Woman arrested for killing father and keeping body in storeroom for a year

Dang!! Not to be gross or trivialise this, but either that storeroom must have been seriously airtight or the smell in the residence would have been horrendous.

Apart from that, it is just amazing that someone can do this and keep it a secret for a year. And even when it became known, it was because of the suspect's own confessions.

I am not sure exactly what this says about the current nature of society and life in Tokyo, but it is just very depressing.

It seems there are many skeletons in the closet in Japan, literally!

The really strange thing is how people over time get desensitized over these crimes

Police said she continued to tell her son, who is in his 20s, that her father was in the hospital, but said she could not hold onto the lie any longer and turned herself in

A great reflection on our norms that her son didn't think to visit Granddad in hospital, but will religiously do the ohakamairi every Obon, as it's the done thing.

Possibly weighing heavily on Iwata's mind was the prospect of losing her home to the parasite state's tax regime after many years of sacrifice caring for her father.

Police said she continued to tell her son, who is in his 20s, that her father was in the hospital,

He's not very bright. I am sure that there is more to this story and I hope so, but if he didn't realize that his grandpa wasn't around for a year, and probably never thought about going to visit him tells me that he probably didn't care or was in on it himself. Both he and the mother were living off grandpa's pension.

A great reflection on our norms that her son didn't think to visit Granddad in hospital,

You should not assume that. He may well have, but been dissuaded by the mother. Who knows what lies she might have told him?

Further to that, just because he got killed, don't assume he was some saint. The relationship between them might have been extremely bad and not remotely the fault of the young man. The old man could have been quite the curmudgeon for all we know.

Sounds like a plot in a movie

You should not assume that. He may well have, but been dissuaded by the mother. Who knows what lies she might have told him?

@ Peace Out: I understand completely what you are saying, but still the kid is either not too bright or in on it himself. If he can't deduce that something is wrong, let alone the smell from a decomposing body or probably the fact that his mother probably kept him out of the room the body was in, maybe I see why related to another post here on JT that some believe that letting 18 yr olds vote could result in them becoming under the influence of their teachers. This kid has no sense, or as SneseNotSoCommon stated that society in Japan has deteriorated to the point where the youth just don't care about their previous generations anymore. As long as they get spending money for online games and a place to hang out they are fine.

I bet that there is more to this story, and it would make a great movie. Sort of a modern adaptation to Poe's "Tell Tale Heart" story.

Another site says she used buckwheat as a deodorant (says google translate).

そばには消臭剤が置かれていました。

lol to turbotstat.

Peace Out: Sorry, but I can't back you up on this one. The kid may have asked about granddad, by the sounds of it, but anyone truly concerned would have gone to visit the hospital, dissuaded or otherwise. Unless, as AlphaApe suggest, the kid is dumb as a post or is in on it. Still not believable that the woman would murder because of an argument, then put the body in a storage area, then lie about it for a year (and no doubt collect welfare benefits!), then say, "I couldn't live with the lie anymore". Oh, she could still live with the murder -- just not the lie. Quite the morals some people have. Truly telling of society in this day and age.

And yes, I would like to know if she was collecting pension or not.

I am assuming that the "family member" mentioned in the story was in fact the son and that it took him a year to get his mother to confess... :-(

You can't run away. A guilty conscience forever remains. We are born with a natural capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. She did the right thing by turning herself in.

And I bet she kept spending his pension

I offered two options, not one. Don't like one, check out the other.

But also, truth is stranger than fiction. We might not be able to imagine all the ins and outs of this reality, especially considering the lack of detail we have here. Plus, I don't have much experience with hiding dead bodies. Do you folks? Plus plus, I have not seen this storage room or its proximity to the house, so I can't say how good it is for hiding the smell of corpses. Nor do I know how the body was stored (such as well sealed plastic bags). Plus, plus, plus, if you were suspicious that your mother was lying to you about your grandfather's whereabouts, what would you do? Assume she killed him and call the cops? Excuse me if I doubt that. I would sooner believe you would assume he took off or disappeared on his own, cause they had a fight she does not want to fess up to, or something like that. Or perhaps his actual whereabouts are "embarrassing" to the family. And as for turning your own mother in and bearing the full consequences of that action in your teen years (assuming you had the smarts to think that far ahead) excuse me if I doubt you again.

the time i read this,the thought on my mind was,"so since the woman will be going to jail,the father's insurance money and inheritance upon his death will be granted on the woman's child".

There's gotta be more to this sick story. This sounds like she killed him but kept on taking his pension money and they got suspicious and started sending letters etc and her son must of wanted to see his grandfather and she couldn't take it anymore and confessed to the murder . This happened not so long ago where a family member died and their pension money was still being drawn by the Other family members.