A 35-year-old man named Masashi Tanimoto was arrested on suspicion of murdering a 24-year-old female company employee, Megumi Katayama, in a Kobe condominium on August 20, 2025. The victim was fatally stabbed in the elevator of her apartment building. Tanimoto was apprehended near Okutama Station in Tokyo after a two-day manhunt. Surveillance footage showed that he had been stalking the victim for over 50 minutes, following her from her workplace to her home, covering approximately 4 kilometers and using public transportation. He had been staying at a hotel near the victim’s workplace in Kobe for several days prior to the attack and had purchased a round-trip Shinkansen ticket about one month earlier, indicating premeditation. After the stabbing, he took a taxi to Shin-Kobe Station and fled to Tokyo by Shinkansen. Tanimoto admitted to stabbing the victim once or twice in the abdomen but claimed he did not know if he had murderous intent and stated that he did not know the victim. Police are investigating the motive and any possible connection between the two, but so far no relationship has been established. Tanimoto has a prior criminal record, including a 2022 conviction related to a stalking and assault case in Kobe, where he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months imprisonment with a 5-year suspended sentence. The murder weapon was a knife approximately 15 centimeters in length. Police have conducted searches of Tanimoto’s residence and workplace in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the crime. Separately, on August 26, a 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after injuring three elderly people with a knife in a residence in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. The investigation into that incident is ongoing.