If you’re a fan of Kamen Rider or the live adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Kiki’s Delivery Service ” then you might be familiar with Kirato Wakayama (若山耀人), the former child actor who has starred in these two popular projects. He retired from the industry back in 2018 but no one would ever imagine that he would have gotten himself involved in a possible murder case.
Earlier in April, Japanese authorities discovered 2 burnt corpses of a married couple on the riverside in Nasu, a town in Japan’s Kanto region. After weeks of investigation, it was reported yesterday (Wednesday, 1st May) that a total of 4 suspects have been arrested, including the 21-year-old retired actor.
According to reports, Kirato was taken into custody alongside South Korean national Kim Kwang-ki, and 2 other Japanese individuals Ryoken Hirayama and Hikaru Sasaki. The investigation is still ongoing so no murder charges have actually been put out but as of right now, Kirato and Kwang-ki might be facing charges related to disposing of the bodies.
The newly arrested suspects were believed to have assaulted the victims in an abandoned home in Tokyo before they drove away in a vehicle to transport the bodies to Nasu, Tochigi where the authorities made the discovery. However, it was not specified if the victims were still alive when they were being transported to the location of the crime scene. None of the suspects confessed to committing the brutal crime, however, one (Ryoken) accused Hikaru Sasaki of orchestrating the illegal act.
Hikaru then claimed he was instructed by an unnamed individual, who had been targeting the victims, to carry out the misdeed. It is currently unclear how exactly the former child star Kirato Wakayama managed to get himself entangled in this gruesome criminal case.
The news of the burnt bodies of the restaurant owners shocked the nation but many did not expect that a once-popular child entertainer would allegedly be complicit in the murder case. Guess we’ll find out soon if he truly is guilty, framed or coerced into doing the crime.
Sources: Kyodo News, Mainichi, AsiaOne
