News On Japan

Boy suspected in murder of sex worker at love hotel ‘planned suicide’

Jun 04, 2021 (tokyoreporter.com) - A 19-year-old boy suspected in the murder of a sex worker at a love hotel in Tachikawa City earlier this week intended to commit suicide with her, police revealed on Tuesday, reports TBS News。

“Inspired by video showing a person being killed, I planned to film a forced double suicide,” he told police in the latest development. “But when she refused, we got into a fight and I stabbed her.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the boy is suspected of fatally stabbing Komichi Moriya, a 31-year-old employee at a “delivery health” service, inside a room at Hotel City.

As he fled the scene, he then stabbed a male colleague of the woman in corridor of the hotel.

Moriya, who had suffered some 70 stab wounds to her chest and abdomen, was confirmed dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, her male colleague is receiving medical care for a stab wound to the abdomen, the Tachikawa Police Station said previously.

A knife with a 20-centimeter-long blade was found at the scene.

After the boy entered the room, Moriya alerted her colleague by telephone. “[He’s] taking illicit photos. Come quick,” she said.

“I actually thought he was going to work”

When the colleague arrived, the perpetrator stabbed him in the corridor. He then placed the distress call.

After the incident, the perpetrator fled the scene on foot in the direction of JR Tachikawa Station.

He then traveled by train to Hajima Station, where he boarded a motorbike. Police he then traveled to Akiruno City. Police arrested him in the city the next day.

“On the day of the incident, he appeared to be the same as usual,” the boy’s mother said. “I heard that he passed an exam for a job two days ago. However, he later received a rejection notice. I actually thought he was going to work [on that day].”

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Typhoon No. 25 was moving away from Japan over waters to the east early on September 22, bringing an end to rainfall across the Kanto region while remaining a strong storm as it tracked northeast at 45 kilometers per hour at 3 a.m.

Severe transport disruption continued across Chiba Prefecture on the morning of September 22 even as Typhoon No. 25 moved away from Japan, with major JR lines still suspended, rail access to Narita Airport disrupted by river flooding, highways closed across the Boso Peninsula and thousands of travelers dealing with the aftermath of the previous day's cancellations.

Japan collected another 12 medals on Day 3 of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on September 21, with 17-year-old swimmer Shin Ohashi and karateka Kakeru Nishiyama winning gold, while the host nation also advanced strongly in women's volleyball, baseball, soccer, handball and hockey.

People aged 65 and older accounted for a record 29.6% of Japan's population in 2026, the highest proportion among major countries worldwide, while the number of elderly people in employment also reached an all-time high as Japan marked Respect for the Aged Day on September 21.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako watched Japan defeat Kazakhstan in a women’s basketball preliminary-round game at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

People aged 65 and older accounted for a record 29.6% of Japan's population in 2026, the highest proportion among major countries worldwide, while the number of elderly people in employment also reached an all-time high as Japan marked Respect for the Aged Day on September 21.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture on September 20, touring exhibits that recreate famous scenes from Studio Ghibli films and posing for a photograph with the character No-Face.

Police in Kanagawa Prefecture have rearrested four teenagers on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old high school student who died after being assaulted in Sagamihara in August.

Drinking parties remain a lively part of social life in Kansai even as younger generations increasingly turn away from alcohol and izakaya bankruptcies rise at a record pace, with customers describing the gatherings less as occasions to drink heavily and more as opportunities to maintain friendships, meet new people and build connections across generations.

Anonymous and fluid criminal groups known in Japan as "tokuryu" are adopting increasingly elaborate tactics, including a scheme in which elderly victims are persuaded to hide cash inside refrigerators before thieves enter their homes, as authorities struggle to combat networks whose members often have no direct contact with one another.

A luxury mansion in Bangkok described as resembling a palace was being used as a base for a specialized fraud operation targeting Japanese people, with Thai authorities detaining 14 people, including four Japanese men.

Copper roofing has been stripped from Shinano-no-miya Shrine in Oshika Village, Nagano Prefecture, leaving the wooden structure exposed in the latest of a series of similar thefts reported at shrines across the prefecture.

A popular Tokyo nightclub hostess and influencer known as Yamatorino, who says she generated more than 200 million yen in sales during a single month, has been arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine with her boyfriend at their home in Roppongi.