By Tim Binnall
In a chilling story out of Japan, a fortune teller has been implicated in a pair of mysterious drowning deaths that authorities believe were orchestrated by the self-described mystic. According to a local media report, the complex case began in August 2020 when the remains of Kohei Teramoto and Ichiro Yoneda, bound together at their wrists, washed ashore in the town of Hirogawa. An investigation into the grim discovery ultimately concluded that they had committed suicide. However, nearly five years later, an unsettling new light has been shed on their demise by way of a man who told police he had run afoul of a fortune teller and was threatened with a similar fate as two dead men.
The unnamed victim explained that he had fallen under the spell of mystic Yoshie Hamada, who managed to extort a staggering $540,000 from him over three years. When the man began to waver in his devotion to the fortune teller, he was given an unnerving warning. "Do you know what will happen if you try to run away," the mystic is said to have asked before referencing the mysterious deaths of Teramoto and Yoneda by musing "those two ended up floating."
Upon receiving this new information, police reopened the case and quickly determined that a far darker story had unfolded in the summer of 2020. Authorities say that Hamada had formed something of a cult that included Teramoto and Yoneda, who had become her devoted followers. After separating the men from all of their wealth, police say, their 'spiritual leader' convinced the entranced duo to commit suicide by walking into the ocean as a way of 'cleansing their loved ones of evil spirits.'
Remarkably, when questioned by police, Hamada reportedly admitted to being at the beach when the men drowned, though seemingly did not take responsibility for their deaths. That said, the mystic also told investigators that she had forged a suicide note for one of the men in what had been a successful attempt at ensuring that the incident would not lead back to her. Hamada has since been arrested for extortion in relation to the man who tipped off police about her actions and is facing multiple charges in connection to the deaths of Teramoto and Yoneda.