Japan Today Get your ticket to GaijinPot Expo 2024
crime

Man arrested over death of university student in Tokyo hotel

41 Comments

A 29-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a 22-year-old female university student was found in an Ikebukuro hotel on Monday, police said Tuesday.

According to police, the suspect, identified as Masami Konno, accompanied by a friend, turned himself in at a Shibuya police station on Monday night and admitted his involvement in the death of the student, Mami Yoshihara.

Konno was quoted by police as saying, "We got to know each other at an Ikebukuro 'deai' (matchmaking) cafe and we went to a love hotel nearby. But we got into an argument over payment and I lost my temper and strangled her."

Police allege that Konno strangled Yoshihara to death at around dawn on Monday and then fled with her belongings. Based on information provided by Konno during questioning, police later found the victim's bag and its contents in the vicinity of the hotel.

"Deai" cafes were in the news a lot last year when police raided several of them in Toshima Ward. There have been several cases of schoolgirl prostitution being facilitated by such establishments.

© Compiled from news reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

41 Comments
Login to comment

I always feel sorry for the parents of victims in crimes like this. Not only do they have to deal with the grief of losing a daughter in a violent death, they also have to endure the humiliation that she was in a love hotel (and possibly not for the first time). They probably had no idea or even understand how their daughter could do such a thing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So, she didn't have the cash and he would not throw her a freebie? (unemployed man)

Instead kill her over cash? What a moron.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is another reason why people should stay away from dating services in Japan. It is not safe to use a dating service in Japan and it is an unreliable place to try to find a good person to fall in love with there.

I feels so sorry for the parents of the person that was killed. The person that admitted to the killing should be made to pay the parents of the victim at least 150 million yen and be thrown into jail for at least 25 years.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

is not safe to use a dating service in Japan

and else where.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Smartacus, I'm not sure what century you live in, but I doubt the parents are going to be wholly shocked and horrified that a 22-year-old woman was having sex. Average age of "the first time" is 19, not 30.

Now, if they had discovered she was a prostitute or 14 or something like that, maybe I would agree with you.

The guy is the one here who is to blame. He's the one who killed her for no reason. She didn't do anything at all. Who knows--maybe before they went he said he'd pay and then he flaked out. It's hard to know and we're only relying on his word, where he'll try to make it seem sort of justified.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

alladin..you are way off..again..i bet you have never used such a service and you are not talking out of experience. They are a great place to meet someone. Just use common sense. Those girls you read about in the news are not using common sense or are prostituting themselves. Its is common knowlodge about the risk a prostitute takes.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Monkeyz

I have to disagree with you. I'm not saying the victim's parents would be shocked to learn that she was having sex. But I am saying they will be shocked to learn that she may have been frequenting "deai" sites and love hotels for money. No parent wants to believe that his or her daughter could do such a thing.

That knowledge compounds their grief.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hate to sound cynical after the poor girl's death, but it sound to me like the "argument over payment" was unlikely to be about the room charge, and more likely to be about what the girl felt she was owed for services rendered. Otherwise, the whole story is pretty senseless.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Geeeezzz! A death over payment? How much money could that have been? And how do you get to that level of anger over who is paying for something so trivial? Sounds like it was more than who was gonna pay.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

lovejapan21>>> Maybe you are right in your opinion, but as of common sense, I must say that a lot of Japanese girls today lack a lot of it which puts them in these kinds of situations.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

it sound to me like the "argument over payment" was unlikely to be about the room charge, and more likely to be about what the girl felt she was owed for services rendered

I agree. Even a jobless loser would not kill over a 4000 yen love hotel bill....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is another reason why people should stay away from dating services in Japan. It is not safe to use a dating service in Japan and it is an unreliable place to try to find a good person to fall in love with there.

Yeah, like meeting a total stranger at a bar, dance club or coffee shop is so much safer (sarcasm intended).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think every guy knows that if you want to get laid, you gotta pay for the hotel in the least.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

From what I saw on a morning news, that “deai or matchmaking cafe” silly name by the way! Look more like a prostitution house commonly find in south-east asia where women sit in big glass windows room wait for men to pick them up. I wonder if “deai ” mean “prostitution house”? Opps! I am sorry, japan doesn't have such thing call prostitution. they just call it in a difference name.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In japan "matchmaking" & "dating" sites are prostitution clubs.

She was a college prostitute but her photographs on the tv suggests to me she was not a full-time student more likely a full-time prostitute

first of all this guy is unemployed

what kind of date would he go, if he didn't have money ?

He took her belonging to steal money from her pocket book or wallet.

This guy is a nut waiting to explode so he got a prostitute didn't have the money to engage in paid sex gotten angry because he really wanted to have intercourse choked her because he's a nut !!!

I'm sorry for this prostitute

she is a prostitute because they first met that same day !!!. Doesn't look like a one night stand to me !!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I agree. Even a jobless loser would not kill over a 4000 yen love hotel bill....

Since the girl is dead, he can say whatever he wants to.. I don't think he killed the girl over just the hotel fee, I think she demanded more money than he offered and that turned into an argument, but if he said to the police, that means he was to buy prostitute which would give him more punishment so he didn't want to admit that.

It's just my guess, but I think it'd be more natural to think that there was some money negotiation there other than just the payment for the hotel room.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Alladin:

" This is another reason why people should stay away from dating services in Japan. It is not safe to use a dating service in Japan and it is an unreliable place to try to find a good person to fall in love with there. "

Maybe you misunderstand the nature of a Japanese Deai Cafe. There is no assumption about "finding a good person to fall in love" by any party there. They are about "compensated" dating, and the compensation is supposed to be negotiated in the time the participants meet within the premises. Nothing else takes place there, that is how these places stay legal. Clearly, the guy reneged on the deal.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Debucho:

" I agree. Even a jobless loser would not kill over a 4000 yen love hotel bill.... "

Obviously not about the 4000 Yen love hotel bill, but rather about the 30,000 Yen or so compensation they had negotiated. Or do you think the young Ikebukuro gals go to deai cafe to get pollinated for free??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Obviously not about the 4000 Yen love hotel bill, but rather about the 30,000 Yen or so compensation they had negotiated. Or do you think the young Ikebukuro gals go to deai cafe to get pollinated for free??

My point is he was not mad about the hotel fee, but rather the fee for this young lady's (ahem) services..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

My point is he was not mad about the hotel fee, but rather the fee for this young lady's (ahem) services..

yup, i think that is right! or maybe she refused to provide services he demanded. either way, it is not about the hotel fee..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Maybe she asked for the money upfront and then he refused but still tried to get what he came for. She attempted to fight him off and he lost his temper and strangled her...So many possible scenarios here. Whatever really happened, it is so sad for this young girl and her family.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

alternative spins on this tragic murder may have been that: a) He did not have enough or any money and thought he could get away with it and she got hysterical and threatened to get him trouble resulting in his attempt to shut her up. b) She up'd the price and he did not have enough and she was about to fetch the goons to get the money out of him resulting in his attempt to prevent from doing so. c) he is completely nuts and wanted to kill something beautiful....and get some cash and belongings while he was at it.

Without speaking ill of the victim here I suspect that something set her off which spooked him, he panicked and did what he did, in no way justifying his actions but I know from personal experience how hysterical people can get, the respondant of the hysteria could easily snap, I know I almost did.

just speculation of course

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What happened is sad, for both these young people. Most of whats been said here is pure speculation but the fact is the guy turned himself in. The story will become clear and the guy will pay the price for his lack of control. On the meagre evidence shown they both have taken a risk, she's paid the ultimate price and his life is effectively over too.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Konno was quoted by police as saying, “We got to know each other at an Ikebukuro ‘deai’ (matchmaking) cafe and we went to a love hotel nearby. But we got into an argument over payment and I lost my temper and strangled her.” This Konno bastard deserves nothing less than the DEATH PENALTY!!! No job, but wants to get laid, then has the nerve to strangle this poor girl in a love hotel in dirty Ikebukuro! Time for this scum bag to HANG!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It could be that some of these 'cafes' are actually legit places to meet someone but from what I could find out many are illegal and set up to look like love hotels where young girls can get paid for 'dating' some guy. It's disturbing that young girls turn to this industry to make some money. The police are supposedly cracking down on these love hotels that aren't following regulations.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Konno was quoted by police as saying, “We got to know each other at an Ikebukuro ‘deai’ (matchmaking) cafe and we went to a love hotel nearby. But we got into an argument over payment and I lost my temper and strangled her.”

since the beginning of prostitution, many a whore has been strangled to death by a john over the amount of payment. this is why prostitution needs to be legalized. eliminate the pimps, standardize the fees, tax the revenue, record all of the johns into a police/justice ministry database, etc. it's time that the oldest profession became a legalized profession. there was no need for this girl to die this way.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hmm.. Perhaps the girl said she would cry "rape" if Konno didn't cough up more cash... Just speculation, but it did jump to mind.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

.Smartacus said it. How sad for the parents to realise what their daughter was up to. I imagine it'd be bad enough having your kids die before you, but to know they had their lives ended in a sleazy love hotel in Ikebukuro...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Way too much misinformation and assumption here. First, the guy did not say he got into an argument over payment, he said 金銭で口論となり i.e. an argument over money, which I believe to be the costs of the upcoming marriage and how many guests would be attending. But it sounds like this match made in heaven took a turn for the worst, and into an even crappier part of Ikebukuro.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The story will become clear and the guy will pay the price for his lack of control.

Kevin

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Dolphingirl:

" It could be that some of these 'cafes' are actually legit places to meet someone but from what I could find out many are illegal and set up to look like love hotels where young girls can get paid for 'dating' some guy. "

Huh? Deai cafes are not only legal, they are adversiting as such. And love hotels are also legal. Both types of business remain legal because they are not offering sexual services themselves. The Deai Cafes offer a place to meet and negotiate, and the love hotels are offering a place to go and have private time. Frankly, I don´t see what the police can or should do about either of those.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Coinlaundry:

" Way too much misinformation and assumption here. First, the guy did not say he got into an argument over payment, he said 金銭で口論となり i.e. an argument over money, which I believe to be the costs of the upcoming marriage and how many guests would be attending. "

After meeting her in deai Cafe? Thanks for a laugh.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hmm.. Perhaps the girl said she would cry "rape" if Konno didn't cough up more cash... Just speculation, but it did jump to mind.

This is the same unfortunate incident I was thinking of. It's far more likely to drive one into a rage, due to how unfair and unbalanced such a claim would be.

Unfortunately, without the girl we will most likely never know the truth.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Coinlaundry-

which I believe to be the costs of the upcoming marriage and how many guests would be attending

I think you misunderstood the term matchmaking. This case, this was not for marriage, these deai cafes are for men to look for a prostitute and make negotiation on money.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This case, this was not for marriage, these deai cafes are for men to look for a prostitute and make negotiation on money.

Look it might start out that way, but who knows it may blossom into a regular healthy mariage of ignoring each other and cheating. So let's stop giving these matchmaking cafes a hard time and acknowledge that they may in fact save Japan and reinforce that wobbly population pyramid.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@alladin

This is another reason why people should stay away from dating services in Japan. It is not safe to use a dating service in Japan and it is an unreliable place to try to find a good person to fall in love with there.

Dude, they're not going there looking for love. You must have been joking because I don't think you're that naive.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Coinlaundry-

Look it might start out that way, but who knows it may blossom into a regular healthy mariage of ignoring each other and cheating. So let's stop giving these matchmaking cafes a hard time and acknowledge that they may in fact save Japan and reinforce that wobbly population pyramid.

Internet dating sites or those matchmaking parties sometimes work for some people, and I am sure there are lots of people who met through those internet dating sites and/or matchmaking parties, however, in case of Deai cafes, those girls usually have MONEY on their mind and those men have sex on their mind. I don't think anyone is looking for a marriage partner at a deai cafe.. Well, maybe I shouldn't say it never happens that way, but at least in this case (this murder incident), I don't think either that man or the college girl had marriage in mind.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

fishy:

" So let's stop giving these matchmaking cafes a hard time a "

A deai cafe is not a "matchmaking cafe". You seriously misunderstand the concept here. (Or are continuing to make the same joke.)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

WilliB-

huh??? you read Coinlaundry's comment, not mine. I know what deai cafes are, they are for girls to seel themselves for money and men to look for a girl to have sex with. that's all.

it is coinlaundry who is continuing to make the same joke, not me. i was trying to tell him he's misunderstanding the concept of deai cafe.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

fishy: sorry about the wrong attribution

0 ( +0 / -0 )

williB-

that's okay :))

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites