House Proud
EP 1
narrator
A pleasant, shy girl, Michiru.
narrator
She wanted to become a doctor, but had failed to get into medical college.
narrator
So once she graduated from high school, she went to an expensive prep school to prepare for another attempt at the college entrance exams.
narrator
Every weekday, her mother, Hitomi, or her father, Satoru, dropped her off at the local station so she could catch the train bound for her prep school in Matsumoto City.
narrator
In the evening, she took the 7:08 train back to her nearest station, Hakuyacho, nine stops from Matsumoto station. She was always collected by one of her parents.
Her house was about three miles from the station.
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unlike the typical student, she didn't use a bicycle.
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And she didn't want to walk home.
Michiru Hara
After 7:30 p.m, it's dark!
Michiru Hara
There are hardly any street lights, so I'd have to use a flashlight...
narrator
At home, the family ate dinner together; she chatted with her father or mother, but not about matters of importance, it seemed.
judge
So what did you talk about at home?
Michiru Hara
We talked about everyday things, about my school and what was happening on TV programs, just regular chitchat and gossip,
Her parents had been married for 29 years
narrator
But Michiru got along with both of them, and though the word "love" was not mentioned in court, it seemed clear that she loved them and they loved her. By the time Michiru testified at her parents' trial,
narrator
she had dropped out of her prep school and moved into a small apartment in an area not far from her family home.
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She had been ****** into a reluctant independence, working three hours a day in a supermarket, earning around ¥60,000 (US$600) per month.
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She also got some money from her local social welfare office. Between the two incomes, she was left with about $800 per month after she paid for her rent. When she wasn't working at her part-time job, she studied on her own, still aiming to get into medical school.
EP 2
narrator
Her hair tied in a bow, she wore practical flat leather shoes and a dark business suit of a type popular among graduating university students who are job hunting.
narrator
While she had lost some weight since her parents' detention, she was still chubby, and her face was covered in red blotches due to an ailment called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
narrator
a condition that she shared with her mother and which, as we will see, was crucial to the tragic story of the Hara family.
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Michiru read out the court oath, promising to obey her conscience, to tell the truth, and not to lie or embellish her testimony.
narrator
Her parents were represented by separate lawyers, who sat together across from two prosecutors.
Her father's lawyer began the questioning.
Satoru's lawyer
You are living alone now?
Michiru Hara
Yes! My relatives visit me and help me out sometimes, but I am mostly alone every day.
Michiru Hara
I go to my job from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m, and after that I study for the university entrance exam.
Satoru's lawyer
Did you ever live alone before the incident?
Satoru's lawyer
What do you do for food?
Michiru Hara
I eat food from the supermarket.
Michiru Hara
Apart from cooking classes in school, I don't have any experience of cooking.
Satoru's lawyer
You lost weight??.
Michiru Hara
Yes, I don't know how much because I don't have a scale....but I think I lost about 10 kilos!
Satoru's lawyer
Your clothes got loose on you?
Satoru's lawyer
What about your laundry, how do you do it?...
Michiru Hara
erhh... I hand-wash it.
Satoru's lawyer
Why don't you use a washing machine?
Michiru Hara
I have one!... but I don't use it. I'm not confident in operating it, and I don't want to waste money on electricity and water....?
Satoru's lawyer
your life seems to be lonely and hard!
Satoru's lawyer
but you're lucky to be alive
EP 3
narrator
michiru parents have been on a trial for attempting to burn down the family home!
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But their grand plan also involved a family suicide!?
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in reality it was more like a murder-suicide..., since Michiru knew nothing of the scheme!
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After setting the house on fire..
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The parents had planned to drive off a cliff with their daughter Michiru sitting in the back seat!
narrator
It was to be a dramatic finale to a most mundane family story.
prosecutor
Why did you want to make your daughter die??
Satoru
To leave her on her own in this huge world would be dangerous....!!
prosecutor
You didn't ask her?
prosecutor
But you knew she wanted to be a doctor!
prosecutor
and you still thought that you all should die!!?
narrator
So what caused Mr and Mrs Hara to plan to wipe out themselves and their only child?
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and who were now facing up to 10 years in jail for attempted arson?
We'll find it out on the next EP!
~stay tuned for the next EP!
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