Setsuko Miyazawa looks at “daruma” dolls given by Mitsuko Matsumori, a former police detective, in her house in Saitama on Nov. 30. (Nobuyuki Takiguchi)
SAITAMA One eye is left blank on each of the five “daruma” dolls lined up in the living room of Setsuko Miyazawa’s house here.
The figurines were gifts from Mitsuko Matsumori, 66, who gave one every year after retiring from Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Miyazawa, 89, and Matsumori have made a promise to fill in the blank eyes when police catch the person who killed Miyazawa’s son and his family 20 years ago.
As an MPD detective, Matsumori was involved in the murder investigation for 16 years until she turned 64. Over those years, she also supported the bereaved family, and continues to be there for Miyazawa on a personal level.