Suspect in Kobe Stabbing Case Says Victim Was ‘My Type’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:03 JST, August 29, 2025

KOBE — A suspect arrested for stabbing a woman to death in her apartment building in Kobe stated that he saw the victim on the street two days before the incident and followed her because she was his type, according to the Hyogo prefectural police.

Police believe the suspect, Masashi Tanimoto, 35, was searching for women he liked and unilaterally targeted the victim, Megumi Katayama, 24.

According to police, Tanimoto stated that on the morning of Aug. 18 he saw Katayama enter the building she worked at and waited nearby for her to leave.

Tanimoto took time off from his workplace in Tokyo from Aug. 17–21. From Aug. 17, he stayed at a Kobe hotel near Katayama’s workplace.

Security camera footage in the area has reportedly captured a man believed to be Tanimoto following several women other than Katayama since Aug. 17.

In 2020, Tanimoto was given a summary order to pay a fine for stalking a woman and following her through an auto-lock door into an apartment in Kobe. In 2022, he broke into an apartment using a similar method and strangled a woman he did not know. He was given a suspended sentence.