The Itoman Group Murder Case was a lynch murder case that occurred on February 10, 1967 in Itoman in Okinawa.
At midnight on February 10, 1967, a group ambushed the victim (age 40) who had returned from a New Year’s parade the previous day, took him to the village, and killed him by repeatedly hitting him with a not further identified “wood.” The victim was beaten so that his face was disfigured, and his skull was shattered into pieces.
Motive
The victim was a former convict who had been incarcerated for about four years in 1961 for manslaughter. After his release from prison, he tried to become a better human, and in 1966, he even published a book called “Distant Skies” (Harukanaru Sora) with Monthly Okinawa Publishing (Gekkan Okinawa-sha). He was usually quiet, but prone to drinking and often became violent when drunk, so he was hated by the village as a “nuisance.”
Therefore, the young men’s association (seinenkai) of the village dicided to kill the victim.
Afterwards, thirteen people, including the village’s young men’s association’s president, were arrested, but they are said to have yelled, “I have no regrets,” and “I am happy that such a person is gone!” Local residents also launched a campaign to have their prison sentences reduced.
Ie Chōshō, an associate professor at the University of the Ryukyus, described this incident as “a manifestation of backwardness,” and strongly criticized the closedness of the shima society.
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