"Awakening Retreat" Missing Pair: Clothing Fragment Found in Mountain Stream, First Lead in 40 Days

Police said on the 16th that hikers out to view autumn foliage found a fragment of waterlogged fabric in a mountain stream about 600 meters downstream from the rented house tied to the self-development group "Kaerigishi no Kai," and reported it to a local police box. As previously reported on Sept. 6 and 8, a man and woman in their twenties who went missing after attending the group's retreat had been the subject of a search totaling roughly 140 personnel since late August that produced no leads; more than a month had passed with no notable progress since the 8th, when the search area was reset to a wider zone along the streambed.

Analysis of the fabric fragment police recovered found that its color and weave closely resembled a lightweight jacket that one missing person's family says she wore when leaving for the retreat. However, investigators have not confirmed features specific enough — a name tag, or a clearly matching tear — to determine conclusively that it belongs to her. "We can say it closely resembles it, but we're not at the stage of calling it a definitive match," police said, adding caution to their assessment. Since the discovery site lies some distance downstream from the house, the officer leading the search said, "We need to work out how it got there, including the possibility it was carried by rising water."

Police said they would resume searching the streambed on the 17th, centered on the discovery site. The scale will be smaller than the previously reported total of roughly 140 personnel, but with more hikers passing through during the foliage season, officers will also step up interviews along nearby trails. As previously reported, the identity and whereabouts of the person who presented himself as the group's leader remain unconfirmed, and investigators are still working to corroborate suspicions that he ran a different group under another name five years ago, dealing in health-related schemes.

The fabric fragment has since been sent to an out-of-prefecture appraisal institute for detailed fiber analysis. The official handling the appraisal said, "Judging by the degree of fading, it appears to have been in the water for a fairly long time. Full compositional results are expected to take several days." Results from the previously reported appraisal of the candle holders found at the house have also not yet been released, and police said, "We're running several appraisals in parallel and plan to explain the results together once they're all in."

The mountain trails around the rented house are also known as a foliage-viewing spot, and weekend hiker traffic rises above the yearly average this time of year. One resident of a nearby hamlet, in his sixties, said, "You see a lot of unfamiliar cars and buses around this time of year. Honestly, I'd almost forgotten about that house, but it gives you complicated feelings to have people going back in over something like this." Another resident took a more measured view: "Nothing would be better than finding the two of them. But the mountains are wide. It might not be that easy."

At the dedicated consultation line for exploitation-schemes set up after the case broke in late August, inquiries were heavy right after the initial disclosure but have since leveled off since September, according to the municipal consumer affairs center. An official there said, "If today's discovery gets reported, we may see another rise in inquiries. We'll keep urging people to consult us before they sign anything, same as always."

One missing person's family sent a brief comment through police: "The days when nothing was known went on for so long. Even finding something like this, I'm glad we kept waiting." The officer leading the search said, "We're moving quickly on the analysis while trying not to raise hopes too far." Both the group's full extent and the fate of the two missing people remain unresolved.