The Harrowing Stalker Ordeal of Bimajo Gravure Idol Kazuko Iwamoto
Three delivery couriers arrived at the same time
“I seriously considered ending my life at one point. The fear was so overwhelming that I collapsed and had to be taken away in an ambulance.”
Kazuko Iwamoto (49), a gravure idol who once took the nation by storm as a finalist in the “National Bimajo Contest” and was dubbed the “Miraculous 43-Year-Old,” found herself at the center of a shocking incident in 2019. At Atami Station, a dispute with her then-boyfriend escalated, leading her to attack him with a box cutter.
“After the incident, the number of people who hated me skyrocketed. I quit all social media, but the online harassment on forums and other platforms never stopped. I could ignore the negative comments, but when the threats turned into real-life consequences, I couldn’t just look away.”
After being released without indictment, Iwamoto returned to her hometown in Tottori, hoping to recuperate. However, her address in Tottori, and even the one she later moved to in Osaka, was quickly discovered by obsessive online trolls who began targeting her in disturbing ways.
“Every day, cash-on-delivery seafood sets arrive at my apartment. Once, five large pizzas and multiple McDonald’s deliveries were scheduled to arrive just as I was getting home. There was even a time when three different delivery couriers showed up at the same time, all looking confused.
The prank orders from McDonald’s became so frequent that I was probably blacklisted—they stopped accepting deliveries to my address. Then, I started receiving funeral brochures in the mail, which made me live in constant fear.
The scariest moment was when a package arrived at my apartment in my name, forwarded from a hotel I had stayed at just before. When I checked an online forum where people were spreading hate about me, I saw posts saying, ‘We’re tracking her with a drone’ and ‘We’ve planted high-performance cameras and listening devices in her apartment to monitor her for life.’ I don’t know if it was true, but I couldn’t help believing it.”
She bought a rope from Amazon
Daily outfits and actions were uploaded to online forums.
“I’m used to being called ugly or old hag, but having my outfits posted was terrifying. The day I wore lace-up boots, someone immediately wrote, ‘SM delivery girl.’ I have no idea where the ‘SM’ part came from… No matter what I posted on Instagram, people would comment on prostitution or having sex with men. It drove me to the verge of a nervous breakdown, so I quit social media again.”
She is currently working under the name “Chō Yuriko” at a high-end men’s esthetic salon in Osaka called “Kami no Ryōiki” (The Realm of Gods).
“It’s an esthetic salon, so of course, there are no sexual services. It’s a completely legitimate business, but even there, stalkers came and started writing things like ‘Die,’ ‘I’ll kill you,’ and ‘Go kill yourself’ on the shop’s online bulletin board, which caused a lot of trouble for the staff. I just don’t understand their motive. Maybe they’re doing it lightly, but for the one being targeted, it’s truly crushing.”
She consulted the police, but there was nothing they could do. Before she knew it, she had bought a rope on Amazon and hooked it onto the doorknob.
“I looked down from my apartment hallway almost every day, wondering if I should jump. What stopped me was my mother. I had already caused her so much trouble with the incident—how could I leave her behind like that? I told myself, ‘I can’t make her suffer any more. No matter what happens, I have to keep going.'”
When asked if she had a message for the stalkers, she responded firmly:
“I’m working at a men’s esthetic salon. If you have a problem with that, come as a customer and say it to my face. No matter what is written on free online forums, I don’t care anymore. I’m no longer afraid of cowards who throw stones from the shadows.”
She has already hired a lawyer and is reviewing all past defamatory comments. The counterattack of the bimajo (beautiful witch) is about to begin.
