A 21-year-old female employee of a Pokemon store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district was fatally stabbed Thursday night by her former partner-turned-stalker, who later took his own life.The attack occurred at around 7 p.m. on the second floor of Sunshine City, a commercial complex, where the Pokemon store is located.A bloody knife with the handle wrapped in a towel, most likely to prevent it from slipping, was found at the scene, according to media reports.
At the time of the attack, there were around 100 shoppers present in the store, including foreign tourists and children, causing chaos in the mall. The Pokemon store was temporarily closed on Friday following the attack.
The two met at work in December 2023 in the city of Hachioji in western Tokyo and began dating in October of the following year, according to authorities. After their relationship ended in July 2025, the victim filed a report to the police in December, saying her ex-boyfriend was stalking her.
The police found Hirokawa lurking near Harukawa’s home when they escorted her back and arrested him on suspicion of violating the antistalking law. A fruit knife was found in a rental car that Hirokawa had parked nearby and footage of the victim secretly filmed post break-up was found on his smartphone.
He was rearrested in January for additional allegations over the possession of a knife and voyeurism and received a restraining order against stalking.
At the time, Hirokawa admitted to stalking the victim and said that he wanted to get back together with her and that he was thinking of suicide.
He was released from detention on Jan. 30 after he was charged through summary proceedings and submitted a written statement vowing to stop his stalking activities.
The police recommended him to go to therapy, which he rejected, Mainichi Shimbun daily reported.
For her own protection, the Tokyo police advised Harukawa to stay with a relative for about a month and install a security camera at her home. After Hirokawa was released, the police checked in with Harukawa several times until mid-March. At the time, there were no signs Hirokawa had been planning an attack.
According to the Mainichi, authorities also recommended Harukawa to change jobs since Hirokawa most likely knew where it was. But the victim resumed working at the Pokemon store after coming back from a relative’s house, saying that it was “her dream” to work there.
There was another fatal stabbing in July last year in Sunshine City, in which a male employee of a law firm located in one of the buildings in the complex was stabbed by his colleague.
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