Did Mother, 2 Daughters Die Because of a Life ‘So Sad’?

An empty back-yard swing set, a tiny bike and a twisted tricycle were the only visible reminders of two young Japanese sisters who died in a house fire early Sunday, a blaze that Anaheim police said they believe was set by their distraught mother, who perished with them.

Five fire companies responding to a call just after midnight Saturday put out the house fire within 20 minutes, Anaheim Police Sgt. Ron Girk said.

In a bedroom of the residence, firefighters found the bodies of Mitsue Sakai, 28, and her two daughters, Seira Candy, 5, and Rina Stephanie, 4. Fire officials said they believe that all three died as a result of smoke inhalation. But an official cause of the death was not available, pending the release today of results of autopsies performed Sunday by the Orannge County coroner’s office.

“Based on physical evidence and interviews with witnesses at the scene,” Girk said, police believe that Mitsue Sakai “intentionally set fire to the house, as she was extremely distraught over marital and family problems.”

Little Hint of Troubled Marriage

The fire was set in the living room of the house, investigators found, and caused an estimated $100,000 in damage, fire officials said.

Friends, neighbors, co-workers and employers--all stunned and grief-stricken--described the woman and her husband, Hideo Sakai, as a quiet, hard-working couple who gave little hint that their marriage was a troubled one.

“They were very quiet people,” said next-door neighbor Sue White. “You would never know they were over there.”

“We pray that they can sleep well,” said another neighbor, Yoshimiro Inoue, his eyes rimmed with tears. Inoue said his wife, who worked with Mitsue Sakai as a waitress at the Mitsuyoshi Japanese restaurant in Anaheim, said that in recent days the woman, who was once “very cheerful,” had become “so sad,” but gave no indication of the cause of her sadness.

“My wife thought they could solve their problems themselves,” Inoue said, sighing. “I think it’s very hard to find contentment.”

As the day wore on, bouquets of flowers and fruit collected on the front lawn of the Sakais’ gutted residence in the 2400 block of West Harriett Lane, a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes where the family had lived for the past 15 months.

“I can’t believe it,” said Sachiyo Seki, a waitress at the Mitsuyoshi restaurant.

Mitsue Sakai had worked there four years, according to Seki and her mother, Yokiko Seki, owner of the restaurant. They said she was a good worker and that she gave no indication of having any serious personal problems. Mrs. Sakai worked a dinner shift Saturday, as usual, and left about 10:30 p.m., they said.

Police and fire officials searched for Hideo Sakai at the scene of the fire and attempted to locate him through friends and associates. Neighbors said he arrived at the home around 2:30 a.m., when he was informed of the deaths of his wife and daughters.

Yoshikazu Suzuki, president of the Amagi Japanese restaurant in Buena Park, where Hideo Sakai worked as chief chef for the past eight years, said Sakai left work Saturday about 11 p.m.

Visiting a Friend

Anaheim Police Detective Sgt. John Haradon told United Press International Sunday that the husband “was visiting with a friend at the time of the fire,” but declined to release further details. Haradon also said Mitsue Sakai did not leave a suicide note but spoke to unidentified people by telephone just before the fire.

Hideo Sakai, who co-workers said was in his early 30s, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Friends said the Sakais came to the United States from Japan about nine years ago--Mitsue from Kobe and Hideo from Yokohama. A friend of Mitsue Sakai, who declined to give her name, said the woman had studied for a time at Cypress College.

Neighbors and friends said Mitsue Sakai had returned to Japan with her children in December because of her father’s ill health, returning three months later, after his death.

“She was a very happy person when she first moved in,” said Harry White, a next-door neighbor. After her return from Japan, however, “she didn’t seem to be as happy, as jubilant as before,” he said.

Buddhist View of Suicide

Neighbors said the couple conversed in Japanese, although the children both spoke English. Yoshimiro Inoue said he believed that the couple’s children attended the Japanese school on Saturdays at the Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim, dressing up in kimonos for festivals.

The Sakais, however, do not appear on the membership list of the church, according to Shoji Korin, president of the 700-member congregation.

Nonetheless, a service for the three family members was held Sunday night at the Orange County Buddhist Church. About 50 people gathered for the traditional Buddhist service.

A friend of the family said that Mitsue Sakai’s mother was journeying from Japan to attend the funeral. Funeral arrangements were incomplete on Sunday.

Buddhism does not view suicide as a mortal sin, according to the Rev. Marvin Harada, one of ministers of the Orange County church.

“We look at suicide as a tragic thing,” said Harada, “that the person did not have a realization of the dignity and the preciousness of life.”

Sunday’s fire recalls the case of Fumiko Kimura, a Japanese-born woman who walked into the Santa Monica surf with her two small children in 1985 because of her husband’s relationship with another woman.

The two children, a son, 4, and a 6-month-old daughter carried in her mother’s arms, drowned, but Kimura survived. She pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and in November, 1985, a Superior Court judge sentenced her to five years probation, giving her credit for 297 days she already had served in jail.