Noriko Inagaki

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department National Police (AGENCY)

Offense Location:

Hachioji, Tokyo

Summary:

Noriko Inagaki, age 47, was shot and killed on July 30, 1995, during an armed robbery at the Nampei Owada supermarket in Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. She was murdered along with two teenage coworkers. The case remains unsolved after 30 years, with a 6 million yen reward offered by the National Police Agency.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On July 30, 1995, at approximately 9:15 p.m., Noriko Inagaki and two teenage coworkers—Megumi Yabuki, 17, and Hiromi Maeda, 16—were working at the Nampei Owada supermarket in Hachioji. The supermarket was hosting a special four-day summer sale and the Obon Festival was approaching. An unknown individual entered the supermarket after closing time and forced all three women into the second-floor office. The victims were bound with duct tape. The killer shot Yabuki and Maeda once each in the head, and shot Inagaki twice in the head. Inagaki was also stabbed. A safe containing approximately 4 million yen was found in the office with signs of attempted forced entry, but no money was taken. The office could only be accessed via an outdoor staircase separate from the main supermarket. Witnesses reported hearing approximately five gunshots at around 9:17 p.m.

Additional Details:

Inagaki had started working at the supermarket on July 1, 1995, and was quickly promoted to night manager. She held the key to and knowledge of the safe combination, which the teenage employees did not have. Prior to working at the supermarket, she had worked as a hostess at a Japanese hostess club and later owned a restaurant. Approximately one year before the incident, she closed her restaurant and enrolled in school to become a licensed caregiver, combining night work with her studies. According to Japanese Wikipedia, she had connections with men potentially associated with organized crime (yakuza). Investigation revealed fingerprints on the duct tape used to bind the victims. In 2015, police made an 8-point partial fingerprint match with a Japanese male who died of natural causes in 2005, but this man had an alibi at the time of the crime. A 12-point match is typically required for forensic evidence. Ballistic analysis showed the murder weapon was a Philippine-made Squires Bingham pistol, allegedly used by gang members. DNA from two cigarettes found in the parking lot and a cigarette with lipstick found in the manager's office did not match any known individuals in police databases. In 2009, a Japanese man on death row in China claimed a Chinese gang member named Liang He, living in Canada, was involved in the murders as part of a series of robberies by a Japanese-Chinese criminal gang. The National Police Agency pursued extradition of Liang He in 2010. Liang He was extradited to Japan in 2013 on passport fraud charges but was not prosecuted for the murders; his legal agreement prevented Japanese officials from interviewing him about the crime. He has denied involvement and refused to discuss the murders. In 2020, police confiscated a pistol from a Yakuza gang member arrested in 2009 for an unrelated offense. Ballistic evidence suggested it was likely the weapon used in the 1995 murders, but the gang member denied involvement when questioned. The supermarket eventually closed in 1998 and the building was demolished and converted into a parking lot. The case remains unsolved with no arrests made. In 2010, Japan abolished the statute of limitations for murder, applied retroactively to this case, allowing indefinite investigation and prosecution.

Case Last Updated:

Sep 02, 2026