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

Yomiuri Shimbun

05-05-2025

The Yomiuri Shimbun
People offer flowers at the crime scene in Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki, on Sunday.
YOKOHAMA — A man arrested for abandoning the body of a 20-year-old woman had not been interviewed by prefectural police prior to the incident, even though the victim had reported the man to the police for stalking.
The victim was identified as Asahi Okazaki, 20, a part-time worker from Kawasaki. Her body was found in a bag at home of Hideyuki Shirai, 27, her former boyfriend, in the same city. The Kanagawa prefectural police arrested him on Saturday.
According to the police announcement, Shirai was suspected of abandoning Okazaki's body at his home near Kawasaki-Daishi Station sometime between Dec. 20 and April 30. He once admitted to the charge but later stopped talking about the incident.
When Shirai arrived at Haneda Airport upon returning from the United States, the police asked him to accompany them before arresting him.
According to the prefectural police, Okazaki had been consulting the police station about Shirai's stalking behavior since June last year. The police had verbally warned Shirai. In November, the police confirmed that the couple had reconciled and closed the case.
However, after the relationship ended again, Okazaki reported the matter to the police station nine times between Dec. 9-20, saying: 'He was snooping around my house,' and 'Please go on patrol.'
Some of her reports suggested a high level of urgency, but the police station did not question Shirai.
A prefectural police official said: 'We urged Okazaki to come to the police station for fact-finding, but she refused. We judged that she did not want police intervention.'
Akiko Kobayakawa, a board member of Tokyo-based nonprofit group Humanity that supports stalking victims, said the police could have taken more proactive steps, such as visiting the victim's home.
'It is a fundamental issue that goes beyond evaluating a sense of urgency if the police did not recognize the repeated complaints in December as a stalking case despite having responded up until November,' 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 her disappearance
Okazaki went missing from her grandmother's home — where she took shelter — on the morning of Dec. 20. Her grandmother called the police on Dec. 22, saying: 'My granddaughter hasn't come home. The glass in the window was broken, and it might have been broken 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 case'
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 were criticized for underestimating the danger,' a senior police official said.