News from October 22nd, 2020
This bit of news was too unusual to pass up, so I thought I would document it here.
Nara police announced that on the 22nd, they arrested an unemployed man, Yoshikazu Kasahara (39), in Oujichou, Nara on suspicion of fraud after lying that he was vocalist Kyo of popular rock band “DIR EN GREY” and defrauding the father of his common-law wife of 54 million yen.
Translated from: https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/19099550/
This was reported by various outlets with a variety of details, so I will write a quick summary here.
Kasahara had identical neck and arm tattoos as Kyo, and deceived both the woman who he lived with and her father into believing he was the real thing.
Apparently, when the real Kyo would appear on television, he would explain that he had employed a body double to make the appearance due to his poor health. He would also make efforts to leave home on the day that the band had shows in order to further perpetuate the lie.
Now why would a popular musician need money? He purportedly claimed that the owner of his label took away his bank book, leaving him without any money. (For anyone familiar with Dynamite Tommy’s reputation, this is not actually that implausible.)
According to police, Kasahara had already been arrested three times under suspicion of defrauding the parents of a previous romantic partner to the tune of $24,000 USD, and for assault against another man.
The icing on the cake is Kasahara’s admission:
I’m not a member of a rock band, and the owner [who stole the bank book] doesn’t exist either. In a way, I had been obtaining money under false pretenses despite having no ability to repay. But I was surprised by the large amount of money.
Translated from: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/bc520177d5f73f49b6e952baadf13641353d1ef1
I’m sure you’re not the only one, bud.
10/23 addition:
Another article came out and I am truly gooped.
According to Asahi, Kasahara told his own mother that he was Kyo of Dir en grey approximately 10 years ago, and would “invite” her to “his” shows by sending her concert tickets.
The article continues to say that the suspected was embarrassed to tell his mother that he was unemployed, so he lied about being a member of the band. This was when he began to get tattoos to resemble Kyo’s. Furthermore, he was a fan of the band’s work since he was in high school (approximately 20 years).
A picture of the master of disguise being arrested was also shared by news outlets.
Via https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/b067606cffaa341c2af686f1525a223f9f7b3513
List of sources and original articles:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/nara/20201022/2050005516.html
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/bc520177d5f73f49b6e952baadf13641353d1ef1
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/4e8b337cfc386165515e92c8a52d438cf071f329
https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/19099550/
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20201022-OYT1T50253/