3 children, mother found dead in Tokyo home, father to be questioned

by KYODO NEWS
May 22, 2024

Three children and their mother were found dead Thursday at their home in Tokyo after first-responders attended a fire, with police expected to question the father who was discovered in the burnt building.

The four -- Fuyumi Takanami, 37, and the children aged between 2 to 6 -- had been stabbed or slashed. Their home was locked indicating there had been no forced entry.

Takanami and her three children lived in the two-story home in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward with the man, who is his 40s, even though she had divorced him earlier this month.

Firefighters and others gather at the scene of a fire in Tokyo on May 23, 2024. (Kyodo)

The father was taken to a hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. The police are waiting for him to recover so they can question him.

Takanami's mother made an emergency call, after she went to her daughter's house having learned that the children were not at nursery school.

The five were found collapsed on a futon mattress in a room on the first floor.

The fire had burnt 3 square meters of the first floor. When firefighters arrived, the fire had already gone out.