The Sukagawa exorcism killings
In 1994–95 the self-styled exorcist Sachiko Etō in Sukagawa, Fukushima, beat six followers to death with drumsticks in rites to drive out 'fox spirits'.
1995 CE · 37.29, 140.37 · status: official
The account
The crimes came to light in July 1995 when relatives rescued a survivor. Etō was sentenced to death in 2002 and executed in 2012; the case is a modern warning about lethal exorcism.
The sceptical view
Courts found the victims died from beatings, not spirits; the defence's plea of mental illness was rejected.
The researched reading
Six killings justified by a folk belief in fox spirits. The “possessions” were the leader’s diagnosis and the group’s faith, not a supernatural event.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Perception, memory or mind | 36% | Followers accepted that beatings would drive out fox spirits, a case of group submission to a charismatic leader; Japanese psychiatry has long described “fox possession” (kitsunetsuki) as a culture-bound form of distress. |
| A cultural story | 32% | Folk belief in possessing foxes, still alive in rural Japan, gave the group a ready explanation for illness and misfortune. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 15% | Etō diagnosed the possessions herself and used them to control and punish followers; the court rejected her insanity plea, which points to manipulation rather than delusion on her side. |
| Undetermined | 13% | The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 2% | Nothing in the court record suggests a real spirit. |
| Something in the surroundings | 1% | No environmental factor is involved. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 1% | The victims died from beatings. |
Official position: Etō was convicted of six murders, sentenced to death in 2002 and executed in 2012; the courts found the victims died from beatings.