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Murder of Shiori Ino

SOLVED1999Okegawa Station, Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · domestic violence · suicide — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

Shiori Ino was a 21-year-old Japanese university student who began dating Kazuhito Komatsu in January 1999 after meeting him at an amusement arcade near Ōmiya Station in Saitama Prefecture. Komatsu, who operated brothels with his brother Takeshi, misrepresented his age and occupation and pressured Ino with expensive gifts. When she tried to end the relationship, he responded with threats against her and her family, and by late March 1999 she had written a will and told a friend that she feared for her life.

After Ino stated on 14 June 1999 that she would not see Komatsu again, he, his brother, and an associate went to the Ino family home and threatened the family with fabricated claims. Ino recorded the confrontation and brought it to the Saitama Prefecture police the next day, but officers told her she had no case. She and her parents returned to the police on 16 June and were again turned away, and a free legal clinic also dismissed their concerns. Over the following months the family faced repeated silent phone calls and hundreds of letters and posters defaming Ino and her father, and further approaches to police produced no action.

In June 1999, Komatsu approached Yoshifumi Kubota, a former manager at one of the brothels, with a ¥20 million arrangement to have Ino killed. Kubota recruited two acquaintances, Akira Kawakami and Yoshitaka Ito, and in July Komatsu traveled to Okinawa to establish an alibi. On 26 October 1999, as Ino arrived at Okegawa Station to attend afternoon classes, Kubota stabbed her twice; she was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, with the cause of death recorded as shock from massive bleeding.

Following the killing, Saitama police circulated false characterizations of Ino that tabloid and mainstream outlets amplified. The suspects were not arrested until an investigative journalist independently examined the case and published his findings in the magazine FOCUS. Kubota was arrested on 19 December 1999, and Takeshi Komatsu, Kawakami, and Ito were arrested the next day. An arrest warrant was issued for Kazuhito Komatsu, whose body was found in a lake in Teshikaga on 27 January 2000; his death was ruled a suicide.

The four surviving defendants were convicted. Kubota received an eighteen-year sentence, Kawakami and Ito fifteen years each, and Takeshi Komatsu a life sentence that the Supreme Court upheld in 2006. Three former Saitama police officers — Toshio Katagiri, Hirokazu Furuta, and Tsuyoshi Honda — were convicted of document falsification over their handling of Ino's complaints and received suspended prison terms in 2000. Ino's family sued the Saitama prefectural government, and the courts ordered compensation while declining to find that police neglect had caused her death. In November 2000, a stalker regulation law took effect in response to the case.

Key facts

Victims
Shiori Ino
Date
1999
Location
Okegawa Station, Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1978-05-18

    Shiori Ino is born.

  2. 1999-01

    Ino begins dating Kazuhito Komatsu after meeting him at an amusement arcade in Saitama.

  3. 1999-03-30

    Ino writes a will and again attempts to end the relationship, relenting after Komatsu threatens her family.

  4. 1999-06-14

    Ino tells Komatsu she will not see him again; Komatsu, his brother, and an associate threaten the Ino family at their home.

  5. 1999-06-15

    Ino brings an audio recording of the confrontation to the Saitama Prefecture police, who tell her she has no case.

  6. 1999-06-16

    Ino and her parents return to the police and are again turned away.

  7. 1999-06-22

    Komatsu approaches Yoshifumi Kubota with a ¥20 million arrangement to have Ino killed.

  8. 1999-07-05

    Komatsu travels to Naha, Okinawa, to build an alibi.

  9. 1999-10-26

    Ino is fatally stabbed at Okegawa Station and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

  10. 1999-12-19

    Kubota is arrested.

  11. 1999-12-20

    Takeshi Komatsu, Akira Kawakami, and Yoshitaka Ito are arrested.

  12. 2000-01-16

    Eight additional people are arrested for assisting the harassment, and an arrest warrant is issued for Kazuhito Komatsu.

  13. 2000-01-27

    Kazuhito Komatsu's body is found in a lake in Teshikaga; his death is ruled a suicide.

  14. 2000-09-07

    Three former police officers are sentenced for document falsification, with the sentences suspended.

  15. 2000-11

    A stalker regulation law takes effect in response to the case.

  16. 2000-12-22

    Ino's family files a lawsuit against the Saitama police.

  17. 2003-02-16

    A district court orders the prefecture to pay compensation but declines to find that police neglect caused Ino's death.

  18. 2006-09-05

    The Supreme Court upholds Takeshi Komatsu's life sentence.

Best coverage

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People

  • Yoshifumi Kubota

    CONVICTED

    Hired assailant who fatally stabbed Ino; sentenced to eighteen years in prison.

    citation on file

  • Toshio Katagiri

    CONVICTED

    Former Saitama Prefecture police officer convicted of document falsification over the handling of Ino's complaints; received a suspended prison term.

    citation on file

  • Kazuhito Komatsu

    CHARGED

    Ino's former boyfriend, identified as the person who arranged the murder-for-hire; an arrest warrant was issued for him, but he died by suicide on 27 January 2000 before he could be tried.

    citation on file

  • Takeshi Komatsu

    CONVICTED

    Brother of Kazuhito Komatsu and a co-conspirator in the murder-for-hire plot; sentenced to life imprisonment, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2006.

    citation on file

  • Yoshitaka Ito

    CONVICTED

    Recruited into the murder-for-hire plot; sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

    citation on file

  • Shiori Ino

    VICTIM

    21-year-old university student who was fatally stabbed at Okegawa Station in Saitama Prefecture on 26 October 1999.

    citation on file

  • Hirokazu Furuta

    CONVICTED

    Former Saitama Prefecture police officer convicted of document falsification over the handling of Ino's complaints; received a suspended prison term.

    citation on file

  • Akira Kawakami

    CONVICTED

    Recruited into the murder-for-hire plot; sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

    citation on file

  • Tsuyoshi Honda

    CONVICTED

    Former Saitama Prefecture police officer convicted of document falsification over the handling of Ino's complaints; received a suspended prison term.

    citation on file

Places

Okegawa Station, Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

35.9989, 139.5487

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Shiori Ino, a 21-year-old university student, was fatally stabbed in Okegawa, Saitama, Japan, on 26 October 1999 in a contract killing arranged by her abusive former boyfriend, after police repeatedly declined to act on her stalking reports.
Where did the murder happen?
Okegawa Station, Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
Who was convicted?
Yoshifumi Kubota (Hired assailant who fatally stabbed Ino; sentenced to eighteen years in prison.), Toshio Katagiri (Former Saitama Prefecture police officer convicted of document falsification over the handling of Ino's complaints; received a suspended prison term.), Takeshi Komatsu (Brother of Kazuhito Komatsu and a co-conspirator in the murder-for-hire plot; sentenced to life imprisonment, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2006.), Yoshitaka Ito (Recruited into the murder-for-hire plot; sentenced to fifteen years in prison.), Hirokazu Furuta (Former Saitama Prefecture police officer convicted of document falsification over the handling of Ino's complaints; received a suspended prison term.), Akira Kawakami (Recruited into the murder-for-hire plot; sentenced to fifteen years in prison.), and Tsuyoshi Honda (Former Saitama Prefecture police officer convicted of document falsification over the handling of Ino's complaints; received a suspended prison term.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.

Sources

  1. Murder of Shiori Inowikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. Contemporaneous coverage of the Shiori Ino casenews · FindArticles · 2026-07-05
  3. Ladies & the Law: The Murder That Resulted in Japan's Anti-Stalking Actnews · Savvy Tokyo · 2026-07-05

Last verified JUL 2026

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