Online Influencer Is Killed While Livestreaming in Tokyo

New York Times

12-03-2025

A young female online influencer in Japan was stabbed to death while livestreaming on a Tokyo street by a man whom the police identified as a follower with a grudge.
The influencer, Airi Sato, 22, was heard by passers-by screaming 'help!' and her livestream went dark, with the sounds of emergency-vehicle sirens audible to those watching. Her audience posted puzzled and worried reactions, including urgent pleas like 'Where did she go?' and 'Someone help!'
The Tokyo police said Wednesday that they had charged Kenji Takano, 42, with murder on suspicion he carried out the attack, which took place the day before in a Tokyo neighborhood popular with university students. They said Mr. Takano, who was arrested at the scene, had admitted to the attack, though he said he didn't mean to kill her.
According to the police, Mr. Takano used a survival knife to stab Ms. Sato in the head, neck and torso while she stood looking into her cellphone camera on a busy street. Ms. Sato, a livestreamer who had more than 2,600 followers, was filming herself as she made a circuit of major train stations.
Although efforts were made to revive her, Ms. Sato died after arriving at a hospital, police said.
Violent crimes remain rare on Tokyo's usually orderly and clean streets, though there have long been concerns of Japan's social cohesion fraying from growing inequalities, stagnant wages and, more recently, rising prices.
The police said that they believe this was not a random attack. They said Mr. Takano appears to have been a follower who said he once lent Ms. Sato a large sum of money that she never repaid.
This may have led Mr. Takano to hold a grudge against Ms. Sato, the police said. While she didn't disclose beforehand where she would be streaming from, Mr. Takano tracked her down by recognizing the buildings behind her, according to local media reports citing police investigators.
The aftermath of the attack was also captured elsewhere online, as passers-by posted photos on social media of Ms. Sato lying collapsed and bleeding on the street.
On her channel in a livestreaming app called WhoWatch, she had often filmed herself while visiting bars and meeting other streamers.
This is not the first killing of a female streamer in Japan. Two years ago, a court in a Tokyo suburb sentenced a 26-year-old man to 17 years in prison for the stabbing death of a 33-year-old influencer who had just broken off a relationship with him.
Hisako Ueno and Kiuko Notoya contributed reporting.