The stabbing of three 17-year-old boys, one of whom died, in Osaka’s Dotonbori entertainment district was apparently triggered by the subject’s harassment of a female acquaintance of the victim, investigators said Monday.
The suspect, Ryoga Iwasaki, a 21-year-old unemployed man, allegedly harassed the woman shortly before the attack, sparking an argument with the teens.
The boys then confronted Iwasaki, and the dispute escalated into a violent assault in which he allegedly stabbed all three with a knife, according to investigative sources.
The attack occurred late Saturday in the entrance of a building along Dotonbori, police said. One victim, company employee Ryunosuke Kamada from Nara Prefecture, was stabbed in the chest and later died.
According to media reports, the autopsy revealed that in addition to stab wounds to the chest, Kamada also had a deep wound on his neck that appeared to have been caused by a slash, which investigators see as a sign of Iwasaki’s strong intent to kill.
During questioning, Iwasaki reportedly denied intent to kill, saying “I was just going to intimidate them with a knife, but then one of them came at me so I stabbed him in the chest.”
The other two victims also sustained severe injuries, with one reported to be unconscious in critical condition.
Investigators believe seven or eight men and women were at the scene at the time.
After the attack, Iwasaki fled on foot, but was arrested about 10 hours later on suspicion of murder on a street in Osaka’s Naniwa Ward, around 1.5 kilometers from the scene of the crime.
Osaka Prefectural Police are examining the relationships between those involved and the circumstances leading up to the incident. Iwasaki was known to frequent the area near the crime scene commonly referred to as Gurishita, located near the famous Glico sign in the Dotonbori area. It’s known as a hangout spot for young people.
