“I just don’t want my face to be photographed…” Man Suspected of Being a “Peeping Tom Hunter” at Senso-ji Temple—His Shocking True Identity Revealed a Month Later When He Was Arrested for Voyeurism

Arrested on charges of voyeurism the month after the “Voyeur Hunter” incident

The “Peeping Tom Hunter” himself was actually a peeping tom—

On June 25, a man emerged from the escort exit at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Asakusa Precinct—he clearly did not want his face photographed. He buried his face completely in the round collar of his shirt, covered it with both hands, and walked to the police van without being able to see anything in front of him.

“The man arrested on June 24 is Hiroaki Nomura (53), an office worker. Last May, at the tourist attraction Senso-ji Temple (Taito Ward, Tokyo), he reportedly approached a man in his 50s whom he suspected of secretly filming a woman, saying, ‘You were secretly filming, weren’t you?’and is suspected of attempting to extort money from him by saying, ‘Hand over the money. One million yen.’ This is the modus operandi of a so-called ‘upskirt hunter.’

“In fact, Nomura had already been arrested the following month—in June of last year—for secretly filming a female student who was visiting Senso-ji Temple on a school trip. The police uncovered this attempted extortion case after examining a smartphone they had seized,” said a reporter from the crime desk of a national newspaper.

“Voyeur hunters” is a term that began to be heard in the late 2010s. These criminals lie in wait at locations where voyeurism is rampant—such as train stations, bookstores, and tourist spots—targeting voyeurs with the aim of extorting money from them.

“In the past, these incidents occurred frequently at locations where secret filming was rampant, such as Shinjuku Station and Shibuya Station, but because many plainclothes police officers are on high alert there, they haven’t been seen much lately. Instead, they’re occurring frequently at stations and tourist spots slightly removed from those areas.When they spot a voyeur, they’ll follow them to a secluded spot and say something like, ‘You were just taking secret photos, weren’t you?’

They might say things like, ‘Let’s go to the police’ or ‘I’ll take you to the victim,’ but in reality, they have absolutely no intention of doing so—their goal from the start is to extort money.“It’s not uncommon for them to manipulate the situation by claiming, ‘Peeping is a violation of local ordinances’ or ‘The maximum fine is 1 million yen,’ and then have the alleged peeping tom decide the amount to pay, so as to avoid being charged with extortion. Since suspect Nomura demanded ‘Pay 1 million yen,’ he may be a repeat offender,” said the reporter mentioned earlier.

In an incident that occurred in Tenjin, Fukuoka City, in September 2024, two men posing as security guards and the father of a victim of secret filming threatened a man who was recording video on his smartphone. Claiming it was a settlement fee for “secret filming,” they told him, “If you pay 3 million yen, we won’t report the incident,” and ultimately defrauded him of 1 million yen.They were arrested on suspicion of fraud. The Fukuoka District Court sentenced the two to three years in prison, suspended for four years, stating that “the amount of the loss was substantial and the crime was particularly malicious.”

It is expected that a substantial sentence will also be handed down to suspect Nomura; however, in response to police questioning,

“I caught the person who took the secret photos, but I didn’t demand any money,”

.