Police Failed to Interview Ex-Boyfriend Despite Reports of Stalking; Arrested on Suspicion of Abandoning Body in Bag in Kawasaki

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:14 JST, May 5, 2025

YOKOHAMA — Police in Kawasaki failed to interview a man who was later arrested for abandoning the body of a 20-year-old woman, even though the victim had reported the man to the police for stalking.

According to the police, the victim — identified as Asahi Okazaki, 20, a part-time worker from Kawasaki — had been consulting Kawasaki Rinko Police Station about the stalking behavior of her ex-boyfriend, Hideyuki Shirai, 27, since June last year. The police verbally warned Shirai at that time but closed the case in November, when they confirmed that the couple had reconciled.

However, after the relationship ended again, Okazaki reported Shirai’s stalking to the police station nine times between Dec. 9-20, saying, “He was snooping around my house” and “Please patrol [around my house].”

A body was found in a bag at Shirai’s home in the city on Wednesday, and confirmed to be Okazaki’s on Thursday. The Kanagawa prefectural police on Saturday arrested Shirai, who was met by officers at Haneda Airport where he had arrived from the United States.

According to the police announcement, Shirai is suspected of abandoning Okazaki’s body at his home near Kawasakidaishi Station sometime between Dec. 20 and April 30. He admitted to the charge at first but has stopped talking about the incident.

Some of Okazaki’s reports to the police about Shirai suggested a high level of urgency, but the police station did not question him.

“We urged Okazaki to come to the police station so we could verify the facts, but she refused,” a prefectural police official said. “We judged that she did not want police intervention.”

Akiko Kobayakawa, a board member of Tokyo-based nonprofit group Humanity, which supports stalking victims, said the police could have taken more proactive steps, such as visiting the victim’s home.

“If the police could not identify the repeated complaints in December as a stalking case despite having responded up until November, there is a fundamental issue that goes beyond evaluating a sense of urgency,” she said.

A complaint made by the victim on Dec. 10, said, “[Shirai] would not return my bicycle.” The police accepted a report of bicycle theft on Dec. 16. On Jan. 24, the bicycle was found near Shirai’s house, and the police checked security cameras in the area but did not speak with Shirai.

Day of Okazaki’s disappearance

Okazaki went missing from her grandmother’s home — where she was taking shelter — on the morning of Dec. 20. Her grandmother called the police on Dec. 22, saying: “My granddaughter hasn’t come home. The window was broken, and it might have been done by her former boyfriend to take her away.”

The police reportedly explained to the grandmother that there were more glass fragments outside than inside, suggesting the glass might have been broken from inside. They took photos but did not collect fingerprints.

The police accepted a report from the grandmother and collected fingerprints on Jan. 7.

‘Underestimating danger’

After Okazaki went missing, the police station interviewed Shirai seven times. According to investigative sources, Shirai initially stated that he did not know anything, but said in March, “I went near her workplace at around 6 a.m. on Dec. 20 but couldn’t meet her.”

The investigation made no progress, and it was revealed in April that Shirai had flown to the United States.

From December to late April, the investigation was primarily handled by the prefectural police’s community safety general affairs division, which deals with crime prevention and missing persons. The police’s first criminal investigation division was notified of the case on April 30, when a bag containing a body was found in a residential home.

“It is no wonder that the police are being criticized for underestimating the danger,” a senior police official said.