5/23/2016

Passion of An Idol

She was there for her live music performance on Saturday night. Waiting for her around, the man approached her and pierced her neck, breast, back or arms with his knife for over twenty times. She is in a critical condition in a hospital. Police arrested him on a charge of injuring. He had been embracing deep grudge against her after she returned him a gift. He could not distinguish his dream on her from the world he and she were living in.

20 years old Mayu Tomita, a college student, musician and idol performer, was ready for her guitar performance at a live house in Koganei city, Tokyo, around 9 p.m. It was 5 p.m., when Tomohiro Iwasaki, 27, a fan of Tomita, assaulted her with his knife outside of the building. She announced the time schedule of her live performance through her blog.

Iwasaki had unilaterally been sending his message to Tomita’s twitter account from January. “Do you know what it means to present watch? Please use it preciously,” uploaded Iwasaki. He supposedly sent her a watch later. And then, he requested her to return the watch, if she would throw it away or sell it to someone.

In the twitter on April 28, he uploaded a message that indicated he received an anonymous package with a watch and three books inside. “Thank you for your supreme harassment. I will crush the watch with hammer to the pieces,” said Iwasaki. He told the police after the arrest that he was upset with the returning of watch, asked her about it in front of the live house Saturday evening, and got indignant and stabbed her repeatedly.

Tomita had been requesting police some help earlier this month. “A male fan I know has consistently been posting messages to my blog or twitter,” she appealed to Tokyo Metropolitan Police. In the consecutive consultation with police, Tomita sent her schedule of live concert Saturday night. Police was ready for dealing with any happenings, when it would receive a call to 110, same as 911 in United States. But, Tomita was assaulted before 110 call, without any preventive action by police.


With spread of “kawaii culture,” business of enchanting young males with charming female idols is overheating. To sell a down-to-earth image of idols, distance between idols and fans is getting closer. Two years ago, three members of AKB48 were injured by saw of a fan in an event of shaking hands with fans. This business model may cause illusion of fans that they think the idol is their own. Apathetic society encourages this kind of escape from the real world.

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