A popular actress and streamer was brutally killed in the middle of a live broadcast, according to local police.
Japanese voice actress and “IRL” (in real life) streamer/influencer Airi Sato “was heard by passers-by screaming ‘help!’ and her live stream went dark, with the sounds of emergency vehicle sirens audible to those watching,” according to The New York Times.
The Telegraph reported that the 22-year-old Sato was live streaming to about 6,000 viewers at the time of the tragedy.
According to police, the incident took place Tuesday.
A day later, police had already apprehended Kenji Takano, 42, on suspicion of carrying out the attack.
Takano has admitted to the stabbing, though he insisted he didn’t mean to kill her.
“Violent crimes remain rare on Tokyo’s usually orderly and clean streets, though there have long been concerns of Japan’s social cohesion fraying from growing inequalities, stagnant wages and, more recently, rising prices,” the Times reported.
And police think “prices,” or at least some money, may have been involved in the attack.
“The police said that they believe this was not a random attack,” the Times noted. “They said Mr. Takano appears to have been a follower who said he once lent Ms. Sato a large sum of money that she never repaid.
“This may have led Mr. Takano to hold a grudge against Ms. Sato, the police said.
“While she didn’t disclose beforehand where she would be streaming from, Mr. Takano tracked her down by recognizing the buildings behind her, according to local media reports citing police investigators.”
USA TWITTER LETS SPREAD THE NEWS: IRL Streaming is absolutely dangerous
And so is owing someone more than $13K USD
22 year old stream Airi Sato, was murdered live Tuesday morning at Takadanobaba station in Tokyo
For those who dont know,
Takadanobaba is a very chill college… pic.twitter.com/GoH2JFbVaT
— Freya Fox
DJ IN TOKYO (@freyafoxtv) March 12, 2025
The Times also reported that just two years ago, a different female streamer in Japan was similarly stabbed to death by a man with whom she had just broken up.
While the above incidents ended far more tragically, this is hardly the first time that streamer safety — particularly women streamers — has become a hot topic in the past week.
As KTTV reported on March 6, a trio of American streamers was accosted as a seemingly disgruntled fan allegedly hurled death threats at them.
Streamers Valkyrae (Rachell Hofstetter), Cinna and Emiru (Emily Schunk) were doing a joint livestream as they traversed Santa Monica Pier on March 2.
During the broadcast, a fan who had interacted with them before appeared to get visibly angry after his advances were seemingly rebuffed.
That incident ended with a police report filed and nobody was harmed.
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