A series of evaporations on the western coastline of Japan eluded families and investigators for nearly 25 years. One theory – international espionage. Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods, ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Evaporated: Gone with the Godsshow page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts. A Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from SonyMusic Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Campsite Media this episode contains references to death, suicide, and violence.
Listener discretion is advised.
August 15, 1978 Coastal Toyama Prefecture it's just after six and the sun is setting over the Sea of Japan.
This area of Toyama Prefecture is a popular tourist area and gorgeous, especially at this time of the day.
The sand is all cast in gold, the waves are shimmering, and a hazy purple mountain range towers over it all in the distance there's a small group of men sitting around and a fisherman and a young couple on a walk.
The couple were recently engaged and their families had just met for the first time.
This was the first chance the two had to be alone together all day.
As it starts to get dark, they head to their car, parked at the edge of a pine grove along the beach.
This is what we know.
The man walks ahead to open the door for his fiance, but as he gets closer to the car, two sets of hands grab his arms.
Its the men from the beach.
He looks for his girlfriend, whos now struggling to set herself free from their attackers.
They force some kind of cloth into her mouth and restrain her hands.
Then the man is gagged too, and thrown onto the ground.
He feels cold handcuffs around his own wrists, the rope around his ankles.
He can't move.
He's being forced into a canvas bag.
He feels his head go in and everything stops.
The grip around him loosens.
The canvas bag covers his ears, but he still hears the men run away, their footfalls muffled by the sandheen.