She Was Stabbed 55 Times at 22: The Full Story Behind the Takadanobaba Livestreamer Murder

Betrayed by his only source of comfort

At 9:51 a.m. on March 11, 2025, a woman who was livestreaming was stabbed 55 times with a knife by a man on a street near Takadanobaba Station in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. On the livestreaming app Fuwachi, her screams of agony as she was brutally killed were broadcast in real time.

“Ahh— it hurts, stop, it hurts, help me, help me, no, no, help me.”

The victim was 22-year-old Airi Sato, a livestreamer known as “Mogami Ai.” The perpetrator was defendant Kenichi Takano, 44, who had been a devoted fan of hers. The cause was reportedly that Takano had become romantically attached to Airi, spent a large amount of money on her, and was unable to recover approximately ¥2.5 million that he had lent her. What exactly is livestreaming, which became a factor in this murder? What emerged from the trial I attended in July this year and from my reporting was the bottomless loneliness of the people who gathered on the app.

Takano grew up in Tochigi Prefecture and had difficulty forming relationships with others from childhood. After working for a company for several years, he entered a period of social withdrawal that lasted about 15 years. But his family home was not a place where he could feel safe. His mother suffered a brain illness, his father became exhausted from caring for her, and the household descended into turmoil. In court, Takano described his family relationships this way:

“We ate separately, there was absolutely no conversation, and all I felt was fear of my father.”

For Takano, who was struggling under these circumstances, watching Fuwachi became his emotional refuge. It was there that he met Airi.

Airi began livestreaming on Fuwachi at the end of 2021. Takano met her during her second livestream. At the time, Airi was 19 and Takano was 39. Fuwachi allows viewers to send tips to the streamers they support. Airi exchanged LINE contact information with Takano and would whisper affectionate words to him almost every day. Takano quickly became deeply involved, spending more than ¥1.6 million in roughly six months. Below is a LINE message Takano sent to Airi:

“I love you, Airi. I’ll always love you. I love you so much, I really do. Please, just reply to me. I’m lonely, Airi. You’re all I have.”

Driven to the brink

Beginning in September 2022, Airi began asking Takano to lend her cash. The reasons she gave for borrowing the money were filled with falsehoods.

“I can’t pay my phone bill.” “I need money for my sister’s abortion.” “I have cancer.” “I vomited blood.”

Takano took her claims at face value. He borrowed money from consumer finance companies and elsewhere, and in just about two months, the amount he lent Airi reached approximately ¥2.55 million.

Not long after he lent her the money, Airi suddenly stopped responding to him. Takano began to suspect that he had been deceived. He was increasingly driven into a corner by demands for repayment from the consumer finance companies. This is a LINE message Takano sent to Airi around that time:

“Help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me.”

It is clear just how desperate Takano had become.

In the summer of 2023, Takano filed a lawsuit against Airi seeking repayment of the debt, but she claimed that she did not have the money. Takano came to believe that Airi intended to default on the debt. That belief eventually turned into intense anger.

And then the incident occurred in Takadanobaba.

On July 15, 2026, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Takano to 16 years in prison for murder and other charges. In a letter Takano sent me from the detention center, he wrote:

“I believe this was a personal incident involving me, rather than something that is a social issue.”

But to me, this case appears to reveal the dark side of the internet—a world capable of swallowing up people who are socially vulnerable. [Some names and forms of reference have been omitted.]

The August 7–14 issue of “FRIDAY,” released July 24, and the paid edition “FRIDAY GOLD” provide a more detailed account of Airi’s lonely upbringing and the harrowing circumstances that drove Takano into a state of extreme psychological distress.

For more details and additional photographs, click here ↓

From the August 7 & 14, 2026, combined issue of “FRIDAY”