Shin Megami Tensei’s opening scene

Atlus released Shin Megami Tensei for the Super Famicom on 30 October 1992 (great game btw, you should play it). Early in the story the protagonist dreams of a ritual killing happening in Inokashira Park, a real-life green space that borders Tokyo’s Kichijōji district. When he wakes up, the news reports that a dismembered body has been found there, confirming the nightmare was a premonition and pushing the plot toward a broader occult conflict. The location choice is noted in fan documentation of the game’s Kichijōji area and its in-game Inokashira Park map segment.

The real 1994 dismemberment case

On the morning of 23 April 1994 a park worker emptying rubbish bins in Inokashira Park discovered plastic bags filled with body parts. Police recovered 27 pieces in several bins. No weapon, motive, or suspect was ever confirmed, and the limitation period elapsed in 2009. More detailed Japanese-language summaries repeat the same core facts, including the knot style used on the bags and the absence of the torso.

Caution

This source contains very graphic descriptions of the crime.
Read at your own discretion: (Namu Wiki, JP/KR)

The supposed link between game and crime

Because the in-game murder scene and the real crime shared a distinctive setting and method, dismemberment in Inokashira Park, commenters in magazines and early web forums framed the homicide as “predicted” by Shin Megami Tensei. More skeptical voices argued the resemblance suggested mimicry: a killer inspired by the game staged a real version of its opening. Police have never confirmed any connection, and no public evidence ties the victim or any potential suspect to the title.

Why the theory persists

• The park rarely appears in other early-1990s media, so the coincidence feels specific.
• The game sold well and was reissued on CD consoles through 1994, keeping it in circulation when the murder occurred.
• The case remains unsolved, leaving room for speculation.

Yet available records show no concrete overlap beyond geography and method. The only established facts are the game’s 1992 publication date and the unsolved 1994 homicide. Everything else is inference.

Media responsibility and urban legend dynamics

The episode illustrates how fictional narratives can shape public interpretation of real events, especially when mainstream coverage repeats unverified links. Similar patterns appear in discussions of copy-cat crimes linked to films or comics: selective details are amplified, omissions fade, and the absence of closure sustains the legend.

Thirty-three years after the game’s release, and more than three decades after the murder, the Inokashira Park case is still open to interpretation but closed in the eyes of law. Without new evidence, the parallel between Shin Megami Tensei and the 1994 dismemberment remains coincidence rather than cause.

TLDR

Shin Megami Tensei (1992) opens with a dream of a dismembered body in Tokyo’s Inokashira Park; an unsolved real-world dismemberment occurred there in April 1994. Fans linked the two, suggesting either prophecy or imitation, but no evidence has ever connected the game to the homicide. The resemblance survives as an urban legend rather than a proven fact.