Tokyo Police Raid Luxury Sauna Operator over Customer Deaths

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police searched locations linked to a luxury sauna facility operator on Thursday on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in the deaths of two customers earlier this month. At around 3:10 p.m., the Metropolitan Police Department began a search at a building housing a company related to Sauna & Co., the operator of the SaunaTiger facility. Two hours later, investigators carried three cardboard boxes containing seized items from the building. The police also searched the home of the facility’s manager. On Dec. 15, a fire occurred in a private room at the sauna facility, and the victims–Masanari Matsuda, a 36-year-old hair salon owner, and his 37-year-old wife, Yoko, a nail technician–were found lying inside the sauna unit in the private room. It appeared that they were unable to open the sauna unit’s door, given that the L-shaped wooden doorknobs were detached and found on the floor. According to investigative sources, the doorknobs were replaced this year due to cracks and looseness. Doorknobs of other sauna units in the facility were also found loose after the incident. Meanwhile, the emergency button in the sauna unit showed signs of having been pressed forcefully. The emergency receiver device was installed in the facility’s office but was inactivated. The facility operator’s president, who owns the facility, reportedly told the police that he had never touched or turned on the receiver device since taking over the facility around two years ago. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]