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PUBLISHER
Editions Xavier Barral

BOOK FORMAT
Clth, 8.25 x 11.5 in. / 200 pgs / 70 duotone.

PUBLISHING STATUS
Pub Date 6/30/2012
Out of stock indefinitely

DISTRIBUTION
D.A.P. Exclusive
Catalog: FALL 2012 p. 91

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN 9782915173826 TRADE
List Price: $85.00 CAD $112.50

AVAILABILITY
Not available

TERRITORY
NA LA ASIA AU/NZ AFR ME

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Watabe Yukichi: A Criminal Investigation

Text by Titus Boeder.

On 13 January 1958, the grotesquely disfigured body of a man was discovered near Lake Sembako in Japan. Two investigators from Tokyo came to help the local police in resolving what at first appeared to be a banal case, but which soon proved to be something more complicated. For the first time, a photographer was authorized to accompany the police to document the investigation. Press photographer Watabe Yukichi (1924–1993) followed the inspectors as they questioned witnesses (workers in a tannery factory, local police officers) and pounded the streets of the most insalubrious neighborhoods in Tokyo--its bars, bridges, alleyways and hospitals--in search of the killer. Like the haunted film stills of a newly discovered noir classic, Watabe’s images record much more than simply a police investigation, and reveal a Tokyo of the 1950s in a way that has rarely been depicted.

Featured image is reproduced from Watabe Yukichi: A Criminal Investigation.

STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely.

FROM THE BOOK

"In July 1958 a special nationwide police campaign was launched, the first of its kind, during which data of 21 unsolved murder cases were compared by all law-enforcement agencies. This investigation led to the identification of a hitherto unidentified corpse, which had been found in Kurashiki (Okayama Prefecture) in February 1956. The body was that of Miura Shofu. Curiously enough, Miura was still registered as being alive and it was at this point that the police understood that they were dealing with a case of identity-theft. Miura turned out to be Onishi Katsumi, who was arrested on July 16th 1958 and confessed his crimes. He had in fact committed four murders: on June 1st 1955 he had poisoned his adoptive parents, Onishi Fukumatsu and his wife Kuma at their home in Shimonoseki (Yamaguchi Prefecture) using cyanide. He then fled to Hokkaido where he worked on a foodstall under a false name before making his way to Tokyo. Here he befriended Miura Shofu, persuaded him to sell him his identity card for 40,000 Yen and murdered him in order to adopt Miura’s identity. He married, and got a job in a cardboard-box factory. The subsequent murder of Sato Tadashi was an attempt to adopt yet another identity. Onishi Katsumi was found guilty of his crimes on December 23rd 1959. On March 30th 1961 the death sentence was confirmed and Onishi was executed in 1965."

Excerpt is the Epilogue for Watabe Yukichi: A Criminal Investigation.

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