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Kamen Joshi member Erina Kamiya receives death threat on blog

Erina Kamiya
Erina Kamiya of Kamen Joshi said at a press conference that she “found herself in tears” after being threatened online (Oricon News via YouTube)

TOKYO (TR) – An anonymous death threat was posted on the official blog of one of the most popular members of idol group Kamen Joshi (Masked Girls), police investigating the case said on Monday.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating a threat posted on January 24 by an anonymous visitor on the blog of Erina Kamiya, 25, threatening to break into her home with accomplices, kidnap her and kill her, the Sankei Shimbun reports (Feb. 6).

Kamiya tearfully told a press conference on Monday that she “gets scared and uneasy and such, so…I wonder if I can carry on [being an idol].”

“I couldn’t stop shaking as soon as I saw the text, and I even found myself in tears,” Kamiya said. “I’m at this place now where I don’t know what to do.”

“There are also fans out there waiting for me, so I do have feelings of quickly wanting to meet them,” Fuji News Network (Feb. 6) quoted Kamiya as saying.

Often donning hockey masks for performances, Kamen Joshi are based in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Unlike most idol groups, members are free to pursue romantic relationships.

The anonymous visitor posted via multiple overseas providers and used software that masks their traceable details, presenting a challenge in tracking them down, Kamiya’s management agency said.

“Can’t be letting scum like Erina Kamiya live”

A graphic post titled “Can’t be letting scum like Erina Kamiya live” has been spreading across blogs and forums. It reads: “Erina Kamiya, I’ll kill ya. Gotta get rid of dirt like you, you trash. Imma go into your home, kidnap you and lynch you in a thick forest, get ready for it you little s**t. Don’t think you’re so good when you’re a booger, who do you think you are, you really get on my nerves. Going around with that dirty, weird voice that sounds like something that crawled out of an a**hole when you’re a skank, no one needs someone like you around, I’ll rip out all of your teeth! I love seeing blood. Want me to wait around forever until the time comes? Hehehe. After all, a piece of trash like you is worth inflicting pain on the most. I can’t wait. I’ll come to you with a bunch of people soon enough, so you just wait, you. I’ll make you into a daruma and turn you into a sandbag. I’ll crush your eyeballs, rip off your ears and snap that snobbishly long nose of yours. And I’ll sell all your organs to Israel. Shall I be the one to decapitate you?”

Lack of protection for stalker victims, threatened idols

The latest case comes after police were criticized by what many deemed to be a poor response to pop idol Mayu Tomita’s pleas that she feared for her life after she was being stalked by a frenzied male fan who stabbed her dozens of times.

In a letter to Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Tomita said: “When police were questioning me about the details, the first words they said to me after we finished greeting one another was ‘Did you really say you thought you might be murdered?’ But yes, I absolutely told them the words ‘I might be murdered.’ I’m done feeling angry that the police won’t recognize this fact. Now I feel sadness.”

Police directly apologized to Tomita and released the results of an investigation into the handling of her case, admitting that officers “should have determined that there was a need to swiftly secure her safety as soon as possible.”