Japanese fortune-teller charged with extortion linked to mysterious drowning deaths

A self-proclaimed fortune-teller in Japan has been charged with extorting a man and accused of encouraging two men to drown themselves five years ago.

The police in Osaka announced on Tuesday the arrest of 62-year-old Yoshie Hamada, who claimed to be the “creator”, in connection with the deaths of two men in 2020, Japanese media reported.

The corpses of Kohei Teramoto, then a 66-year-old company employee, and Ichiro Yoneda, then a 51-year-old part-time worker, washed ashore on a beach in Hirogawa, Wakayama prefecture, some 1.5 hours’ drive from Osaka.

They were bound together by a microphone cord on their wrists, according to Asahi News, citing investigative sources.

As investigators found no evidence of foul play at the time, the causes of death were listed as suicides and the case closed.

However, things took a sinister turn after an Osaka man approached the police last May, claiming that Hamada demanded all his savings of about 80 million yen (US$540,000) after she read his fortune.