A beautiful Nikkei reporter was arrested on suspicion of stalking a married man for more than three years.

A female reporter for a major newspaper was arrested for stalking a man working for another major news organization.

On August 29, such a report caused a stir in some media outlets. The suspect, Aoi Hanazawa, 33, a female reporter in the Social Security Group of the Economics Department of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, was arrested on August 26 on suspicion of violating the Stalking Control Law against a male acquaintance.

Hanazawa is suspected of using the chat function of the “PayPay” payment app to send 64 messages to a male reporter in his 30s working for another major news organization, telling him “I miss you,” “Don’t leave me alone,” “I don’t want to die,” and so on.

There were also reports that the Metropolitan Police Department had repeatedly warned Hanazawa to stop the stalking behavior. A reporter from the society section of a national newspaper said, “I feel uncomfortable about taking the reports at face value.

Ms. Hanazawa is a career changer from the Mainichi Shimbun. She is well known in Nagata-cho as a beautiful reporter, and she was enthusiastic in her coverage of the issue of married couples with different family names and gender issues. During her time at the Mainichi Shimbun, she worked at the Kyoto and Matsuyama bureaus, and was also assigned to the Political Affairs Department. At the Nikkei Shimbun, he worked as a reporter in the Economics Department, covering the Ministry of Finance and other issues. The man who filed the complaint is Mr. X, who works for another news organization. The “unusual relationship” between the two men was a well-known story in the mass media community.

What kind of “unusual relationship” did they have? A reporter from the social affairs department continues.

They had been having an affair for nearly three years. Mr. X told his colleagues that he was having an affair with Ms. Hanazawa, and it was widely known at his workplace. However, the affair between them became complicated and even resulted in police action.

Apparently, Mr. X leaked his correspondence with Ms. Hanazawa to his fellow reporters, and quite a few people became aware of their troubles. Ms. Hanazawa was also troubled by Mr. X’s domestic violence, and she consulted the Metropolitan Police Department about it.”

A Nikkei newspaper source confided, “Mr. X may have been evading discussions with Mr. Hanazawa.

Mr. X may have been evading discussions with Mr. Hanazawa. When they were having the affair, Mr. Hanazawa approached Mr. X several times to discuss the matter, but he did not accept, leading to the appearance of each other’s relatives. Not a few reporters expressed sympathy for Mr. Hanazawa.”

The Hanazawa suspect reportedly told the interrogator, “There is no doubt that I sent the message, but it was not blocked and I thought it was accepted, so I am not satisfied with it.

Stalking is, of course, unacceptable. However, some reporters are upset that Hanazawa is the only one being singled out as the culprit. A former colleague of Hanazawa’s expressed his mixed feelings.

It is true that Mr. Hanazawa may have been careless in some respects,” said a former colleague. However, he is a reporter who works diligently, and there are many colleagues who have been indebted to him. Rather, Mr. X’s bad reputation was better known. There are female reporters who are angry at Mr. X. They say, “It is unforgivable to play the victim after having an affair.

The arrests that resulted from the muddled affair. There is no doubt that the cost was extremely heavy for the two forward-looking reporters.