Japanese influencer stabbed to death while livestreaming to 6,000 followers
A 22-year-old influencer has been stabbed to death over an unpaid debt while livestreaming to more than 6,000 followers.
Airi Sato, who filmed her day-to-day life on an app called WhoWatch, was attacked on Tuesday on a Tokyo street by a man to whom she had failed to repay £13,000, police said.
When her feed went dark and emergency sirens could be heard, concerned followers urgently called for help in the live chat.
But it was too late. Ms Sato had been stabbed in the head, neck and stomach, and was dead on arrival at hospital.
Police said that they had arrested Kenji Takano, 42, on suspicion of murder. They added that he had been apprehended at the scene, and although he admitted to the stabbing, he said he had not intended to kill Ms Sato.
According to the news outlet Asahi, onlookers who heard Ms Sato's screams from nearby office blocks initially thought Mr Takano was a 'good samaritan' helping the victim.
Police said the pair had known each other for some years, and Mr Takano had lent Ms Sato roughly £13,100. She was yet to repay the debt, despite court cases ruling in Mr Takano's favour, according to TokyoHive.
Asahi said the police quoted Mr Takano as saying: 'I got to know the woman through her video streaming, and I started meeting her three years ago by visiting the restaurant where she worked. I had money troubles with her.'
He added that he had seen Ms Sato's livestreaming schedule that morning – she had been filming herself making a loop of the city's major train stations. Once he travelled to Tokyo, he tracked her down by identifying the buildings in her videos.
Cases of violent crime are extremely rare in Tokyo, a megacity well known for its clean and orderly streets. But this is not the first time a female social media personality has been killed there.
Two years ago, a court in the suburbs sentenced a 26-year-old man to 17 years in prison after he killed a 33-year-old influencer in a knife attack. She had recently ended a relationship with him, according to the New York Times.
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