page_title: Shimoyama incident
section_title: Pre- or postmortem dismemberment
hierarchical_section_title: Shimoyama incident / Pre- or postmortem dismemberment
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: D51-651機関車の捜査 English: Investigation on D51-651
context_page_description: The Shimoyama incident was an incident in Japan in 1949, which involved the disappearance and death of Sadanori Shimoyama, the first president of Japanese National Railways. He disappeared on his way to work, July 5, 1949, and his body was found the next day.
  Following the discovery of his body, the media offered conflicting explanations involving suicide and murder, while the police did not publicly report the results of their investigation, which was then ended. The Mitaka incident, the Matsukawa derailment, and the Shimoyama incident occurred within one month of one another, and together are known as JNR's Three Big Mysteries.
context_section_description: Found on the outbound track of the Jōban Line, it was determined that Shimoyama's body had been severed around 20 minutes after midnight by outbound freight train No. 869, pulled by locomotive D51 651. The official autopsy was led by Tokyo University professor of forensic medicine Tanemoto Furuhata. Based on the injuries to the body, it was determined that Shimoyama died prior to being hit by the train. The autopsy itself was performed by Furuhata's colleague Naoki Kuwashima.
  Although a specific cause of death was not established, blood loss (at another location) was possible due to the lack of blood on the body and at the scene. Additionally, in some parts of the body life-threatening internal bleeding was found which could have been caused only by considerable force, such as kicking.
  On the other hand, a Tokyo municipal coroner who had examined the body at the scene believed that Shimoyama's death was suicide. However, the internal bleeding observed in the remains of Shimoyama was also consistent with being hit by a train, and investigators would not have been able to observe blood at the scene because it was raining. As such, these as facts are not useful to support a murder theory.
  Keio University professor Nakadate Kyūhei believed that Shimoyama was alive when hit by the train, although he never saw the body. These theories stand in opposition to one another. On August 30, 1949, Furuhata, Nakadate, and Kyōsuke Komiya of Nagoya Medical School were called to testify before the Committee on Judicial Affairs of the Diet's House of Representatives, and in doing so brought the Diet and the world of forensic medicine into the controversy. 
  In response to the committee's questions, Furuhata stated that "Kuwashima still cannot officially declare this a murder or suicide. He has stated only that the body was dismembered after death. The investigation is still underway, and those who know nothing of it but make deductions anyway are unscientific and taking liberties."
caption: Inspection of locomotive D51 651, which hit Shimoyama
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