A Deadly Diagnosis
Toi was diagnosed with tuberculosis, the same disease that killed his parents, in May 1937. At that time, it was regarded as a deadly condition and as a result, the women of the village began rejecting his sexual advances. Although he did have sex with some women, Toi believed they hated him because of his hypersexuality. Toi was clearly enraged at the fact he was unable to take part in Yobai, and he began feeling lonely, isolated and ostracized.
Toi believed that the disease was likely to claim his life, in desperation, he started plotting his revenge against the people of the village who he believed had wronged him. In his suicide notes, he wrote about how tuberculosis turned him into a social pariah. With a death sentence hanging over his head and a lack of companionship, Toi probably felt as if he had nothing to lose. It is likely he contemplated the gruesome rampage sometime before it happened and may have begun collecting weapons weeks or even months before the massacre.
In the notes, Toi complained that his neighbors started treating him poorly after they found out about his diagnosis. He decided to kill as many people as possible. But he wanted to wait until the women of the village returned to their homes. According to his writings, Toi regretted the fact that he couldn’t shoot everyone because it would involve killing people he regarded as innocent. Finally, he wrote that his grandmother had to die in the massacre because he didn’t want her to live with the shame of what he did.
False Alarm
One of the most tragic aspects of the Tsuyama Massacre was that it could have been prevented. Toi’s deteriorating mental and physical health was well-known around the village, and there seemed little question that he was a man on the edge. None of the villagers could have predicted him committing such an evil act, nonetheless, the police had the chance to arrest Toi and failed to do so.
In reality, Toi wanted to commit the massacre several days before he finally got his wish. He made no secret of his hatred for certain people in Kamo and openly spoke about his plan to several neighbors. They were concerned enough to contact the police who came to Toi’s house and confiscated a gun he had in his collection. Now that he realized there was no one he could trust, Toi kept his mouth shut and purchased a Browning shotgun.
Oddly enough, no one knew where Toi managed to acquire the second gun, but he determined to use it in one of the worst individual killing sprees Japan has ever seen. Perhaps he already had the gun and managed to hide it from the authorities. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but many believe the police should have locked Toi up for breaking the law – in turn, saving countless lives.