Streamer Murdered During Live Broadcast in Tokyo

Japan is in shock over the murder of Airi Sato. The 22-year-old streamer was killed after being stabbed on a Tokyo street while live streaming for her followers. According to public broadcaster NHK, the Japanese city police have arrested a man with whom she allegedly had a financial dispute.

The attack occurred while Sato was walking through the Shinjuku district, streaming live on a Japanese platform. At that moment, a man attacked her with a knife about thirteen centimetres long, stabbing her multiple times in the neck and chest, leading to her almost immediate death, as she passed away shortly after being taken to the hospital. The crime, which took place in broad daylight and in front of hundreds of viewers connected to the stream, has left the nation in shock.

The Metropolitan Police Department arrested the suspect, Kenichi Takano, 42, at the scene with two knives in his possession. The man confessed to officers that he was in Tokyo because he had seen an announcement that streamer Sato was going to broadcast live from her trip on Tokyo's Yamanote train line. He also admitted that he was able to locate her by watching the video she was sharing live.

Sato and Takano met in 2021 through the videos she uploaded online, according to Takano's confession. From that point, they began communicating, and he started lending her money, even taking out loans from financial institutions to lend to the streamer. Although it has not been officially confirmed whether they had a romantic relationship or merely a financial connection, the situation deteriorated until it culminated in the crime. However, Takano denied during interrogation that he intended to kill her.

"I lent Sato over 2 million yen (€12,402) for mobile phone expenses and immediate living costs, but she never repaid me," he told the police. He also confessed to having taken out loans from companies to lend the money to Sato.

The local agency Kyodo reports that both Sato and Takano had communicated the issue to the police, although it remained unresolved.