Man dies after stabbing himself, wife and 6-month-old baby in Aichi

Monday 02nd November, 08:49 AM JST

AICHI —

Police said Sunday that a man died after stabbing his wife and 6-month-old baby and then himself at their home in Toyoake City, Aichi Prefecture.

Police said they received a call from a 31-year-old woman just after 4 p.m., saying she needed help and was going to die. When officers arrived at the scene, they found the woman on the street outside their apartment, holding her 6-month-old son who was covered in blood.

The woman, identified as Kayo Furuhashi, told police that her 33-year-old husband had stabbed her and their baby. Police found Furuhashi in the living room slumped forward, sitting on his legs. He was already dead from a stab wound to his chest, police said, adding a bloodied knife was found by his side.

Mrs Furuhashi is recovering in hospital from the stab wounds to her back but her son is still unconscious and in critical condition, police said.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 41 Total Comments Show All

dajtw at 03:10 PM JST - 2nd November

Why everyone is so eager to judge I don't know. Awful story I fully agree but to comment on a story of which full knowledge is absent is unfair.

As most can understand for a person to be driven to kill your own family things must have been pretty bad. What exactly we don't know but one thing is as one person mentioned how strange that a 6 month old kid an mother survived a knife assault could mean that the attack may not as vicious as it might seem... In no way am I for the assailant, but unless there are more concrete details about the incident, all I see is yet another sad incident on this imperfect world.
cleo at 03:14 PM JST - 2nd November

If you've been jobless for years, there should be no resident/income taxes due - they're based on income.
Junnama at 03:15 PM JST - 2nd November

Social services here would gladly take the child (even here in Japan).
kokorocloud at 03:33 PM JST - 2nd November

lincolnlklim-- I would agree except there are so many people who have to deal with the same exact problems, all over the world, many who have it much worse, and none of them have attempted to murder their own wife and child. MANY people fall on hard times, and so yes, I can blame this man for trying to do something so irreversible because he feels there's no other option. It is cowardly to me. Just like I can blame all those husbands and/or wives who murder their children while in the middle of a messy divorce, or after losing a job. People slaughter their entire families, and no matter the so called reason, it's wrong.

dajtw-- I believe we need more details as well. It is a terrible and tragic story.
DXXJP at 03:34 PM JST - 2nd November

I think this is a murder suicide gone wrong. It might have been a family pact for all we know.

Anyway this woman and hopefully the baby will get a second chance and make good use of the life they still have.
DXXJP at 03:36 PM JST - 2nd November

I think this is a murder suicide gone wrong. It might have been a family pact for all we know.

Anyway this woman and hopefully the baby will get a second chance and make good use of the life they still have.
fishy at 03:41 PM JST - 2nd November

> @lincolnlklim - Imagine you have been jobless for years, all your savings gone, your wife and kids keep asking you for money which you do not have. On top of that the government insists that you pay your overdue residential/inhabitant tax and kenko hoken and nenkin and god knows what other never heard of before taxes. The NHK is suing you for not paying the television licence fees, and you just received an eviction letter from your landlord.

I would go INDIVIDUAL BANKRUPTCY BEFORE KILLING FAMILY!!
lincolnlklim at 04:11 PM JST - 2nd November

Dear Cleo, resident/local tax is based on last drawn income and unlike income tax, because of the way it is structured, you have to pay them even when you are jobless for at least 2 years. Likewise, social insurance is based you your last drawn income. Imagine your last drawn income is 2million yen per month, you will need to pay about 700,000 each month of social insurance and residential tax for at least 2years even without any income.

Kokorocloud, yes, different people cope differently given the same situation. But then there have to be opportunities and friendly faces. We are after all human with human frailties. I believe the Aichi man will not have resort to family suicide if he can perceive a way out. If he is really evil, he would have resort to more violent means of keeping his family survival. He could have just kill himself and not his family, but I believe he just could not bear to see his family suffer if he is to leave them alone. But now, with the publicity that his wife and kids received, they will probably be given appropriate help. Without this publicity, believe me, the nobody gives a shit if the mother and kids die of hunger. Remember the case a few years ago where the mother was jailed because her kid died of hunger and she herself also almost died too? Nobody gives a shit when she asked for help, but when someone dies, everybody starts pointing fingers.

And dear fishy, being bankrupt still doesn't feed your family. Last I heard, the government still does not give money to bankrupt individual, but I do know that government is very generous to bankrupt corporations especially BIG zaibatsu corporations.
womanforwomen at 04:46 PM JST - 2nd November

Times are hard for many. People tend to do the most extreme things. If everything is working out fine for some of us, does not mean that we have the right to think that the others actions are silly. We cannot say what really went on with the two adults. But there should have been something that could have helped these two to survive. Sad when you cannot run to someone for help when things go bad.

If we can go back to the good old days, when families supported each other at times of trouble.
JACKY1289 at 05:13 PM JST - 2nd November

The person who wants to destroy his family, first he normally wants to know wether they are already dead. Then comes the next step of his suicide.How he died first while his wife make a call to the police. Why she is not in a serious condition.Murderer will recover soon killing two innocents.there are always these kind of cases in japan.They kill first and call the police and say somebody did that.Can the murderer escape from the law of japan making police stupids?
dolphingirl at 07:26 PM JST - 2nd November

A horrible tragedy for sure. The evidence does suggest a murder-suicide but we cannot really make any other assumptions based on the information given. It doesn't say that the family was having financial difficulties or anything about the husband's mental condition. But apparently some serious stressor set this man off. Hopefully, the baby and woman are okay.
eigonosensei at 08:28 PM JST - 2nd November

How do we know the woman didn't kill her husband and try to kill her son? And then cut herself and called the police?
Disillusioned at 10:27 PM JST - 2nd November

This is Japan, it's cultural thing us foreigners don't understand. It is honorable to kill your wife and offspring if you are depressed because of money. Or, if you are drunk, of course. Banzai!
mikihouse at 10:49 PM JST - 2nd November

again only in Japan you won't see any kindness considering how much it taxes its own people. You need to pay the hoken which is compulsary for most (20,000Y per month), need to pay the nenkin (30,000Y per month or else), you need to pay the ward tax which can amount to 100,000Y or else the city ward will come to your home and remove anything of value and sell it to auction. Believe me they will even take your garbage can. If you try to go to the welfare section, they will give you all the list to make you not qaulified or worse sends you to different departments until you literay die. Life for the locals who loses their jobs means death. Unless you are a Yakuza who can terrorize the useless gov't officials in giving you welfare, well committing suicide is the best option on the table mate or watch your family die in hunger slowly or try to live on the streets, beg and die. Life in Japan is not a bed of roses.
usaexpat at 11:46 PM JST - 2nd November

Sad, I wonder what sort of desperation drove him to do this?