The was a

structural fire A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various types of residential, commercial or industrial buildings, such as barn fires. Residential buildings range from single-family detached homes and townhouses to apartmen ...

that began at about 01:00 local time on September 1, 2001 in the Myojo 56 building, located in the Kabukichō section of

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan. The fire, the fifth-deadliest in post-war Japanese history, burned for five hours before being extinguished and resulted in the deaths of 44 people. It is suspected that the fire resulted from arson, but no suspect was ever arrested. In the aftermath of the incident, media coverage (which declined after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

that happened 10 days later) focused on the arrest and conviction of the property owners for criminal negligence and on the building's putative ties to organized crime.

Fire

The fire burned on the third floor of the building. When the fire broke out, 19 people were on the third floor and 28 people were on the fourth floor. Three employees jumped out of the building from the third floor and survived, suffering injuries. Witnesses who saw one of the employees called an ambulance. Emergency responders arriving to treat the jumpers learned of the building fire and evacuation efforts commenced. Firefighters removed the bodies of 44 people (32 men and 12 women) from inside the building, and rescued those who managed to flee to the roof.

Victims

Female

*Sayuri Nakamura, 22 *sisters Aiko and Ayako Ueda, 25 and 28 *Kiyoko Shimizu, 29 *Miyuki Ichikawa, 19 *Misae Tsakamoto, 24 *Megumi Ieta, 18 *Rena Yumimoto, 26 *Suki Makao, 31 *Chieko Watarase, 21 *Rie Fukushima, 35 *Suzuka Isogai, 38

Male

*Taichi Matsuda, 53 *Aoi Yoshioka, 28 *Shion Miyamoto, 41 *Kyo Fujimoto, 37 *Tomomi Sugimoto, 27 *Katsumi Itou *Isamu Nozawa *Daisuke Fujisawa *Rokuro Matsuda *Hanzō Shinoda *Jiro Kusumoto *Nao Himura *Ryōsuke Nakajima *Yū Ishikawa *Yuki Ishikawa *Hanzō Satō *Shigeru Urano *Ichirou Yuuki *Hajime Miyajima *Hifumi Miyagawa *Kyo Matsumoto *Tadashi Miyashita *Rokurou Hoshino *Kazuhiko Kumamoto *Hanzou Kawaguchi *Nobuharu Kiyoko *Toshikazu Matsubara *Several unnamed victims

Aftermath

Police officials remarked that the lethality of the fire was exacerbated by numerous violations of the

fire code Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...

, including blocked fire doors and stairwells. The main cause of death among the fire's victims was found to be

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

. An investigation conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department concluded that if the building's automated fire doors had not been prevented from closing, deadly gases would not have reached the building's occupied rooms for at least 20 minutes. One injured man, seen near the burning building, later disappeared. The building was demolished in May 2006, and replaced with a one-story restaurant.

Criminal allegations

Six individuals were arrested in conjunction with the blaze, on charges of professional negligence resulting in death. Those charged included two executives of the Myojo Kosan Group, which owned the building, and the commercial tenants of the structure, which housed a video mahjong parlor and a

hostess bar A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan. They employ primarily female staff and cater to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. The modern host club is a similar type of establishment where primarily male staff atte ...

. On July 2, 2008, five of the defendants were convicted of negligence in the Tokyo District Court. The sixth defendant was acquitted. By July 3, 2008, Tokyo police had concluded that the fire resulted from arson, but had not made any corresponding arrest. '' Japan Today'', an English-language online news outlet, quoted Tokyo police as stating that the mahjong parlor located in the building was "an illegal gambling den" with daily revenues of about eight million yen. ''Japan Today'' report speculates that the

Chinese mafia A triad ( zh , t=三合會 , s=三合会 , cy=sāam hahp wúi , j=saam1 hap6 wui6‑2 , hp=sān hé huì , first=t,j ) is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China and has outposts in various countries with signific ...

and yakuza could have been linked to the incident, as illegal gambling operations are regularly forced to pay "protection money" to organized crime syndicates. However, there is no material or eyewitness evidence of organized crime involvement in the fire.

References

External links

Deadly Explosion, Fire In Tokyo
'' CBS'', September 1, 2001
Fire, Explosion Kills 44 in Tokyo Nightclub
''

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

'', September 1, 2001
At least 44 die in Tokyo explosion
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', September 1, 2001
Police arrest six over deadly Kabukicho fire
''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'', February 19, 2003
Victims' families sue over Kabukicho fire deaths in 2001
''

'', February 23, 2003
Kabukicho fire deathtrap to be razed
''

Weekly'', May 13, 2006
Kabukicho fire
''Disaster Prevention System Institute'' {{Club fires 2001 in Tokyo 2001 murders in Japan 2001 fires in Asia 2001 disasters in Japan Arson in Japan Building and structure fires in Japan Buildings and structures in Shinjuku Crime in Tokyo Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning Disasters in Tokyo Mass murder in 2001 Massacres in 2001 Massacres in Japan September 2001 crimes Unsolved crimes in Japan Unsolved mass murders Commercial building fires Shinjuku