Photo/Illutration Ryutaro Takarajima, right, and Seiha Sekine on Sept. 18, 2023, in Tokyo’s Taito Ward (Provided by an acquaintance)

The suspected mastermind behind an operation that resulted in the burned bodies of a businessman and his wife had expressed dissatisfaction at being an “errand boy” for the couple, sources said.

Seiha Sekine, 32, who was arrested on May 6 on suspicion of destruction of corpses, was a manager at three or four restaurants operated by the slain couple, Ryutaro Takarajima, 55, and his wife, Sachiko, 56.

The Takarajimas ran about a dozen restaurants in Tokyo’s Ueno district.

Sekine started working as a part-timer at one of the eateries and later became a common-law partner with the couple’s eldest daughter.

A man who had business connections with the couple said he often saw Sekine politely teaching restaurant employees how to serve customers.

Sekine was well-liked by the employees, who called him by his first name, while the couple referred to Sekine as “manager” and relied on him, the man said.

However, when the man met Sekine in Ueno on April 6, Sekine confided, “I will quit after the (Golden Week) holidays.”

When asked why, Sekine replied emphatically: “I proposed to open a new ‘okonomiyaki’ restaurant, and I was actually able to do it. But Takarajima and others won’t let me run the restaurant. They are using me as an errand boy.”

Immediately after the conversation, Sachiko walked by.

Sekine told the man, “Please don’t tell anyone about what I just said,” and walked away.

The business associate said he felt that Sekine had become disgruntled with the Takarajimas.

But he saw Sekine working at the restaurants the following week as usual and thought he must have gotten over his dissatisfaction.

The bodies of the Takarajimas were found on a riverbed in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, on April 16.

After learning about the incident, the man sent a message to Sekine on April 18, asking, “Are you OK?”

Five days later, on the evening of April 23, Sekine replied: “I’m OK. I’ll move forward little by little.”

On May 5, Sekine contacted the man apparently about a business transaction, asking, “Shall I wire the payment?”

The man replied: “It can be done after the holidays. I want to see you.”

Sekine replied, “Let’s meet at once.”

But Sekine was arrested on May 6.

The man lowered his eyes and said about Sekine’s arrest, “I think he was dissatisfied but … .”

Another man in his 30s who was an acquaintance of the Takarajimas said that he, the couple and Sekine visited a restaurant together in Ueno around March.

Sekine looked at the menu and suggested to the Takarajimas, “Let’s serve this at our place, too,” according to the acquaintance.

He said he had never seen an employee expressing his or her opinion to the couple before, so he was surprised.

The couple replied, “Sounds good,” the man said.

He said that he believed that the Takarajimas were thinking of Sekine as their successor.

“The Takarajimas trusted him,” the man said. “I cannot understand the situation yet.”

Six people have been arrested in connection with the couple’s bodies. The Takarajimas are believed to have been attacked in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward before their bodies were taken to Tochigi Prefecture, investigative sources said.

(This article was written by Shomei Nagatsuma and Shun Yoshimura.)

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