The number of Japanese tourists to Taiwan, China, exceeded 2 million in 2019. With its close geographical location and affordable food, Taiwan, China, has become one of Japan's most popular overseas travel destinations.
Taipei Shilin Night Market
However, a mysterious disappearance of a Japanese tourist in Taiwan once made many Japanese shy away from Taiwan, China. The number of Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan also plummeted by 10%, severely damaging Taiwan's tourism industry.
Mariko Iguchi was a senior girl at Ochanomizu Women's University in Japan. On April 2, 1990, she took a plane to Taiwan, China, and started traveling alone.
For Mariko, who is still a student party, traveling on a budget is her main way of traveling. On the night of April 2, she stayed at the Taipei International Youth Home.
After a brief sightseeing in Taipei, she went south to Tainan at noon on April 4. In order to find a hotel to stay, she took a taxi from 35-year-old Li. However, because she could not find an ideal hotel along the way, Li offered to let Mariko stay at his house. .
In the two days after
, Mariko not only stayed at Li’s house, but Li also accompanied her on an in-depth tour of Tainan. The two became good friends who talked about everything, and Mariko's favor for the Taiwanese people doubled.
Cell phones and telephones were not yet developed at that time, but Mariko would send letters to her family every day to report that she was safe. On the morning of the 7th, after Mariko Iguchi sent a letter to her family, she took a train to leave Tainan and head to Kaohsiung to continue her journey.
However, at about 12 noon that day, after Mariko walked out of the ticket gate of Kaohsiung Station, she suddenly lost contact with everyone. Mariko, who was originally scheduled to take a flight back to Japan on April 18, neither canceled the flight nor got on the plane.
Her family is extremely worried about Mariko, who suddenly lost contact and her whereabouts became a mystery. On April 25, Mariko's mother, Hisako Iguchi, arrived in Taiwan to look for her daughter, and was accompanied by the exchange association to report the case to the Police Station of the Ministry of the Interior. After
received the report, police stations across Taiwan launched investigations and searches, but to no avail. Two months later, the police offered a reward of NT$50,000, and Mariko's family offered a reward of NT$500,000 to find her whereabouts.
Mariko’s mother also went to Taiwan three times, but still found nothing. In December, eight months after Mariko disappeared, the police increased the reward to 1 million yen and determined to solve the case. "You must see the person alive, and you must see the corpse if you die."
You must know that because of the geographical proximity , Taiwan, China has always been one of the first choices for Japanese people to travel abroad, and Japanese tourists are also the most important source of income for the tourism industry in Taiwan, China.
However, after Mariko's case occurred, it immediately became a hot topic reported by Japanese media, and it lasted for several weeks. The impression of Taiwan's corrupt public security was imprinted in the minds of Japanese people.
According to statistics released by the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transport in November 1990, the number of Japanese tourists to Taiwan in the first three quarters of that year (January to September) decreased by 3.1% compared with the same period of the previous year, setting a record for the largest negative growth in history. After the disappearance of Mariko, In the next two months, it dropped sharply by more than 10%.
In the blink of an eye, it was 1991. Nearly a year after Mariko disappeared, the task force, based on reliable information, believed that Liu Xueqiang, a taxi driver in Kaohsiung City, was a major suspect.
While making inquiries, the police followed him 24 hours a day and found that there were many suspicious things about this person. He put many charms on his taxi, placed many Buddhist scriptures, and even placed two Buddha statues in the car.
Even in the super hot summer, Liu Xueqiang does not go home to sleep, but sleeps in the car. Neighbors even revealed that Liu Xueqiang often used crossbow to kill dogs in the middle of the night.
Although Liu Xueqiang repeatedly denied that he was the murderer, the police went to Liu Xueqiang's residence and found that the floors and walls of his home had a strong alkali reaction, and there were traces of cleaning with a large amount of cleaning fluid. In the month when Mariko disappeared, the water consumption at Liu Xueqiang’s home was several times higher than usual.
After the police arrested Liu Xueqiang and interrogated him several times, Liu Xueqiang finally admitted that he was the real culprit behind the case.It turned out that on April 7, 1990, Liu Xueqiang was cycling and strolling in front of Kaohsiung Station. He saw Mariko carrying a backpack alone. He approached her and struck up a conversation, only to find out that Mariko was Japanese.
After chatting with her with a few simple Japanese words, Liu Xueqiang knew that Mariko wanted to find a cheap hotel. He took Mariko back to his residence on a motorcycle, and then the two went to Chengcheng Lake, Fengshan, Datong Department Store and other places together. Mariko accompanied Liu Xueqiang back to his residence to rest that night.
Because Mariko had the experience of being warmly received by Li in Tainan, she believed that Taiwanese people are warm and hospitable, so she had no doubts about Liu Xueqiang.
After returning home at night, Liu Xueqiang coveted Mariko's beauty and wanted to force her to have sex. After being rejected by Mariko, Liu Xueqiang held a grudge. At night, while Mariko was asleep, Liu Xueqiang killed her with a crossbow and molested her body.
Liu Xueqiang then cut Mariko into pieces and scattered them in different locations. When dumping the body, he doused it with gasoline and burned it in order to avoid being discovered.
On November 24, 1991, Taiwan's Kaohsiung District Court sentenced Liu Xueqiang to death for murder and abandoning a corpse; because Liu Xueqiang met the conditions for commutation of mental disorder, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and deprived of political rights for life.
On May 3, 1993, the remains of Mariko Iguchi were cremated in Taiwan and transported back to Japan by her mother Hisako Iguchi. After the
case, Japan and Taiwan have filmed many film and television works based on this case. In early April 2004, Liu Xueqiang was ridiculed and beaten seriously by inmates in Taichung Prison. In September of the same year, Liu Xueqiang was transferred to Yilan Prison.
29 years later, in 2019, Liu Xueqiang had met the conditions for parole . However, when the prison asked Liu Xueqiang's family if they could provide a "stay consent form," his relatives clearly refused. Liu Xueqiang, who committed a heinous crime, eventually became a helpless and marginalized person.
It is a pity that young Mariko lost her life because of such a journey.
Nowadays, many girls like to travel by themselves, but girls need to pay attention to the following points when going out alone:
1. Don't be greedy for cheap, and choose regular accommodation places. Avoid cheap, out-of-the-way hotels.
2. Do not disclose your itinerary and accommodation location to strangers casually.
3. Do not accept food or drinks from strangers.
4. Send detailed itinerary to relatives and friends, and keep in close contact.
5. Carry self-defense equipment with you in case of emergency.
6. Try not to take a taxi or other means of transportation alone late at night.
