Why Did Hokkaido Police Party with a Murder Suspect?

Kamui Great Bridge in Asahikawa, Hokkaido
A teenage girl in Hokkaido is dead because she took someone's picture. And now it's emerging that local cops knew the suspect a little too well.

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There have been several murder cases recently out of Japan’s island of Hokkaido that have rattled the public. One was the still-unfolding story of Tamura Runa in Sapporo, who murdered her lover and made her parents help. The other is the murder of 17-year-old high school student Murayama Runa at the hands of 21-year-old Uchida Riko in Asahikawa.

Like the Tamura case, Uchida’s is still pending trial. However, a shocking story this week revealed that some police officers in Asahikawa knew Uchida well before her arrest. Some outlets in Japan say this twist reflects years-long issues with a police organization hellbent on covering up its officers’ transgressions.

Note: This story deals with graphic subject matter, including abuse and murder.

Murayama Runa goes missing

The distance between Rumoi (left) and Asahikawa on Hokkaido.

Murayama Runa (村山月) was born in the town of Habocho. Her father was a well-known fisherman in the area, which is renowned for its bounty.

However, after her parents split, Runa moved with her mom to Rumoi to be closer to family. After attending school there for a year, Runa elected instead to attend high school through a correspondence program.

On April 22nd, Runa failed to return home. Her anxious and worried parents called police, leading to a month-long search.

In the second half of May, that search ended in tragedy, as someone found Murayama’s body downstream in the Ishikari River.

But Asahikawa is some 80 kilometers away from Rumoi on Hokkaido’s West coast. How did she end up there?

A social media post leads to murder

Uchida Riko from her SNS accounts
A picture of Uchida Riko from her TikTok account.

In the days that followed, police pieced together the tragic story. Murayama apparently snapped a picture of a group including Uchida Riko (内田梨瑚) and her gang – 19-year-old A, 16-year-old male B, and 16-year-old female C. (Since the suspects are under 20 years of age and will likely be tried as juveniles, the press is withholding their names.)

No record of the post appears to exist. (Murayama appears to have deleted the account.) However, some reports say it was nothing more scandalous than a picture of Uchida eating ramen.

C noticed the post on social media and alerted Uchida, who berated Murayama through the app and ordered her to pay her 100,000 yen (USD $655) in “damages” for the “unauthorized” post.

The two had never even met face to face until April 18th, when Uchida demanded Murayama meet her at Rumoi Station. The group drove Murayama to Asahikawa. Once there, Uchida reportedly not only beat Murayama, but stripped her clothes and forced her to do a deep dogeza (土下座) bow – an event Uchida reportedly captured on her smartphone.

After this, Uchida and A forced Murayama – naked – onto the Kamui Bridge, where they allegedly pushed her to her death. The group then sent messages to make it seem like Uchida had left the scene earlier, in a weak attempt to give her an alibi for the teen’s murder.

How Hokkaido police ended up partying with Uchida – and a minor child

Uchida Riko with officers from the Asahikawa Police 2nd Division.
Uchida Riko with officers from the Asahikawa Police 2nd Division. (Photo supplied by Kishimoto Kazuyuki to Gendai Media)

The murder of Murayama Runa is tragic and rage-inducing enough. However, this week, Gendai Media broke a story that puts a whole new twist on the case.

Gendai’s source is Kishimoto Kazuyuki (岸本和幸), the head of a group that helps youth in Hokkaido avoid becoming entangled with criminal organizations. Through a detective agency he also helps operate, Kishimoto discovered that three officers from the Asahikawa Police 2nd Division had partied with Uchida at a karaoke snack bar in January. What’s more, this apparently wasn’t a one-time thing but a somewhat regular event.

How did the cops know Uchida? A former Hokkaido officer who spoke to Gendai suspects Uchida may have acted as a police informant up until she committed murder. But on top of that, a separate report from Shukan Bunshun alleges that Uchida was having an affair with one of the officers, assistant inspector X.

They had to know

The 2nd Division of Japanese police departments typically handles financial crimes. The murder of Murayama is being investigated by the 1st Division, which handles homicides. So at least there’s no direct link between this incident in January and the current investigation into Uchida’s murder charges.

Still, it raises questions. Locals in Asahikawa apparently knew Uchida as a small-time gang leader and a potentially dangerous individual. Why were cops so chummy with someone with her reputation? And why was one of them romantically involved with a known thug?

It gets worse, though. One of Uchida’s friends in attendance at one of these parties was a minor. More than that, she was a witness in another case that inspector X was running. In other words, he knew she was a minor. Despite this, he didn’t say anything as the girl drank with him, Uchida, and his colleagues.

Kishimoto says that Asahikawa police launched an investigation into X’s behavior. In response, his colleagues reportedly tried to get witnesses to cover up that they had been out boozing with an underage girl.

Marijuana parties and cover-ups

Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, in winter.
Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan skyline in the winter. (Picture: Sean Pavone / PIXTA(ピクスタ))

Some media sources in Japan are greeting this news with a total and utter lack of surprise. That’s because scandals involving Hokkaido police seem to be a dime a dozen. One of the most famous, the Inaba Incident, swirled around officer Inaba Yoshiaki, who took up drug running to help pay off informants. The incident took down multiple officers who tried to cover for him.

(Incidentally, Inaba is the former officer who thinks Uchida may have been working with police. However, he says that in his day, he never would have thought of drinking or partying with informants. Inaba may be a drug runner, but he’s a drug runner with standards, dammit.)

Recently, in April, prosecutors filed charges against two current officers who are suspected of taking part in a “marijuana party.” However, prosecutors have so far refused to release the names of the accused cops.

It’s unclear what impact the Asahikawa police’s actions will have on Uchida Riko’s case. Surely, her lawyers will use her intimate relationship with the police in an attempt to sew chaos in court. It’s a massive misstep by a group of men who, in the end, ought to have known better.

One thing’s for sure: if their actions result in Murayama Runa’s killer skating without consequences, there should be hell to pay.

What to read next

Sources

《旭川女子高生殺害》不同意わいせつ、監禁、恐喝、殺人…内田梨瑚容疑者(21)と17歳被害者を繋いだ“地獄のSNSトラブル”「卒アル入手、恐怖の素顔」「#出所祝い」. Bunshun Online

警官が「大麻パーティ」で書類送検の過去も…北海道警に「隠蔽体質」か. Livedoor News

【旭川女子高生殺人事件】内田梨瑚被告と旭川警察の「まさかの密接交際」に新たな疑惑…!「不倫警部補」の同僚が「飲み会の事実」を「口止め工作」か. Shukan Gendai

【旭川・女子高生殺害事件】SNSに投稿された“盛れていない写真”でトラブルか 容疑者のスマホには被害者を映した痛々しい動画. News Post Seven

村山月さんが載せたSNS写真はどんなもの?内田梨瑚のやばい姿が映っていた!?Baribabo Shuki

稲葉事件. Wikipedia JP

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