A Follower Killed Online Influencer While Livestreaming In Tokyo Police in Japan have billed a man with the murder, stating he was a follower who had tracked her location by the buildings behind her as she filmed herself.
A young female online influencer in Japan was stabbed to death while livestreaming on a Tokyo street by a man whom the police identified as a follower with a grudge.
The influencer, Airi Sato, 22, was heard by passers-by screaming “help!” and her livestream went dark, with the sounds of emergency-vehicle sirens audible to those watching. Her audience posted puzzled and worried reactions, containing urgent pleas like “Where did she go?” and “Someone help!”
The Tokyo police disclosed Wednesday that they had billed Kenji Takano, 42, with murder on suspicion he carried out the attack, which took place the day before in a Tokyo neighborhood popular with university students. They revealed Mr. Takano, who was arrested at the scene, had admitted to the attack, at all events he reported he didn’t mean to kill her.
According to the police, Mr. Takano applied a survival knife to stab Ms. Sato in the head, neck and torso while she stood looking into her cellphone camera on a busy street. Ms. Sato, a livestreamer who had more than 2,600 followers, was filming herself as she made a circuit of major train stations.
Although efforts were made to revive her, Ms. Sato died after arriving at a hospital, police disclosed.
Violent crimes continue unique on Tokyo’s usually well regulated and tidy streets, for all that there have long been concerns of Japan’s social cohesion fraying from growing oppressions, stagnant wages and, more recently, rising prices.
The police disclosed that they believe this was not a random attack. They disclosed Mr. Takano appears to have been a follower who stated he once lent Ms. Sato an enormous quantum of money that she never repaid.
This may have led Mr. Takano to hold a grudge against Ms. Sato, the police stated. While she didn’t announce beforehand where she would be streaming from, Mr. Takano tracked her down by recognizing the buildings behind her, according to local media declaration citing police investigators.
The aftermath of the attack was further captured elsewhere online, as passers-by posted photos on social media of Ms. Sato lying collapsed and bleeding on the street.
On her channel in a livestreaming app summoned WhoWatch, she had often filmed herself while visiting bars and meeting other streamers.
This is not the leading killing of a female streamer in Japan. Two years ago, a court in a Tokyo suburb sentenced a 26-year-old man to 17 years in prison for the stabbing to death, a 33-year-old influencer who had just broken off a relationship with him.
Category: World-News
Tag: A Follower Killed Online Influencer While Livestreaming In Tokyo
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Published 3/13/2025