Episode 21: Kabukicho Building Fire (Myojo 56 Building Fire)

Black Torii — Japanese True Crime · Jul 22, 2026 · 12m

It's just after one in the morning on a Saturday, and Kabukicho is still very much alive. This is the corner of Tokyo that never sleeps — neon signs blazing, hostess bars packed, mahjong parlors full of late-night players grinding through hands of cards. The streets outside hum with noise and footsteps. Nobody inside a narrow four-story building on one of the side alleys is thinking about fire exits. They never got the chance. Forty-four people died in that building before sunrise. And more than twenty years later, nobody has been arrested for starting the fire. This is the story of the…