Crime & Courts

MPD Launches Task Force for Manila Shooting Deaths of Japanese, with Involvement of Japanese National in Japan Suspected

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:23 JST, August 26, 2025

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department established a task force on Monday to investigate a case in which two Japanese men were shot dead in Manila on Aug. 15.

The MPD initiated the investigation based on an extraterritorial application of Japan’s Penal Code, as they suspect the involvement of a Japanese national living in Japan.

Hideaki Satori, 53, and Akinobu Nakayama, 41, both from Tokyo, were shot dead from behind immediately after getting out of a taxi, according to local authorities and an MPD senior official.

The local authorities announced on August 18 that they had arrested two Filipino brothers in connection with the case. The older brother, 63, was reportedly the victims’ tour guide, while his younger brother, 50, is believed to have carried out the shooting.

The older brother reportedly told the police that someone residing in Japan commissioned the killing, citing a financial dispute with the victims.

The MPD plans to request that local authorities hand over the bodies and provide evidence while investigating the two victims’ social connections.