EP01 - The Wakayama Poisoning Incident

Summary: In the first episode of the True Crime Japan Podcast we cover the case of Masumi Hayashi and the Wakayama Poisoning Incident. On July 25, 1998 the residents of the Sonobe district of Wakayama Japan were celebrating their annual summer festival, but that year’s event would be tragically different. Locals quickly began exhibiting signs of acute poisoning. Ultimately, four people would be killed and 63 others would suffer from severe arsenic poisoning, traced back to a communal pot of curry (yes, Japanese curry) prepared in shifts by local volunteers. The crime would shock this sleepy village and the broader nation of Japan, and be seen as a betrayal of trust and community values that no one expected. Still the public was left even more confused when police named their suspect as Masumi Hayashi. How could this unassuming housewife and mother of four be responsible for one of the most heinous crimes in Japanese history? In this episode we dive deep into the case, and things are not what they initially seem. Sources: http://www.joc.com/homemaker-suspect-japans-insurance-murders_19981215.html http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/11/22/poison-4 http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/08/26/food/curry-its-more-japanese-than-you-think/ http://japanesecurry.weebly.com/history--origin.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masumi_Hayashi_%28poisoner%29 http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/11/16/news/courts-ignore-reasonable-doubt-lawyers/#.Vw6183DXerW http://www.joc.com/homemaker-suspect-japans-insurance-murders_19981215.html http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/11/22/poison-4 http://web-japan.org/trends98/honbun/ntj981102.html http://murderpedia.org/female.H/h/hayashi-masumi.htm https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=Jl2EuFEou6cC&pg=PA457&lpg=PA457&dq=wakayama+poisoned+curry+incident+women+criminal&source=bl&ots=ueI9onI6NP&sig=KzP3ztJ-MDsrSrX4FDHlMDu-SAo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiq9PXXj4rMAhWEX5QKHUXhCrkQ6AEIPTAG#v=onepage&q=wakayama%20poisoned%20curry%20incident%20women%20criminal&f=false https://web.archive.org/web/20090422161951/http://mdn.mainichi.jp:80/mdnnews/national/news/20090421p2a00m0na009000c.html http://www.japantimes.co.jp/2004/06/19/announcements/hayashi-breaks-silence-over-wakayama-curry-poisoning/#.VxCY8hgdzq0