TSUYAMA — 1938 · Major Tragedy
The Tsuyama Massacre
A mass killing that took place on the night of 21 May 1938 in a small village belonging to Kamo, near Tsuyama in Okayama Prefecture. After cutting the village's power lines, a 21-year-old villager killed 30 people, including his own grandmother, within roughly an hour and a half, seriously injured three others, and took his own life on a nearby mountain at dawn. In notes he left behind he reportedly wrote that he had been ostracised in the village after a tuberculosis diagnosis and declared unfit for military service. The incident is regarded as the deadliest attack by a lone gunman in Japanese history and later inspired numerous films and literary works.
- Date
- 1938
- Place
- Okayama Prefecture, Japan, Tsuyama, JP
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 35.1800, 133.9900 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 20 May 1938The perpetrator cut the village's power lines.
- 21 May 1938In an attack starting after midnight, 30 people were killed.
- 21 May 1938The perpetrator took his own life on a nearby mountain at dawn.
- 1983The film 'Ushimitsu no Mura', inspired by the incident, was released.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Tsuyama massacre en.wikipedia.org ↗
- Wikipedia (JA) — 津山事件 ja.wikipedia.org ↗
- Unseen Japan — The Tsuyama Massacre unseen-japan.com ↗
- Wikipedia (EN)
- Wikipedia (JA)
- Unseen Japan
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
Related Cases
More cases from the 1930s
Categories
Collections
🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.