TOKYO (TR) — “I was thinking about involving others in my death.”
These were the chilling words 26-year-old Taiki Hirokawa told investigators months before he carried out a brutal murder-suicide at a busy commercial complex in Ikebukuro, leaving his 21-year-old ex-girlfriend dead, reports Jiji Press (Apr. 2).
On the evening of March 26, terror struck the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo inside the Sunshine City mall in Toshima Ward. Hirokawa, wielding a knife, stormed the crowded shop and repeatedly stabbed part-time employee Moe Harukawa in a targeted attack. The suspect then turned the blade on himself, slashing his own throat. Both were later pronounced dead.
Details emerging from the ongoing police investigation paint a dark picture of a relationship that spiraled into a fatal obsession. According to police, the two met in December 2023 at a fast-food restaurant in Hachioji City, where they both worked.
“You’re not cut out for it”
After Harukawa ended the relationship, Hirokawa’s behavior escalated into a campaign of harassment, which included the sending of abusive messages. He wrote, “Quit your job at the Pokémon Center because you’re not cut out for it.”
She then blocked him on the chat app Line, which caused the suspect to engage in stalking behavior in 2025. On December 25, a message card was left in front of her home that read, “Please contact me tonight. Please help me.”
Harukawa contacted the police that same day. When investigators escorted her home, they found the suspect nearby and arrested him on suspicion of violating the Stalker Control Law.
During questioning after his arrest, the suspect confessed, “I loved her. I wanted to get back together with her.” A fruit knife was found in a rental car parked nearby. He reportedly said at the time, “I was thinking about suicide. I was thinking about involving others in my death.”
Despite being ordered to pay an 800,000 yen fine following a summary indictment in January, his deadly fixation remained unchecked.
Swimmer in his youth
Relatives of the suspect have expressed shock at the tragedy. Raised primarily in Okinawa Prefecture by a single mother, Hirokawa was a competitive swimmer in his youth, once helping his team set a prefectural middle school record in the 800-meter relay.
“He was a gentle, upstanding older brother to his younger siblings,” one former neighbor recalled. However, after failing his university entrance exams, his life appeared to lose direction.
Shortly before the bloody rampage, Hirokawa reportedly boasted to his mother, “I got a girlfriend!” This delusion is what investigators believe may have triggered his final, fatal outburst.
The case has reignited fierce debate over the effectiveness of current anti-stalking laws, as Harukawa’s desperate pleas to authorities were ultimately unable to save her from her ex-lover’s attack.
