netflix, or writing on Medium but today I need to write about something to get it off my chest. It’s probably mostly my fault, but I believe the situation worsened because of the other party thinking I did it out of an ill will.

The day it happened

It was my girlfriend's birthday on March 21. I had rented a car, planned a restaurant and a park we would visit in the day. However, I had forgotten that I had also made plans with my friend, his wife, and his newborn. I asked to postpone to…

With the rise of social media, people can connect to others all over the world. Using YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, a user can gain a following, have thousands of likes, fans, or friends. Sometimes these “friends” are people from the past, most times they are complete strangers.

The good thing about online friends is that you can unfriend or block them if things don’t work out. Sometimes though, getting blocked or ghosted can cause someone to grow angry and even violent.

This is the story of a girl named Saya Suzuki, who at age 16 friended a stranger on…

Many young people who are victims of physical or sexual abuse, poverty, or dysfunctional family settings often get caught up with crime. Second chances are sometimes a good way to help some of these people who have been convicted of a crime at a young age and want to turn their life around.

Rehabilitating these young people, supporting them in their search for a better life and mental support is also a good way to ensure these people will not re-offend. However, sometimes, a second chance can be a big mistake.

This is the story of a man who was…

There is nothing more terrible than a missing child. The panic that sets in when you scan the area and can’t see them anywhere. Usually, they are just hiding around the corner and you are quickly reunited. Sometimes, you wander around the mall or the supermarket screaming your child’s name and they suddenly appear in tears. But sometimes, it’s not that easy.

Sometimes, no matter how much you are watching your child and how much they know not to wander too far or talk to strangers, something happens that shatters your life. This story is about a 5-year-old girl Yuki…

“No matter what I do, it always fails”

-Yasuaki Uwabe

We all have bad days. Sometimes no matter how hard we try to make things work, life doesn’t go as plan. But what happens when things start going so bad that you start blaming society and the people around you for your failures. What if you are not only dealing with troubles from your life, but also an internal struggle. Your mental illness creates in you, feelings of despair, anger, and defeat.

This is the story of a man named Yasuaki Uwabe. A man whose life started off great. He…

Many great and not so great men have been written into history. Sometimes they are great heroes in battle or politicians fighting for freedom, other times evil dictators and mass murderers who wreak havoc on society. Similarly in Japan, some figures have brought great respect to this small island country, while others have brought shame and disgust.

This is the story of a man named Sataro Fukiage, who is one of the earliest recorded serial killers in Japan. With a tough childhood, odd sexual encounters and experiences, and an escalating record of crimes, Sataro targeted over 100 girls as young…