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Police in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, have arrested a 39-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of torching five houses abandoned after the March 11, 2011 disaster.
According to police, the suspect, identified as Osamu Takeyama, was apprehended after fleeing on a bicycle from the scene of a burning house on Friday morning. NTV quoted police as saying that Takeyama has admitted to setting fire to that house as well as four others on Thursday night and Friday morning.
All five dwellings have been abandoned since they were partially destroyed by the tsunami in 2011.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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SenseNotSoCommon
Aesthetic direct action?
Amidalism
Let me guess: he was stressed out and found relief in the fires.
As if having your home partially destroyed by a natural disaster wasn't bad enough to begin with.
turbotsat
Is he a local, or transplant?
School in Ishinomaki now surrounded by graveyards: http://goo.gl/maps/ZsqJ8
Ken Doyle
Why is it an issue if the Man was employed or unemployed?
Dan Lewis
He was probably doing the homeowners a favor! "Partially-destroyed" means you only get a portion of the insurance payout for the house - yet of course they cannot live in it. By torching these homes, he has caused those families to be eligible for 100% payout from the insurance companies.
I don't know if that was his objective, but I'd like to think it was.
jcapan
What Ken said. I don't often see "employed man beats his wife" in the headlines.
Magnus Roe
JT just translates articles directly, they would likely write "company employee beats his home maker wife" Writing the state of employment of people involved is the norm, it could probably be left out in the English translations though, for a slightly less (though delightfully so) awkward text.
turbotsat
Anyway, it wasn't up to him to burn them, unless the owners asked him. If wants to indulge his firebug urge he should ask the authorities if they've got any debris piles he could light.
AlexCook
The keyword in this article is "unemployed". That pretty much sums up on why this man is acting this way. Frustration of not having a job can lead to situations like this.
jcapan
Alex, I'll remember the next time a disgruntled employee guns down some of his colleagues, or a policeman is arrested for molesting someone.
Wc626
Whats the big deal? He burned down abandoned houses. No harm, no foul, no blood, no ambulances. Japanese are always tearing down flimsy houses, and then building another new flimsy house right n the same spot. This guy just cut out the middle-men.
Jonathan Prin
What issue is this ? Destroying something destroyed. LOL
lostrune2
At least he didn't sell pieces of the houses he needs the money