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On the Topic of Kira

The Kira Phenomena was a plague that encompassed the nation of Japan between the years 2003 to 2011[1]. A string of lethal and supposedly unreleated heart attacks soon became more frequent, and a mysterious figure, known as Kira, would become an internet urban legend to a god like figure[2]. The plague had sparked high debate around the nature of the deaths of its victims, the Kira figure and the socio-economic-political state of the future for the island nation[3]. The saga was fascinating to scholars and conspiracy theorists alike, everyone had a belief about the decade of terror. Though the event had many theories about it, the only true fact was that the result was one of Japan's longest running crime sprees[4].

An Alleged Beginning

To fully understand this series of events, the timeline will be presented with two visions, a scienefitic and fact based account, and that of a public opinion.

The case began with the sudden and often unexplainable deaths of victims, typically criminals, whose names would be stated via the media, i.e. Radio, TV etc. The first 'victim' believed to have been involved with the case was Otoharada Kurou.[5] On November 28, 2003, Kurou, dubbed by the media as the 'Phantom Killer', was the perpetrator for the Shinjuku massacre[6]. As a disgruntled ex-employee, he killed several co-workers before taking several hostages in a nursery. It was estimated that at 1800 hours his name was broadcasted on a news program. Sometime between 1800 – 1830 hours, he was found dead in the ensuing police raid.[7] The cause of death was heart failure.[8]

This would be the first of a long series of deaths. As the location, the dates, times, weather and atmosphere of the deaths always changed, it was impossible to understand the cause.[9] A special police task force was put in charge of understanding these incidents. They would soon link the deaths to the Channel TV Tokyo News Station, where the reported criminals, as long as they were convicted of a heinous crime (i.e. murder), they would soon die afterwards.[10]

The public opinion, at this point was divided between odd coincidence and divine intervention. Some conspirators believed it was a government cover up, killing new inmates to reduce the already-growing rate of prisoners[11].

The police believed that the murders were in fact caused by an individual or a group. The figure, dubbed as 'Kira' by the police had to be proven to exist. Among the police was American detective L Lawliet, whose name was known to the public, but not his face. In a trap set by the police, now known as the Tsubashu Incident, an actor went on TV stating he was 'L'.[12] Soon, this man died of a heart attack. The police proved that Kira did in fact exist, and were official a step towards finding the supernatural killer.[13]


[1] Yasegawa, Y. (2017). The Beginning of the National Madness. Kira: The Creation of the modern day Ghost Story., vol 0(Issue 0).

[2] Tenzen, N. (2012). Kira the Unforeseen God?. Uzumaki Ito Press.

[3] Jojo, J. (2005). The Killing Ghost: Could Kira kill Japan's future as a world superpower?. Narita Daily.

[4] Yuuta, R. (2014). The Killer who Wasn't there. 1st ed. Gumya, Japan: Reiko Press.

[5] Tokyo City Police Force, (2011). Kira Case Declassified. Vol. 1. Ch. 1. Tokyo City, Japan: Dept. of Public

[6] Phantom Killer leaves Eight Dead, Holds Children Hostage, Death Unknown"Records, pp.27 - 30.

[7] Yuuki, R. (2008). Citizen Zero: The First Victim of the Kira Trade was the Phantom Killer. Crime Yearly Review, (288), pp.20 - 34.

[8] Shinjuku PD Morgue Review, (2003). Shinjuku PD Morgue Review Case: Otoharada Kurou. Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.: Dept of Public Information, pp.5 - 6.

[9] Scalisgard, H., Miyo, H. and Miyafuji, Y. (2016). A Murder in Japan is a Murder of Japan: understanding the socioeconomic, tourist and political impact on Japan from the Kira Murders. 3rd ed. Tokyo, America, China & Australia.: Intl. Press United., pp.136 - 159. This book, one of the first in its kinda to analyse the effect of Kira. As the Kira case rose to stardom, the rate of tourism lowered, but extreme tourism (i.e. ghost hunting) increased by over 1000% per cent. – Editor

[10] Scalisgard, H., Miyo, H. and Miyafuji, Y. (2016). A Murder in Japan is a Murder of Japan: understanding the socioeconomic, tourist and political impact on Japan from the Kira Murders. 3rd ed. Tokyo, America, China & Australia.: Intl. Press United., pp.136 - 159. The interest in news media increased but pressure by the police forced news stations to surpress coverage over local crime. Tokyo Police Dept. (TPD) v Nippon Daily Tv – found that the actions of the police were illegal, but due to the nature of the case, the TPD sought parliament house assistance. Though the notion was suppressed by the Government, the actions led to the Tsubashi Incident. - Editor

[11] Mariah, A. and Sticks, K. (2008). "Patient Zero and other stories of the Dark Side" (Dark Side Series 8). 10th ed. Sapporo, Japan: Dark Ocean Press, - i, 3 - 15.

[12] Nippon Daily TV Memorial to Yuuta Tsubashu, (2004). [TV programme] 7: Nippon Daily TV.

[13] Yamada, I. (2007). Aliens, Monsters, Kira, Men in Black and the illuminati: Explorations until the weak and beautiful.. 1st ed. Yen Press, pp.233 - 400.