NHK


 

 
A female store clerk has died after being stabbed at a commercial complex in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district by a man who later stabbed himself to death. Police say the man was the victim's former boyfriend.

At around 7:20 p.m. on Thursday, the police were notified that a man was behaving violently inside Sunshine City, a multifunction complex.

Police officers say the woman was attacked at the Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo shop on the building's second floor. The unconscious victim was rushed to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Police officers have confirmed that the victim was 21-year-old Harukawa Moe from western Tokyo's Hachioji City.

They say the assailant, 26-year-old Hirokawa Taiki, was the woman's ex-boyfriend. He reportedly died at a hospital he was taken to.

The police say security camera footage shows the man visiting the shop alone and stepping behind the counter where the woman was. They add that they are treating the incident as a murder.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department says the woman informed police officers in December of last year that she was the victim of a stalker. It notes that the case was being dealt with.

The department says the woman started dating Hirokawa around October of 2024 and broke up with him around July of 2025.

On December 25, 2025 she visited a police station in Hachioji for a consultation and said that her former boyfriend was following her around. When police officers took her home, they found Hirokawa in the vicinity of her home and arrested him on suspicion of violating Japan's anti-stalking law.

The officers said they found a knife with a blade about 10 centimeters long in the vehicle that Hirokawa had rented to reach the area.

Hirokawa was rearrested on allegations of voyeurism in January. Restraining orders were then issued against him. Those orders ban individuals from engaging in actions, such as stalking. Hirokawa was released at the end of January, after he was summarily indicted.

Before Hirokawa's release, police officers had the woman stay at a relative's home and install security cameras at her residence.