"My name is Issei Sagawa and I was born on 26 April 1949 in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, to wealthy parents. My father, Akira Sagawa, was a businessman who had served as president of Kurita Water Industries, and my grandfather had been an editor for The Asahi Shimbun. I was born prematurely and, reportedly, I was small enough that I could fit in the palm of my father's hand."