The man -- identified as Yasutaka Fujishiro, 47 -- told police he was related to the victims and that he'd stabbed the four men and three women in two separate houses, and set fire to a third nearby home owned by the same family in the pre-dawn rampage, police said.

Media said the victims were Toshiko Fujishiro, 80; her sons, Katsunori, 55, and Yoshihisa, 46; Toshihiko Fujishiro, 64, and his wife, Sumiko, 64; their 27-year-old son, Shinichi, and 26-year-old daughter, Midori.

Most of the victims were believed to have been sleeping at the time of the attack, just after 3 a.m., reports said.

Police said the motive for the slayings was not immediately known, but public broadcaster NHK later said the suspect told authorities he was driven by many years of "hatred."

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 7, 2004
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