On May 21, 2016, Mayu Tomita, a 20-year-old Japanese singer and actress, was stabbed in the neck and chest area multiple times by 27-year-old fan Tomohiro Iwazaki, after she returned gifts that he had sent her.
As a result of the stabbing, anti-stalking laws in Japan were revised to include online threats on social media to better protect victims.
[9] On May 21, 2016, around 5:05 PM JST,[1][2] Iwazaki confronted Tomita in front of a small concert venue near a train station before an event titled Solid Girls Night Vol.
[2] When Tomita turned around, he stabbed her from behind in chest and neck area 61 times with a pocket knife containing a 8.2 cm blade.
[18][11] Tomita was cast as Ai "Eye" Takano and performed as the character along with the rest of Secret Girls at music events.
[23] At one point in time, Iwazaki was infatuated with model Ai Hashimoto, but he lost interest in her after she publicly stated she had once regularly watched romantic pornography.
"[24] Iwazaki had also appeared in one of Yui Hatano's pornographic films, titled Real Amateurs on a Virgin Graduation Bus Tour.
[25] On July 11, 2019, Tomita launched a lawsuit against the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, her former agent, and Iwazaki, seeking ¥76 million in damages for failing to provide adequate protection prior to the stabbing.
[16] Along with the 2014 incident where AKB48 members were attacked by a man with a saw during their handshake meeting, Tomita's stabbing has been frequently used as an example of stalker-related assaults on Japanese idols.
[27][28] In 2017, animation director Yutaka Yamamoto condemned Iwazaki on his blog, but he also believed Tomita was at fault for rejecting his gifts and should have been prepared to defend herself.
[29] After receiving backlash for his comments, Yamamoto responded to the criticism by mentioning there was a double standard in the public, where they would care more about a "cute idol" than a "dirty middle-aged man.