Where is Tatsuya Ichihashi?

June 28, 2007 9:49 AM

In late March the body of Lindsay Ann Hawker was found in a bathtub on the balcony of a Chiba apartment. This week, with the help of UK officers, the Hawker family has returned to Tokyo, to seek help to find the main suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi, who has been missing since the discovery of the body.
posted by gomichild (48 comments total)

There has been much criticism over the way this case has been handled by the Japanese police. This case has been discussed extensively in the foreign community here - and a well known women's group is also now doing a T-shirt campaign in support of the Hawker family, with a picture of the suspect on the T-shirt.

Another aspect of the case has been several stories about how Japan is apparently not safe for foreign women.
posted by gomichild at 9:49 AM on June 28, 2007

This is what can happen when one is too "care-free". Japan has nothing to do with it.
posted by spock at 10:08 AM on June 28, 2007

What in the hell are you referring to, Spock?
posted by Liosliath at 10:11 AM on June 28, 2007

"While he was grappling with Ichihashi, the cop was screaming out at me, 'Call the cops! Call the cops!' What was I supposed to do? 'You are the cops,' I shouted back," the boy says.

Eesh, where's Officer Skateboard when you need him?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:11 AM on June 28, 2007

On the Lindsay Ann Hawker site she is referred to as "care-free". However she allegedly went to his apartment to teach him English. It should be noted that this is not considered especially risky behaviour - for years hundreds of teachers have taught at students homes with very few reported incidents.
posted by gomichild at 10:17 AM on June 28, 2007

This is what can happen when one is too "care-free". Japan has nothing to do with it.

No, this is what can happen when you meet some crazy dude and he kills you and puts you in a bathtub of sand. Being carefree had nothing to do with it.

Blame the victim much?
posted by chunking express at 10:23 AM on June 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

This is what can happen when one is too "care-free". Japan has nothing to do with it.

and this is what can happen when one reads the first sentence of a web site and decides to make a smart-assed trollish comment on it ... intelligence and wit have nothing to do with it
posted by pyramid termite at 10:26 AM on June 28, 2007

I think there are risks like this anywhere you go in outside of your mother country. I've traveled before, and had that icky strange feeling that I'm being really dumb and shouldn't have meet up with this person.

Not to say one should ever travel, by all means.
posted by Viomeda at 10:28 AM on June 28, 2007

When I first arrived in Japan in 94 (I'm a man, btw) I would definitely have been considered 'care-free'. It's the natural state of being a 23-year-old.

The experience was overwhelming: I spoke no Japanese, could not read a map or a train time-table, and depended on blind luck and the kindness of strangers to get me through life.

The first year or so was tremendously disorienting, and it was impossible to read people. Many new arrivals to Japan (hate the terms 'gaijin' or 'gaikokujin') are often approached by people who want to speak English. This is a useful way of making friends, building a social network, and acquiring part-time work teaching English.

So, it's no surprise that Hawker took on that creep as a student.

Foreign women have it worse than foreign men. Stalkers exist everywhere in the world, but it makes it easier in Japan to be singled out if you look different. You can't vanish into the background.

I never really felt that Japan was 'safer' than Canada, probably because I am a man and don't think Canada is unsafe anyway.

But people are peaceful, there is less aggressive posturing, and so it is possible to feel 安心 (anshin) and let down your guard...

And then some murderous bastard like Ichihashi will take advantage of that.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:34 AM on June 28, 2007

One more thing: the police aren't all bad. We had our house broken into several years ago, and the police department sent an entire team over to interview us, take fingerprints, etc. Very professional, and very friendly. However, it should be noted that we lived two blocks from the police station, and the police said, rather nonchalently, that burglaries happened in our (upsale) neighbourhood "all the time." Two blocks from the police station!
posted by KokuRyu at 10:39 AM on June 28, 2007

Oh, reminds me of LA.
posted by Viomeda at 10:57 AM on June 28, 2007

Japan not safer than Canada, KokuRyu? Either you were living in a different Japan than me, or a different Canada.

But by all means, take the exception as the rule. It's comforting to believe that things are the same everywhere.
posted by dreamsign at 11:39 AM on June 28, 2007

Oh, reminds me of New York.
posted by phaedon at 11:40 AM on June 28, 2007

Actually, this is pretty awful. What's the deal with the sand?
posted by phaedon at 11:43 AM on June 28, 2007

Japan not safer than Canada, KokuRyu? Either you were living in a different Japan than me, or a different Canada.

I'm from Victoria. Petty theft was bad back then (people steal anything not nailed down to pay for a drug habit) but I didn't feel safer in Japan than I had in Canada. Like I said, the only difference (to me) was that people were far less aggressive - what you would call 'lad culture' in the UK, or 'redneck culture' here didn't exist in Japan. Which is why I said in my previous comment that it's very easy to feel "anshin" or relaxed in Japan, and drop your guard.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:52 AM on June 28, 2007

Japan struck me as insanely crime free. Bikes weren't locked up anywhere. People left their purses laying around when they went to the bathroom. I saw lots of drunk ass people, but no drunk ass fighting. Maybe living there would give me a different perspective?
posted by chunking express at 12:27 PM on June 28, 2007

If find the knee-jerk reactions to my comment amusing. In the animal world, you would have no problem with explaining that the more cautious animals live to breed more and thus the species improves over time, right?

It is supremely unfortunate that there are predators in the world, but it is the innocent, overly trusting and "care-free" who are more likely to be their victims, is it not? I didn't describe her this way — her family did.

People are murdered all over the world every day. Each one is regretable. I find these cross-racial (normally white girl presumably killed by other-race male) stories that get played to death by the media disturbing for reasons other than the murder involved.
posted by spock at 1:06 PM on June 28, 2007

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns says he will push this story for all it's worth (depressing U.S. tourism in Japan) until Japan agrees to resume U.S. beef imports to their pre-December-2005 levels. (obviously, not really a connection, but what if there was?)
posted by spock at 1:16 PM on June 28, 2007

Yes, because tense, worried people NEVER get murdered.

Score! At last my uptight personality will work FOR me.
posted by thehmsbeagle at 1:16 PM on June 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Maybe living there would give me a different perspective?

Not only do I not lock my bike, I often leave bags of groceries in the basket if I need to stop in at another store on the way home. Sometimes for an hour or more. Waiters chase me for forgetting pennies' worth of yen. An umbrella that I forgot at a restaurant was returned to my school the next day, once the restauranteurs tracked me down to return it. Cab driver rip you off? Unthinkable.

As for violence, I've marvelled on more than one occasion that on no night, ever, do I stumble across some disaffected punks looking to blame their woes on a hapless foreigner. I mean, all countries have those guys, no?

Letting your guard down is right. I have to remember the moment I go on a trip that I am suddenly in the ROA (Rest Of Asia) and suddenly have to worry about things like pickpockets and scam artists. I can understand viewing suspicious behaviour as innocent under those circumstances; I really can. But taking on a student who followed you home? spock has a point. You don't abandon your instincts altogether.

on preview: Yes, because tense, worried people NEVER get murdered.

If I ever have the terrible fortune to be victimized some day, at least I'll have the comfort of knowing that all of my past foolishness will be overlooked and even defended by all. You realize that you can contribute to a situation without deserving it, right? Or is that too complex a proposition?
posted by dreamsign at 1:22 PM on June 28, 2007

I certainly do hope that if anything extremely awful like getting killed and buried in bathtub full of sand ever happens to you, more than three people will be able to comment on how sad it is before some person shows up to say "Old Dreamsign totally contributed to this by being foolish!"
posted by thehmsbeagle at 1:30 PM on June 28, 2007

The day I go home with a stalker and he kills me, yes, call me foolish.

Better, call me that on the way over to his place so I can rethink the decision.
posted by dreamsign at 1:45 PM on June 28, 2007

What was his motive! Was there any substancial detective work done that described a realtionship, stalking, anything. No one has speculated on motives.
posted by Viomeda at 2:33 PM on June 28, 2007

I think she was foolish to go home with him, too, but no one deserves to be murdered for being foolish.
posted by misha at 2:36 PM on June 28, 2007

Who the hell is saying anybody deserved anything? The conversations some of you are apparenly having inside your heads has no apparent connection to the actual comments of others.
posted by spock at 2:52 PM on June 28, 2007

This is what can happen when one is too "care-free".

She's a really pretty girl; looks like Katie Holmes used to.
posted by misha at 2:55 PM on June 28, 2007

I think she was foolish to go home with him, too, but no one deserves to be murdered for being foolish.

I think we've all done things that seemed innocuous at the time but in retrospect were rather dangerous. As long as there are trusting people and disturbed people existing at the same time, these incidents are going to happen occasionally. The story's really only interesting because of our preconceived notions about Japan, and the twinge of xenophobia that we all have to some degree-- if she was murdered in England and her killer was still at large, I never would have heard about it. Even if it got posted here, I'd probably skip it because it wouldn't be that interesting.
posted by Mayor Curley at 2:59 PM on June 28, 2007

She shouldn't have worn that dress.
posted by basicchannel at 3:36 PM on June 28, 2007

In the animal world, you would have no problem with explaining that the more cautious animals live to breed more and thus the species improves over time, right?

This is either the comment of a sociopath, or a junior high school student who has not yet learned how to speak with proper tact.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:03 PM on June 28, 2007 [2 favorites]

What was his motive! Was there any substancial detective work done that described a realtionship, stalking, anything. No one has speculated on motives.

Japan Probe has a lot of information about the case here:

Hawker is thought to have given Ichihashi an English lesson at the cafe and then agreed to stop off at his apartment before heading for work at a language school, media reports said.

And a possible reason why Hawker went to his apartment:

The couple sat at a table for 50 minutes before Ichihashi made a deliberate fuss of searching for enough money to pay for coffee and a snack.

The CCTV footage shows Miss Hawker about to reach into her bag, apparently to help him out. “It is possible that he told her that she should come to his flat so he could pay her for the lesson,” said a police officer.

Lindsay had posted a message on the Facebook website on March 20 mentioning that a man had followed her home.

In one posting to Ryan, she wrote: “Love u lots dont worry abt the gut (guy) who chased me home, its jus crazy Japan. miss u xxx.”

Video pictures broadcast by Japanese television showed English teacher Lindsay Hawker dressed in white and talking to a man media identified as 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi, whom police are seeking in connection with her death.

Three members of the cafe’s staff remembered seeing “a very beautiful foreign woman,” broadcaster NTV said. Hawker and Ichihashi were then caught on another camera getting into a taxi, apparently headed for his house nearby, NTV said.

Hawker is thought to have given Ichihashi an English lesson at the cafe and then agreed to stop off at his apartment before heading for work at a language school, media reports said.

And a possible reason why Hawker went to his apartment:

The couple sat at a table for 50 minutes before Ichihashi made a deliberate fuss of searching for enough money to pay for coffee and a snack.

The CCTV footage shows Miss Hawker about to reach into her bag, apparently to help him out. “It is possible that he told her that she should come to his flat so he could pay her for the lesson,” said a police officer.

The Japanese media is reporting that Ichihashi may have pursued another female foreigner about half a year ago, and that he also drew a portrait and gave it to that woman. Police are investigating the similarities between the two cases as they continue to search for Ichihashi.

posted by KokuRyu at 4:08 PM on June 28, 2007

I think she was foolish to go home with him, too, but no one deserves to be murdered for being foolish.

Who the hell is saying anybody deserved anything?

That must have been where I said: "You realize that you can contribute to a situation without deserving it, right?"

Too complex. Ok.

This thread, unlike this murder, is beginning to reflect the rule rather than the exception here, where it's not only laudable but mandatory to forego dispassionate observations about a tragic event in favour of sentimental side-choosing, enforced with a pile on of fallacies rejected in other discussions.

Remember: only the bad guys make mistakes. To believe otherwise means that the terrorists murdering psychopaths have already won. Wake me when the self-appointed MeFi grief police have done their rounds.

I agree with MC -- this is interesting to people because of the contrast with expectations, though its that very contrast that makes it news, which makes it awfully strange to use it as a segue to discuss how maybe Japan really isn't that safe after all. One murder does not invalidate your notions, preconceived or otherwise.
posted by dreamsign at 5:56 PM on June 28, 2007

.
posted by facetious at 6:33 PM on June 28, 2007

One murder does not invalidate your notions, preconceived or otherwise.

I think this is true which is why the foreign women I know have read all the Japan bogeyman stories with some scorn. Japan is the safest country I've lived in - as KokuRyu mentioned there really isn't a "lad" culture out and about here so you don't get the feeling of aggression on the streets.

I have had a couple of stalkers though which made me feel uneasy - and I remember being extra careful when they were around. Fortunately mine were obvious and easy to avoid. But it's certainly pretty common for that to happen, and rare for anything except for harassment to come out of it.

What has astounded me is that he hasn't been found. With so much information about him - he has seemingly vanished into thin air.

Also the "vigilante" aspect as well - foreign residents trying to hunt him down, trying to keep it in the news, tshirts and so on - which may be a feeling of the apparent lack of help you can get here sometimes when you are not Japanese.
posted by gomichild at 6:55 PM on June 28, 2007

oh my god... I was on holiday in Japan in May and police posters of this guy were EVERYWHERE. I didn't realize that he was the guy who murdered Hawker.
posted by spec80 at 8:13 PM on June 28, 2007

If find the knee-jerk reactions to my comment amusing

as do most trolls ...
posted by pyramid termite at 8:21 PM on June 28, 2007

This is either the comment of a sociopath, or a junior high school student who has not yet learned how to speak with proper tact.

You shouldn't say such things. If I was a sociopath or a junior high school student you could hurt my feelings!
posted by spock at 9:11 PM on June 28, 2007

If I was a sociopath or a junior high school student you could hurt my feelings!

here, have some water
posted by pyramid termite at 9:38 PM on June 28, 2007

That's a good question, gomichild. Sure, he could be a temporary shut-in, but there would have to be plenty of people who would have to keep mum about him at the same time. And the thing about the widespread level of honesty and concern in Japan (about all misdeeds) is that even though you mave have a truly few bad apples, I bet you don't typicall have a network of people covering for them, at least outside of organized crime.

There's a thought. What are the odds that he's already dead? I live in the heart of Yakuza territory but know squat about them outside of the movies. Would they bother?
posted by dreamsign at 9:48 PM on June 28, 2007

mave have? this is what 2 hours of sleep gets you. god I wonder what I've been teaching my students today.
posted by dreamsign at 10:01 PM on June 28, 2007

Nah the Yakuza wouldn't bother with him in regards to this. There is no advantage to them for being involved.

The idea that he is dead is one that has come up a few times. It does indeed seem strange to find no trace of him - after all they have tracked down the other recent couple of murderers here. And they didn't have half the information that they do on this guy.

It was also suspected that his parents were covering for him and hiding him. One assumes though their house is watched and has been searched. They are said to be wealthy - not sure if they have managed to smuggle him out somewhere secretly. Or maybe there is a body somewhere waiting to be discovered.
posted by gomichild at 10:03 PM on June 28, 2007

Oh this just in: the National Police Agency are now offering a reward of a million yen for information.
posted by gomichild at 10:07 PM on June 28, 2007

The only thing I can imagine really is that his family or friends are hiding him out and doing all the shopping / etc. for him. His face is too well known to go out, really, and he's no Aum member, who would conceivable move to the middle of Shikoku or get plastic surgery or skip the country on a fake passport.

Hawker was a friend of two of my coworkers (not close friend, but passing friend).

I'd still say Japan is a safe country. "Safe" doesn't mean "absolutely crime free", just "not having a whole lot of crime".

One thing I don't quite understand, though, is the particular way of handling dead white women. I remember one or two other cases in the past decade or two, and they were handled almost exactly the same: the parents made videos exhorting people to provide any evidence they had to the police. These were shown on all the news shows. The parents visit Japan a few times, also always on news. I've never seen that for dead white men, dead non-white women, etc. I've also never seen it in the US (but that may just be because there is so much murder in the US).
posted by Bugbread at 1:30 AM on June 29, 2007

The only other case I can think of is the Lucie Blackman one. Both were British - maybe the actions of the first prompted the Hawker family to act similar? An Australian woman also died by the hand of the Blackman killer (although it was judged man slaughter) but nothing was heard about that much.

On the other hand there have been at least 2 other foreign women murdered here who were from Asia which were not reported as widely. Whether it's to do with nationality or the timing (since being given TV time is the thing to do now) I'm not sure.
posted by gomichild at 2:04 AM on June 29, 2007

gomichild "The only other case I can think of is the Lucie Blackman one. Both were British - maybe the actions of the first prompted the Hawker family to act similar?"

That was, in fact, who I was thinking of (but couldn't remember the name). Good point about the actions in the first possibly prompting the actions in the second.
posted by Bugbread at 3:52 AM on June 29, 2007

Her parents are on TV right now. They're on one of those programs where they get some cheesy psychic to try to dig up clues, although they aren't doing anything except standing there looking anxious. The psychic's got a few random numbers so far. He seems to think that the guy stole a bicycle and rode to the next town from there, and that's he's crashing with some chick.
posted by donkeymon at 4:17 AM on June 30, 2007

Sure, Japan is a relatively low-crime country, but the crimes they have are doozies. Cannibals, schoolgirl's head collectors, poison gas subway attacks... Imagine the US, safe as milk save for the occasional Dahmer, Ed Gein and Albert Fish.
posted by Scram at 11:29 AM on July 3, 2007

Scram writes "schoolgirl's head collectors"

What is this one about? I've tried googling, but all I got was the sakakibara murder (11 year old boy killed by 14 year old boy, severed head left in front of school) and a 17 year old who murdered his mom and took her severed head to the police station.
posted by Bugbread at 3:50 PM on July 3, 2007

Sorry, I meant to write schoolgirl's hand collectors! Google for Tsutomu Miyazaki.
posted by Scram at 6:32 AM on July 4, 2007