Chiyo Aizawa
Encyclopedia
The , or Aizawa patricide case, is a father
–daughter
incest
and patricide
case in Tochigi Prefecture
, Japan
. The trial of the incident is also known as its common case name Aizawa v. Japan. In the incident, a victimized daughter, (born January 31, 1939) who had been sexually abused
by her father for about 15 years, eventually killed her father on October 5, 1968. She was accused and convicted for murder
ing her father, but her sentence was suspended
.
Her controversial trial led to a change of parricide
's penalty in the Criminal Code of Japan
.
, Aizawa was the first of six children. Her father was and her mother was . Takeo Aizawa was an alcoholic
and systematically rape
d his daughter from 1953 onwards. Takeo Aizawa's wife Rika fled to Hokkaidō
soon after, leaving Chiyo behind. She returned several years later, attempting to stop their relationships; but, by then, Takeo was living with his daughter, treating her as if she were his wife. Chiyo Aizawa became pregnant eleven times and had five daughters by her father, two of whom died in infancy. In 1967, she underwent sterilization after her sixth abortion
.
In 1968, Aizawa fell in love with a then-22-year-old man and her father became angry. He confined her and said that he would kill her three children. On October 5, 1968, she strangled
her father in Yaita
, Tochigi Prefecture
. Her neighbors had thought Chiyo was her father's wife until her arrest, but the Japanese police then determined that her three children were sired by her father. Because the family law in Japan
forbids polygamy
and intermarriage between close relatives but does not forbid inbreeding
, a family register
recorded Aizawa's children as her father's illegitimate children.
under article 200 of the Criminal Code of Japan. Justices typically accept mitigating circumstances in such incidents; Japanese laws at the time permitted two reductions in actual sentencing, each reduction half of the appropriate sentence, with life imprisonment reduced to a seven-year sentence when reduction is applicable. Still, the minimum sentence Aizawa would have received was three years and six months in prison, and the laws at the time did not allow suspended sentences for terms longer than three years. Her lawyer insisted that the murder was self-defense and that she had been insane because of the rapes. The Utsunomiya District Court considered article 200 unconstitutional and acquitted Aizawa because the crime originated via self-defense on May 29, 1969. However, the Tokyo High Court
did not concur and sentenced her to three years and six months on May 12, 1970. In a final appeal, the Supreme Court of Japan
accepted the argument that imposing a harsh penalty on Aizawa would violate the principle of human equality before the law
found in the constitution
. The court ruled the article unconstitutional on April 4, 1973. Aizawa was found guilty of regular homicide
and received a sentence of two years and six months in prison, suspended for three years. If the court had not annulled precedents, she could not have received a suspended sentence. She was effectively acquitted, and she worked in Utsunomiya
after her release.
announced that Japanese murderers who had killed their parents would be individually granted amnesty. The article 200 of the penal code was abolished in 1995.
Father
A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
–daughter
Daughter
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.-Etymology:...
incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
and patricide
Patricide
Patricide is the act of killing one's father, or a person who kills his or her father. The word patricide derives from the Latin word pater and the Latin suffix -cida...
case in Tochigi Prefecture
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The trial of the incident is also known as its common case name Aizawa v. Japan. In the incident, a victimized daughter, (born January 31, 1939) who had been sexually abused
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
by her father for about 15 years, eventually killed her father on October 5, 1968. She was accused and convicted for murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ing her father, but her sentence was suspended
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
.
Her controversial trial led to a change of parricide
Parricide
Parricide is defined as:*the act of murdering one's father , mother or other close relative, but usually not children ....
's penalty in the Criminal Code of Japan
Criminal Code of Japan
The Penal Code of Japan was passed in 1907 as Law No. 45. It is one of the Six Codes that form the foundation of Japanese law.- External links :* - Japanese Ministry of Justice...
.
Background and murder
Born in Tochigi PrefectureTochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
, Aizawa was the first of six children. Her father was and her mother was . Takeo Aizawa was an alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and systematically rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d his daughter from 1953 onwards. Takeo Aizawa's wife Rika fled to Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
soon after, leaving Chiyo behind. She returned several years later, attempting to stop their relationships; but, by then, Takeo was living with his daughter, treating her as if she were his wife. Chiyo Aizawa became pregnant eleven times and had five daughters by her father, two of whom died in infancy. In 1967, she underwent sterilization after her sixth abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
.
In 1968, Aizawa fell in love with a then-22-year-old man and her father became angry. He confined her and said that he would kill her three children. On October 5, 1968, she strangled
Strangling
Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and as the auxiliary lethal mechanism in hangings in the event the neck does not break...
her father in Yaita
Yaita, Tochigi
is a city located in Tochigi, Japan.As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 36,259 and the density of 212.46 persons per km². The total area is 170.66 km².The city was founded on November 1, 1958....
, Tochigi Prefecture
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
. Her neighbors had thought Chiyo was her father's wife until her arrest, but the Japanese police then determined that her three children were sired by her father. Because the family law in Japan
Family law in Japan
The main family law of Japan is Part IV of . have such provisions as on and notification to the public office.-Background:The Ie , or "household," was the basic unit of Japanese law until the end of World War II: most civil and criminal matters were considered to involve families rather than...
forbids polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
and intermarriage between close relatives but does not forbid inbreeding
Inbreeding
Inbreeding is the reproduction from the mating of two genetically related parents. Inbreeding results in increased homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is...
, a family register
Family register
A family register is a registry used in many countries to track information of a genealogical or legal interest.Often, official recognition of certain events or status may only be granted when such event or status is registered in the...
recorded Aizawa's children as her father's illegitimate children.
Aizawa v. Japan
The penalty for parricide was the death penalty or life imprisonmentLife imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
under article 200 of the Criminal Code of Japan. Justices typically accept mitigating circumstances in such incidents; Japanese laws at the time permitted two reductions in actual sentencing, each reduction half of the appropriate sentence, with life imprisonment reduced to a seven-year sentence when reduction is applicable. Still, the minimum sentence Aizawa would have received was three years and six months in prison, and the laws at the time did not allow suspended sentences for terms longer than three years. Her lawyer insisted that the murder was self-defense and that she had been insane because of the rapes. The Utsunomiya District Court considered article 200 unconstitutional and acquitted Aizawa because the crime originated via self-defense on May 29, 1969. However, the Tokyo High Court
Tokyo High Court
is a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The Intellectual Property High Court is a special branch of Tokyo High Court....
did not concur and sentenced her to three years and six months on May 12, 1970. In a final appeal, the Supreme Court of Japan
Supreme Court of Japan
The Supreme Court of Japan , located in Chiyoda, Tokyo is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law...
accepted the argument that imposing a harsh penalty on Aizawa would violate the principle of human equality before the law
Equality before the law
Equality before the law or equality under the law or legal egalitarianism is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws....
found in the constitution
Constitution of Japan
The is the fundamental law of Japan. It was enacted on 3 May, 1947 as a new constitution for postwar Japan.-Outline:The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights...
. The court ruled the article unconstitutional on April 4, 1973. Aizawa was found guilty of regular homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
and received a sentence of two years and six months in prison, suspended for three years. If the court had not annulled precedents, she could not have received a suspended sentence. She was effectively acquitted, and she worked in Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya, Tochigi
is the capital and most populous city of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. In October 2010 the city had an estimated population of 510,416 and a population density of 1,224.49 people per square kilometer. The total area is 416.84 km². had a population of 888,005 in the 2000 Census...
after her release.
Effect of her sentence
On April 19, 1973, the Japanese Ministry of JusticeMinistry of Justice (Japan)
The is one of Ministries of the Japanese government.-Meiji Constitution:The Ministry of Justice was established under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan in 1871 as the .-Constitution of Japan:...
announced that Japanese murderers who had killed their parents would be individually granted amnesty. The article 200 of the penal code was abolished in 1995.
Further reading
- Hideo Tanaka and Malcolm D.H. Smith, The Japanese legal system : introductory cases and materials, 1976, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo ISBN 0860081613
- Meryll Dean, Japanese Legal System, 2002, Cavendish Publishing, London ISBN 1843143224
External links
- "Parricide, Equality and Proportionality: Japanese Courts' Attitudes Towards the Equality Principle as Reflected in Aizawa v Japan" at Murdoch UniversityMurdoch UniversityMurdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
- 1970(A)No.1310 at the Supreme Court of JapanSupreme Court of JapanThe Supreme Court of Japan , located in Chiyoda, Tokyo is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law...
矢板・実父殺し事件