Japan's stalking crisis

Stalkers are terrorising more and more women across the country, with 21,000 cases reported to police in 2013.

It is a fear that haunts the lives of too many Japanese women; a silent epidemic with consequences that can be fatal: Japan is suffering a wave of violent male stalkers.

And some victims are speaking out. Reports of stalking have increased ten-fold in the past decade, with more than 21,000 reported cases last year. But experts warn that this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Rates of stalking are growing faster in Japan than in any other nation. When a stalker murdered a woman in 2011, Japan's anti-stalking law was toughened. But the killings continue.


'Hiro' began stalking his wife when she fled their home and his violent, controlling ways. He tells 101 East that he planned to kill his wife in divorce court because he believed it would be better for her to die than to be with another man.

Like Hiro, Japan's stalkers are often jilted lovers seeking revenge on former partners who they feel have wronged them or tried to leave them.