Kozue Sato: Japan's controversial police investigation (Documentary)
On the 1st of July 2008, the body of 17-year-old Kozue Sato is discovered in the mountainous and wooded area near Iwate prefecture’s former Kawai village. While the investigation just started to get ground, and the body was still not officially identified, a few hours later an acquaintance of the victim crashes his car a 2 hour drive away from the scene of the crime. The acquaintance is 28-year-old Katsuyuki Obara, the boyfriend of a friend of the victim. The following morning investigators receive calls from family, friends and even Obara himself that he is at Unosu cliff with the intention to jump to his death. Though when Obara’s father shows up, the 28-year-old is gone and even after multiple officers search on foot and by boat, only a few items remain on the cliff’s edge as prove of Obara’s prior presence.
While investigators seemed to quickly link Obara’s strange behavior to Kozue Sato’s death and soon placed him on Japan’s national wanted list, others seem to believe there is more to this story. Let’s explore the facts of the investigation, the events leading up to Kozue’s death and the fight of an investigative journalist for the truth against media and police only to end up losing his life in the process.
I've been invested in this case from the start, partly due to the great effort of investigative journalist Akio Kuroki. As someone who investigates cases into detail, I'll look at Kuroki as an example of someone who tried his best to make the world a better and fair world with his search for the truth.
Maps with locations for this case can be found at patreon.com/MrRhetorica for free.
Case name: 岩手県宮古市の殺人事件
Kozue Sato: 佐藤梢
Katsuyuki Obara: 小原勝幸
Akio Kuroki: 黒木昭雄
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
03:02 Investigation
10:13 Timeline
42:54 Akio Kuroki
50:24 Discrepancies
01:14:44 Fight for justice
01:26:13 Aftermath
01:31:14 Conclusion
Music:
CO.AG - Dark Ambient Background Music - Empty Rooms Music
THRLL - Dark Ambient - Horror Background Music
Myuu - Danger
THRLL - Dark Ambient Desert - Background Music
Jesse Gallagher - Maestro Tlakaelel
CO.AG - Who Will Save My Soul - Background Music
CO.AG - What's Left - Ambient Background Music
THRLL - Inception Time
Video Sources:
@AkioKuroki Youtube channel
TV Asahi “The scoop” [ザ・スクープ] broadcast from the 16th of May 2010.
ABEMA TV/news documentary「父の死は"殉職"なんです」“捜査するジャーナリスト”命かけた最期の事件｜ABEMAドキュメンタリー
@pairedsaltrees Youtube channel
B-roll from pexels.com
Information Sources:
Akio Kuroki blog (via Wayback Machine): https://web.archive.org/web/201907282...
Iwate prefectural police: https://www.pref.iwate.jp/kenkei/anze...
National Police Agency: https://www.npa.go.jp/bureau/criminal...
Newspaper Iwate Nippo
Asahi Weekly magazine
Akio Kuroki Twitter/X page: - / 29349329502
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Tags:
#truecrimecommunity #japan #documentary #unsolvedmysteries #mystery #unsolvedmysteries