Japanese tourist stabbed to death in Turkey

It amazes me why people still travel to all these fanatical Islamic countries

Turkey is not such country

I am turkish and I am very sorry for this things.Some animals in turkey killed these peoples, our government will punish them and i hope they will soil in jail. .Normally all peoples in turkey love japan people too much.We have historical connection..Please forgive us....I am so so sorry.......I shame bec of this happen...

Japan was always the 1st nation to help my country (Turkey) whenever a natural disaster occurred. I feel so ashamed of the inhuman act against these Japanese ladies. It is a pity that murderers are not executed in Turkey nowadays. I hope the murderer(s) are seized soon and rot in the prison. Please accept my sincere condolences. I feel that your loss is also my loss.

It amazes me why people still travel to all these fanatical Islamic countries.

Yeah, like this sort of thing never happens in normal countries.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/12/us/guam-stabbing-deaths/index.html

I have to say, the way the Turkish government handled the loss of the Olympics in Turkey was absolutely appalling. If this murder was motivated by the Olympic Committee's decision, then Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan and his party members have once again blood on their hands.

My sincere condolences to the grieving family and to the kind hearted people of Japan. In the name of the Ataturk Turks of Turkey we pray for you...we are deeply sorry.

It's a shame. Turkey is generally a safe, friendly place to visit. Just shows you have to take care wherever you go.

Yeah! This kind of thing would never happen here in SAFETY Japan, right? Only a few months ago, some Japanese idiots killed an innocent Nepalese worker in Osaka! Maybe Osaka is not really Japan?! Anyway, who knows why this lady was killed, I hope they do find the idiot criminal ASAP though! RIP innocent Japanese student

She wasn't alone - her companion was injured too, but stable in hospital now.

Tragic. Such a waste of a young life. My condolences to Miss Kurihara's family and friends.

I'm from Turkey. We are so sorry. Actually we dont want to 2020 Olympic Games.NOT ABOUT 2020 Olympic Games. This is individual crime. WE ARE SO SORRY ABOUT IT.

I'm from Turkey and I'm so sorry about this tragedy. We always love Japanese, and you should know that there is no problem about olympic games..Police will find the reason; but please do not forget that every place is not secure in the same ways; even though a touristic place. Select the place where is fully sought

First of all I want to give my sincere condolence to Japanese people. As an ordinary Turkish person I abhor such incidents in anywhere in the world. But it would be wrong to blame Turkey or Turkish people with regards to 2020 Olympics to defeat to Japan. In general, we really see Japanese culture close to us, and we respect Japanese people a lot. I think this murder is either planned with a terrorist group in Turkey, called PKK, or extreme Kemalist people who use disgusting provocations to defame the government at every opportunity so that they will lose their credibility internationally( because they will give reference to government as they competed with Japan for Olympics) PKK always attempts to put Turkey into difficult situation in the international arena through such unfortunate incidents. This murder cannot be connected to Turkish society or culture. An another possibility is that one of the Japanese Car company will make a huge investment in Turkey, and it is not confirmed yet, another country or organisation may have plotted this so that Japanese company would give up investing in Turkey and they would make the investment in their country. Once again in general, Japanese people are really loved and respected much more than any other tourists in Turkey. I hope murderers will be arrested soon and they will be sentenced with harshest punishments. Please accept my apologies and condolences in the name of Turkish society. As a Turkish person I am as upset as Japanese people :( With lots of love from Turkey.

And they were only 22.

Sad outcome for a vacation. I hope they catch the culprit soon.

When you think about how the parents are feeling, this is too sorrowful to bear. There are psychopaths everywhere.

Probably traveling alone because she wouldn't have been alone like this if it was a tour.

She wasn't alone.

I cant believe that how stupid comments people can write. Some people says it may be revenge of olympics, some people says not to go islamic countries. First of all this kind of crimes can occur everywhere including JAPAN, dont you read crime section of japantoday.com, just today a woman was killed in Kanagawa, who killed that woman? Turks? And how can a newspaper can think relation between olympics and crime? I am very sorry for these 2 girls, and I believe murderers will be caught soon.

RIdiculous to link this to the Olympics.

And Turkey is more secular than several Northern European countries, the US has more fundamentalists than Turkey does.

I am Turkish and I know Cappodocia very well.Göreme is a beautiful touristic place and millions of tourists have visited..The terrible attack has no relation with the olympic games.A person ,drug-addict, has been arrested, probably he tried to rob them,We will learn the reason soon.We,,Turkish people ,are very sorry and 5000 local people in Göreme protested the event today walking with Japanese flag.

I'm from Turkey and I am so sorry for the victims. I personally wished that Tokyo would win the Olympics and I am glad they did. Turkish people loves Japanese people but just because of couple of criminals our country gave a bad impression. I personally condemned this crime and wish that this won't effect our relationship with our honorable Japanese friends. I created an account just to say this to the readers. Turks will never forget for your help in Van Earthquake ( also Atsushi Miyazaki died during the eartquake rest in peace) and the Sinking of Ertugrul Frigate .

doomo arigatoo gozaimasu

How terrible. If it was related to the 2020 win, then Japanese should avoid Turkey for a long time to come. I bet there would be no Turks stabbed in Japan if Istanbul had one.

Sad to hear of this; Deepest condolences to Kurihara Mai's family and friends. Speedy recovery to her companion.

Im so sorry. Its a shame :(((

When one travels to any country that is not considered a "third world nation", one expects some form of protection. In this case there was none, especially since this is such a well visited tourist spot. As far as whoever did this, he/she might not know that these two young people were Japanese unless they were on a Japanese tour, which was not indicated in the article. However whatever the reasons, this is a tragic event, and as an aside, Turkey has been the host for many religions in addition to Islam, and also hosts a very large American Military Strike Force on its soil. You cannot blame a country for a countryman.

Tragic story.

I hope we get some follow-up reporting to this incident, and as a result some positive practical advice for future tourists.

It is so irresponsible to say that the Japanese tourist has been killed because of the International Olympic Committee’s latest decision or Turkey is a fundamentalist Muslim country. But Einstein has indicated many years ago ""Breaking an Atom is much easier that breaking a prejudice".

majority of japanese dont hate turkish ppl because of this tho lamentable.

we just wish the criminal gonna be arrested.

it is so hard to deal with this as a turkish tour guide who lived in that peticular town 'Cappadocia'!i lived there for almost three years.and guided hiking tours in that valley over and over.but there are some unfortunate times that teribble things happens even in an ordinary town.as a young turkish women i am deeply wounded due to this crime against the japanese girls.i wish there was a way to comfort the families but at least they should know my friends in Cappadocia held a ceremony in the place where the girls were found today.and the police arrested a man and i hope anybody involved with this crime will pay for their actions.and please stop talking about turkey unless you've been in here.this is a democracy,and a secular country this means we are not ruled by some crazy extreme muslims.we are not the greatest country in the world but it is so absurd to attack two japanese tourists over the loss of the olimpic games.i am pretty sure the man who attacked them don't even care about that.he is just a sick son of a bitch!

I love Japan and the Japanese. I condemn this heinous crime.

As a Turkish person and someone who lived in that region, I am DEEPLY sadden and so SHAMED by this story. I am so sorry for what happened..so sorry.... I wish they can give me these two guys so I can smacked the shit out of them. I am sure the local people feels the same as well.

not everyone was hanging on the edge waiting for the Olympic results. To think everyone cared about it at once on the same day is a ridiculous arrogant fallacy. Therefore it's highly doubtful that an event would be related to the Olympics. Turks themselves would be appalled at this tragedy and any news media implying otherwise is just wrong and should apologize

from turkey - we all sad for his death. this is a terrible situation. you know that may bad guys can be everywhere of world. ı fell, turks and japanase people are very close, like a brother a sister. we apologize on behalf of these bad people

Murder is a terrible thing, but to have it happen while on holiday ...

The region is popular with Japanese tourists.

The region was popular with Japanese tourists. Terrible waste of life.

:(

How does everybody here know that the attackers were Turks, motivated by hate after losing the Olympics bid?

I cant believe that how stupid comments people can write. Some people says it may be revenge of olympics,

I agree. It was kind of big news in Japanese media that right after Tokyo was chosen for 2020 Olympics, Turkish people started to tweet, “Tebrikler Tokyo” (Congratulations Tokyo). Many Japanese are moved by that.

http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/nonsec/social/181445/

Mai Kurihara's family lives in Natori, Sendai up in the Tohoku area. We're all shocked to hear about her death in Sendai.

My sincere condolences to the grieving family and to the kind hearted people of Japan .We are deeply sorry. JAPANESE PEOPLE LOVE......

Good news everyone, the suspect is already in custody of authorities. The surviving victim Hoshie recognized the attacker from his picture. I hope he will get life sentence in prison and will rot in Hell to eternity.

Turkey is not a radical islam county.Turkey is secular and democratic country and east european nation.if you dont know,you dont talking about this.i am very soryy for about japanese civilian.i like all japanes and i wish the best of all japan...

Assumptions that this woman was killed because she was Japanese and Turkey just lost out on the Olympic bid to Japan are pretty ridiculous. You'd have to assume that the guy was able to recognize a Japanese from a Chinese or Korean, which most people can't. You'd have to assume that they communicated well enough to have understood each other and that she told him she was Japanese. You'd have to assume that her being Japanese enraged him so much he killed her because of it. You'd have to assume he cared enough about losing the Olympics to Japan that he found out she was Japanese and killed her because of it. Turkey has lost the bid for the Olympics five times. Were any people from the countries they lost to killed right after the bid was announced or did Japan winning this bid just enrage this guy so much that he decided to kill because of it?

The Chronic: It amazes me why people still travel to all these fanatical Islamic countries on vacation and think they are safe?????

It amazes me 1) that you think Turkey is a fanatical Islamic country and 2) that you'd make such a ridiculous comment when Turkey has over 27 million tourists each year and incidences of violence against tourists are extremely rare. Do an online search and you'll see the same couple of stories over and over. It's no different than any other place where millions of tourists visit. This was an extremely unfortunate incident but also an extremely unusual one. Stay in your little box of assumptions though if it makes you feel safer because people like you don't make good tourists anyway.

The two suspects identified by Teramatsu have apparently had a history of using drugs and sexual harrassment, according to the police.

These Brutal Crimes happen all the time in Turkey. Keep away from this place as it is NOT safe as some of the supposedly Turkish Commenters say. Life is cheap there and is a Wild West kind of place. Most of Turkey is NOT SAFE. MANY TOURISTS HAVE BEEN RAPED IN TURKEY.

It is very sad and tragic, as some of the good people from Turkey mentioned, the PKK etc..would love nothing better than to shame Turkey and make problems for Turkey because the Kurdish minority there wants to break away and make there own independent country, as they are also trying in Iraq etc..anyway very, very sad and RIP

Hmm some pathetic lowlife who's butthurt is killing Japanese? If this is the case that's pathetic!

I wonder if the murders were Moslem fanatics.

Oh, OK! So, one Turk with a grudge 'possibly' took out his frustrations on Japanese tourists and the posters in this thread want to boycott the whole country? Grow a brain people!

The Chronic...!!!

Turkey is not a fanatical Islamic nation,without knowing the conversation...!!!

Turkey is not arabic,turkey is east european country and have a secular system and have a democracy...

OK?

capulcuturk: Those who killed these girls should be buried alive, they don't deserve to live regardless why they committed this horrific crime for. I am married to a Japanese national and we were both devastated with the news.

Really, buried alive? You're devastated? Nothing like a news story to bring out the hyperbolic in all of us, right?

This is shocking... you don't expect to get injured let alone murdered on a holiday. RIP to the poor girl, and I hope her friend recovers soon. In a related story a British woman was also murdered in Turkey today. Lovely place for holidaymakers, I don't think.

Those who killed these girls should be buried alive, they don't deserve to live regardless why they committed this horrific crime for. I am married to a Japanese national and we were both devastated with the news.

Turkey has the 6th most visited city in the world, overwhelmingly friendly to tourist, particularly to the Japanese as Turks know the quality which Japanese tourist possess, like no other.

There are numerous rumors including the attackers being Syrian or another national as this kind of crime to Japanese tourists is extremely rare.

YES WE DO HAVE AN IDIOT PRESIDENT who should have congratulated Japan for the winning bid of 2020 Olympics, nevertheless, Tokyo would be the second favorite city of Turks after Istanbul for the historic and cultural ties between the two countries.

My Japanese fellows, I know its extremely disturbing news, we do share your pain. Its Turkey's duty to find those responsible behind this attack who shook the nation. But please don't you ever think this attack is related to religion or the Olympics.. its is another violence which could have happened anywhere else in the world.

Please accept Turks most heartfelt sympathies for your loss…our thoughts are with Japan and the victims' families during this difficult time.

Best

Kawaisou. If this was indeed Olympics-related, some Turks are very bad sportsmen! Strangely I thought the Turks were always very fond of Japan (which as some historical background) but obviously then some are not.

It amazes me why people still travel to all these fanatical Islamic countries on vacation and think they are safe????? RIP to the victim and hope the friend survives.

Yeah, the first thing that crossed my mind too - was it in revenge for Tokyo having won over Istanbul. Investigate and please report your findings. I wanna know!

Revenge for the loss of Olymopics to Tokyo?

Probably traveling alone because she wouldn't have been alone like this if it was a tour. Random killings could happen at any time. Were their belongings taken?