Uta Island, is the most frequently visited location in Kindaichi Case Files. Being the location of the first case in the series, Opera House Murder Case and three others. It is a a small island with a circumference of about 1 km floating off the coast of Minamiizu. In Opera House, The New Murder, it was revealed that it is included in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Description[]
Most of the island is covered with trees and grass, and only one hotel stands among them. The island was apparently completely uninhabited until a certain wealthy man built a villa in the Meiji era. After that, the owners changed hands several times, and Kazuma Kurosawa, who was a director, bought the whole island and spent several years building a villa. The building was renovated and the hotel "Opera House'' was opened. Currently, only employees live on the island, and they use cruisers and liners to travel to and from the island and to procure food.
History[]
The first owner, a wealthy man, was apparently fascinated by Gaston Leroux's original opera "The Phantom of the Opera", so he purposely built a theater next to the villa to resemble an opera house.
However, although this man displayed a genius talent for music and theater, he always wore a strange mask and never showed his true face, and was said to be similar to the Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera. The basement of the theater was lined with a labyrinth that looked like something out of "The Phantom of the Opera,'' and it seems that people enjoyed the fantastic sight created by the light leaking from the ceiling every time they entered the basement. In addition, there was a small room in the separate tower where he lived in hiding, and inside was decorated with many masks.
Later, when the noble Shirakami family bought the mansion, the man suddenly disappeared and his whereabouts were unknown. It is probably around this time that he began to live in hiding in underground labyrinths and small rooms in towers. For some reason, the head of the Shirakami family (Kaito Shiragami's grandfather) is afraid of this man, and on his deathbed, he tells his family to give up the mansion without fail. He passed away, saying, "I still feel like that man (a wealthy man) is hiding somewhere.'' It seems that bad things have happened one after another in the Shiragami family since they acquired the mansion, and under Kaito's father, the Shiragami family has finally fallen into decline. Kaito's father kept saying, ``We should have let go of the mansion sooner.''
Later, Kurosawa, who was said to be one of the top five genius directors in Japan, bought the entire island and converted it into a hotel. However, four years ago, his daughter Mika committed suicide by poisoning herself during a performance of "The Phantom of the Opera'' at the Opera House. Her funeral was held at the Opera House, and she was buried on the island's promontory.
After being involved in two serial murders at the same opera house, Kurosawa himself drives his car down a cliff into the sea. Although his body has not been recovered, his death is being treated as an accident, as his chances of survival are considered hopeless. The cause of the accident is unknown. Some rumors say that it was suicide, but no suicide note has been found, so the truth is uncertain.
After Kurosawa's death, the mansion was acquired by Shizuka Hibiki, a composer and acquaintance of Kurosawa. She knew about this mansion, and felt attracted to it, so she became the owner of the mansion. Following Kurosawa's death, the Opera House will be demolished, but before that, a new series of murders occurs and the theater is burnt down.