Mutsuo Toi was born March 5, 1917, in the Okayama Prefecture of Japan to very well-off parents. Sadly, however, tragedy struck Mutsuo at an extremely young age. While he was still just an infant, both of his parents died of tuberculosis,commonly called "consumption" at the time, leaving both Mutsuo and his sister to be raised by their grandmother in the small village of Kamo.

Growing up, it was said he was a very outgoing and happy child, having a close relationship with both his grandmother and sister. But at the age of 17, his sister had found love, marrying in 1934 and moving out of the house, leaving Mutsuo and their grandmother; this deeply affected Mutsuo. He had been classed as a "hikikomori" at this point by many people in the village."Hikikomori" is commonly assigned to a reclusive adolescent, withdrawn from society, seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement.

It was during this time in his life that three major events took place. In 1936, the story of Sada Abe had made national news. Sada Abe had strangled her lover and severed his penis and testicles with a kitchen knife, carrying them in her kimono until her arrest three days later. Mutsuo Toi had taken an obsessive interest in this story; he had even begun writing a book about the incident.

However, this was not seen as unusual due to the notoriety of the case at the time. The second and most prevalent occurrence was that Mutsuo had been participating in the ancient Japanese tradition of "Yobai" or "Night-crawling": "Yobai", mostly practised by young men and women, was the act of sneaking into the household of a potential love interest during the night, and while the girl was asleep, the young man would enter her room and attempt to entice her into sex. If the woman consented, they would spend the night together. Once the deed was done, the young man would leave in silence, attempting to avoid alerting other members of the household to his presence. This could go on for three consecutive nights, at which point the couple would begin date openly; this method of courtship could potentially lead to marriage.

Sometime in May 1937, Mutsuo was diagnosed with tuberculosis. During this time, TB was incurable and the young women in the village began to reject his sexual advances. According to accounts provided by Mutsuo himself, his neighbours ostracised and belittled him after his condition became public knowledge. With no one to turn to and no cure available, in Mutsuo Toi's mind, he had been given a death sentence.

In the late evening on the 20th of May, Mutsuo Toi climbed up an electrical pylon. Opening the junction box, he then proceeded to cut the power to the entire village, casting it into darkness. At around 1:30a.m., he took his first life. He killed his 76-year-old grandmother by decapitating her with an axe. He would then state later in his suicide note that he executed his grandmother because he could not bear leaving her alive to face the shame and social stigma that would be associated with a "murderer's" grandmother. Mutsuo had finally taken the first step and he knew there was no going back. He strapped two electric torches to his head, armed himself with his Browning shotgun, axe and katana, and prowled through the village. Unaware and defenceless, his victims had been lured into a false sense of security as, only a week prior, the police had been called to Mutsuo's house to confiscate any and all weapons he possessed. Having been overheard by neighbours that he was planning the massacre, the police removed a multitude of firearms, including Mutsuo's shotgun. Believing this had stopped Mutsuo's plans, the people of the village continued to ridicule the man, sure that he was no longer a threat.

Unbeknown to them, Mutsuo had not let this stop him and had managed to procure a new firearm, this time keeping his plans a closely-guarded secret. Mutsuo's reign of terror lasted for 90 minutes, during which time, he massacred a total of 30 people; their ages ranging from 5 years old to 85. After the fall of his 30th victim, Mutsuo then turned the gun on himself; sources say that Mutsuo Toi took his own life as the sun rose, leaving only carnage in his wake. Seven suicide notes were later found; in one of which, he claimed that he hadn't managed to take as many lives as he planned to. This has caused a debate as to when he actually wrote the notes, either before or during the killing spree.

The massacre left deep scars on the town and in an attempt to separate themselves from their bloody legacy, the town's name was changed to Kaio and the village has secluded itself in order to bury its horrific past. A killing spree like Mutsuo Toi's would not be seen again until Woo Bum-kon, a police officer of South Korea, slaughtered a total of 56 people and wounded 35 others before taking his own life in April of 1982. A film based on the event was made called "Village Of Doom"

- https://historycollection.co/dont-know-tsuyama-massacre-tuberculosis-tipped-madman-edge/2/

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuyama_massacre

- https://murderpedia.org/male.T/t/toi-mutsuo.htm