Crime & Courts

Fatal Stabbing of Livestreamer Allegedly Financially Motivated; Suspect Says Victim Never Returned Money He Loaned Her

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:02 JST, March 13, 2025

The man arrested on suspicion of killing a woman while she was livestreaming on the streets of Tokyo said to police that he was unable to contact her to get her to return money that he had lent her, according to investigative sources. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the case in the belief that it was financially motivated.

The suspect, Kenichi Takano, 42, from Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, was arrested on the scene after he allegedly stabbed a 22-year-old woman from Tama, Tokyo, in her neck, chest and elsewhere with a 13-centimeter survival knife on a street in the Takadanobaba district in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on Tuesday morning. The woman was taken to a hospital, where she died of hemorrhagic shock.

According to sources, Takano began watching the woman’s videos in December 2021 and started frequenting the establishment where she worked in August 2022. He claims he lent her more than ¥2 million for living expenses and other purposes and later filed a civil suit demanding the return of the money, but was unable to contact her.

He stated that he could not stand the fact that she would not return what she owed despite continuing to earn money by making videos, and that this was why he committed the crime.