EXTREMISTS from Japan

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Japanese Extremists of all time. This list of famous Japanese Extremists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Issei Sagawa (1949 - 2022)

With an HPI of 61.47, Issei Sagawa is the most famous Japanese Extremist.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages on wikipedia.

Issei Sagawa (佐川 一政, Sagawa Issei, 26 April 1949 – 24 November 2022) also known as Pang or the Kobe Cannibal, was a Japanese lust murderer, cannibal, and necrophiliac known for the killing of Renée Hartevelt in Paris in 1981. Sagawa murdered Hartevelt and then mutilated, cannibalized, and performed necrophilia on her corpse over several days. In France, Sagawa was judged to be legally insane and ordered to be held indefinitely in a mental institution. After a few years, he was deported to Japan, where psychologists from Matsuzawa Hospital examined him and unanimously concluded that he was sane. He therefore had to be released from the hospital in 1986. Since the criminal case in France had been closed and the court records were not made available to the Japanese authorities, Sagawa was not again put on trial and spent the rest of his life in freedom. While this was widely criticized as an example of obstruction of justice, he became a minor celebrity in Japan and made a living through the public's interest in his crime.

2. Sada Abe (b. 1905)

With an HPI of 58.86, Sada Abe is the 2nd most famous Japanese Extremist.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Sada Abe (阿部 定, Abe Sada, May 28, 1905 – after 1971) was a Japanese geisha and prostitute who murdered her lover, Kichizō Ishida (石田 吉蔵), via strangulation on May 18, 1936, before cutting off his penis and testicles and carrying them around with her in her kimono. The story became a national sensation in Japan, acquiring mythic overtones, and has been interpreted by artists, philosophers, novelists and filmmakers. Abe was released after serving five years in prison and went on to write an autobiography.

3. Kōzō Okamoto (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 56.25, Kōzō Okamoto is the 3rd most famous Japanese Extremist.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Kōzō Okamoto (岡本 公三, Okamoto Kōzō, born December 7, 1947) is a Japanese communist and member of the Japanese Red Army (JRA), responsible for the massacre of 26 passengers at Ben-Gurion International Airport in Israel.

4. Tsutomu Miyazaki (1962 - 2008)

With an HPI of 54.41, Tsutomu Miyazaki is the 4th most famous Japanese Extremist.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Tsutomu Miyazaki (宮﨑 勤, Miyazaki Tsutomu, 21 August 1962 – 17 June 2008) was a Japanese serial killer who murdered four young girls in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture between August 1988 and June 1989. He abducted and killed the girls, aged from 4 to 7, in his car before dismembering them and molesting their corpses. He also engaged in cannibalism, preserved body parts as trophies, and taunted the families of his victims. Miyazaki was arrested in Hachiōji in July 1989 after being confronted while taking nude photographs of a young girl. He was diagnosed as having one or more personality disorders, but was determined by authorities to be sane and aware of his crimes and their consequences. Miyazaki was sentenced to death in 1997 and was executed by hanging in 2008. Miyazaki was dubbed the "Otaku Murderer" due to his extensive collection of anime, manga, horror videotapes and hentai as well as various other forms of pornography. This triggered a widespread moral panic against otaku in Japan, similar to the Satanic Panic in America.