Enraged Fan Turns Her Livestream Into A Snuff Film
Iris Sato was born on October 24th, 2002 in Japan. She grew up in Yamagata but moved to Tama region in western Tokyo. She’s an influencer and streamer on the Japanese-based platform who watch under the name Imogami. She began like most influencers doing it on the side, mostly for fun while balancing her full-time job.
Then as it grew, it became a second career for her. While she didn’t have a massive following, she was one of Who watch’s biggest names. Most of her streams consisted of her sitting in front of her camera talking directly to her viewers. She was said to have a charming, energetic personality. It was said that tuning into one of her streams felt more like sitting down with a close friend than watching a broadcast.
This type of subgenre is commonly called IRL streaming. And if you’ve watched Twitch, you’re probably familiar with it. It’s a broad term in internet spaces, and you see it a lot in Asian cities. We saw a ton of young people doing this in Qualum Poor and we were probably caught on some of their streams as well.
Now, lots of content hosted on streaming platforms can be considered IRL streams, but I were perhaps one of the more common types. She took her cell phone in the streets of Tokyo and streamed as she ran errands, visited landmarks, or simply took in the city’s atmosphere. >> I private life was allegedly very turbulent.
It’s been said that her parents were not the most loving to her. She also allegedly had a child at 18 years old and was forced into the role of single mother after she and the father broke things off. She floated between jobs to make ends meet, but her child was taken by child protective services. She left her hometown of Yamagatada and moved to Tokyo for a fresh start.
Her viewers were none the wiser of her past and taken in by her cheerful optimism. One of her viewers was a man named Kenichi Kenji Takano, a man about 20 years her senior who lived alone in Oyama. He worked for an online retailer and spent his free time playing video games and watching live streams. Kenichi began watching IIE in late 2021.
In 2022, he began to send her donations using the username Maji Love. Watching her streams after he finished his workday became part of his routine. His neighbors alleged they could hear his laughter through the apartment walls, accompanied by a woman’s voice. He even visited her in person at her workplace.
Japanese sources once translated referred to Ireie’s workplace as a hostess club. These are establishments where male patrons spend money to socialize with women. Establishments generate income largely through alcohol sales. The hostesses receive a hourly wage and a commission based on what they managed to sell and how much during their shifts.
An anonymous person claimed to be a workplace acquaintance from Yamagatada. They said about Iie, “We have mutual acquaintances among the girls at the hostess club where she used to work and I myself know her and have heard a lot about her. I think she’s basically a cheerful and nice girl. She’s from Yamagatada.
And although she has a mother and a father, she said that she was raised in an institution. However, that might be a lie. She always said things that I wasn’t sure were true. She would say things like, “I make over 1 million yen a month from streaming.” Or, “I have over 20 million yen in savings.” She was young, so I guess she wanted to make herself look important.
Her mother is someone who often goes drinking around the city’s entertainment district. And it seems she used to go drinking at the Hostess Club where I worked. When it came time to pay, her mother would say, “I will pay.” And leave without paying. She worked very hard at her job, but sometimes she would do strange things and get in trouble.
For example, if a customer had bought champagne for another girl and was on the table, she would suddenly take a picture of it with her phone without saying anything. I think she probably wanted to post it on social media as if it had been bought for her. I had a child who was about one year old at the time, and she would leave the child at a daycare center while she worked.
I would sometimes go out drinking after work instead of picking up her child at daycare. Every time this happened, the daycare would call the hostess club and Ireie would finally go to pick her up, often getting scolded by the staff. I don’t know what ultimately happened with her partner. I got angry with her several times, saying to the child, “Ire is the only mother they have.
” And I would sincerely apologize and say, “I understand.” She would just keep repeating the same thing over and over again. There was a time when I was crying and wailing in the back room of the hostess club, saying that her child had been taken away by child protective services. In the end, Ireie quit the Hostess Club after repeatedly being absent without notice.
She had a financial dispute with the bar where she used to frequent. She had nowhere else to go. Think she must have felt lonely being separated from her child. Ireie’s hostess job and her live streams had more in common than it might seem. In both environments, she offered friendly conversation, and in both, the people on the receiving end got the sense of connection while she received money.
She gave Kenichi her attention in the way a hostess gives attention to a regular patron and Kenichi kept paying. They developed a friendly relationship texting each other through the messaging app line. But if their messages are anything to go by, it seemed very one-sided. She asked him directly for money and he would give it to her.
As Kenichi sent her more and more donations, I became even more bold in her requests. Even her audience noticed as time went on. One viewer said, and I quote, “She would mention that she needed help with her finances, saying things like, “I forgot my wallet,” or, “I’m short on rent.” Over time, some fans became concerned that this wasn’t just casual borrowing, but rather a reoccurring issue.
Ireie’s spending habits became more and more frivolous as she got more stream donations, and Kenichi was her biggest source of income. She always came up with some excuse for needing funds. From impulse spending to a possible cancer scare. It’s reported she even said her sister would be forced into the adult industry if she couldn’t pay her debts.
However, Kenichi took IE in good faith and gave her whatever she asked for. The messages themselves were allegedly not supposed to be made public, but they were leaked online. Japanese news organization Shuisha Online posted a few of the leaked screenshots. They described how the messages corroborate the relationship between the two are vivid and clearly show how Takano’s resentment gradually grew.
Can I ask you a serious favor? >> What is it? >> I’m really sorry, but I left my wallet at the temporary job I had yesterday, so I’m completely broke. Could you lend me some money? I’ll pay you back when I come pick it up tomorrow or the day after. I’d like you to transfer the money to the card I have at home, preferably now. >> Can I transfer the money now? >> Yes, I can go to the bank’s ATM corner.
>> Wait a moment. How much do you need? >> Can we get tens of thousands? I can’t pick it up tomorrow either. I can only return it tomorrow night or the day after. Is that okay? Hey, could you send me another 20,000 >> right now? >> I wonder if that’s even possible. like at a convenience store or something. >> Maybe at a 7-Eleven.
I’ll go check it out. Sorry. Turns out it wasn’t possible at this hour. >> At the convenience store? >> Yeah. >> Is that so? >> My card wouldn’t go through. Sorry about that. >> So, go there in person. I really want to apologize. >> Is it over? Yeah. >> So, [music] today? >> Yeah. >> It was the birthday of the top boss at the hostess club I work at.
>> Yeah. I mean, partly out of pressure, I basically got strong armed into popping a 100,000 yen bottle of champagne. >> Seriously, >> I’m really sorry. Especially after you went to the trouble of sending me that money. I’m so sorry. My entire living allowance is completely gone now. I’m truly sorry.
I promise I won’t ask again, but could I just ask you for 50,000? >> Just a sec. >> Okay. >> All right. I think I can swing 50,000. I’ll transfer it once it hits 8:00. >> Thank you. [snorts] Also, my sister, she abandoned one kid, then just walked out on the other two and ran off. Turns out she was actually pregnant right now, too. It’s hopeless.
>> What do you want to do? >> I know it’ll take some time, but I want to borrow a million, and I promise I’ll pay it back. >> All right. Post your bank account details here. >> All right. Japan Post Bank Iris Sato. I’m not sure. Is this right? Thanks. >> I don’t think that’s quite right. >> Huh? Yeah, probably not.
>> Will this work? >> Savings account sauna, I think. >> By the way, has it been officially confirmed that you can’t cash out on who watch anymore? >> There were other messages that made it to the press. Messages between Kenichi and an anonymous friend of his. He confided about his financial troubles and frustrations that I didn’t keep her promises of repayment.
Don’t you actually like IE? >> No, I don’t like her anymore. Seriously, >> thinking we could go back to being close friends once she you pays me back. >> It’s just impossible to keep lending her money while she never pays it back and just keeps leeching off me. It’s a total lost cause at this point, isn’t it? Especially after being treated like this.
If it’s not coming back, then I’ll just let it go. I’m at my breaking point. I just want the results to come out already. That way, I can finally give up on everything, like my life. >> It seems the only option left is to hire a better lawyer. >> We’re currently stuck in limbo, so we have to wait for the right moment to make a switch.
But then again, when is this ever actually going to reach a conclusion? >> All this time spent waiting is such a waste, isn’t it? >> Yeah, totally. It sucks. I can’t do anything right now except just sit here and wait. I figure they’re probably verifying whether I actually live at the address listed on my certificate of residence right now, but once those results come in, we’ll have to file a formal petition with the court.
That whole process is going to drag on forever. Whether it’s this debt situation or just my life in general, I just want it to be over already. This exchange came shortly after IE created an alternate Twitter profile while attending the Japan Open Poker Tour in June of 2024. She posted this picture of herself holding a bag of chips.
>> I must have been out of my mind too, L. Over the last 3 months, the story went like, “I forgot my wallet. It’s the head manager’s birthday at the Hostess Club, and I’m being pressured to buy champagne. My coworker ran off with her boyfriend after taking an advance on her wages.
My ex-boyfriend is threatening me, demanding me I pay back the money I owe him. My older sister is being told to work as a call girl if she doesn’t pay off the debt she owed to a host. I coughed up blood and might have cancer. Plus, I’ve run away from home, so I need money to rent a place. That was the whole ridiculous saga. >> Wow.
How much did that add up in total again? And the fact that you haven’t seen a single yen of that money returned is actually kind of terrifying. I’m so embarrassed. I actually feel like dying right now. >> I want to die is a taboo phrase, though, isn’t it? Trying to get someone else to take out a loan for you, then claiming you’ll die if you can’t get the money.
That’s just ridiculous. >> It’s absolutely insane. The fact that they’re refusing to pay it back now and are even lying to the courts about it. >> Did they ask can’t you get any more after you had already taken out the first loan? >> I think so. I don’t really remember though. They originally asked for 500,000 yen.
I guess they ended up borrowing another 500,000 from two other companies. I’ve forgotten the exact details of how it all went down. >> So the total amount comes to 1 million yen. >> Yeah, at least that’s how much I borrowed. >> So what does it all add up to? >> 2.5 million. >> That is terrifying. >> Plus the court ruled that they have to pay interest on top of that.
So right now the total she owes is probably around 2.6 6 million. >> If you actually get that money back, things will be a lot easier for you. >> Yes, though. I wonder if it’ll ever come back. Seriously, aren’t they just absolutely despicable? They’ve even been lying to the court. Once the lawyer calls me back, I’ll make sure to mention the bar incident as well.
I was feeling incredibly down and my heart was pounding with anxiety, but talking it out helped ease things a bit. Thanks. In the end, Kenichi sent IIE $2.5 million yen. That’s approximately $16,000, completely draining his finances and burying him in debt. He borrowed from at least three of his friends until they realized he wasn’t going to be able to even pay them back.
I suggested he get loans from finance companies. He received a combined 1 million yen from two separate companies, nearly all of which went to IIE. Kinichi eventually had to tell her he couldn’t send her money anymore since his consumer credit was all used up. >> It was common for Ireie to show off her influencer lifestyle.
[music] She lived in a luxury apartment, gambled, traveled, and allegedly made expensive wedding plans. We’ll talk about this supposed fiance in a little bit. From his text messages, it is clear Kenichi went through the courts in order to get some of the money back. She didn’t show up, so the court sided with him. Irie was ordered to repay everything plus interest.
He received 30,000 yen and nothing else from Ireie after the court’s judgment. She went back to her who watch page after a hiatus with the caption, “I’ve been reborn and revived.” According to Shawishi online, Ireie’s finances may have not been in much better shape than Kenichi’s. They reported a claim that she would have earned at least a million yen a month from one of her streams, being one of Huach’s top streamers.
But when the courts viewed her bank account during a hearing, she had 800 yen to her name. Furthermore, her luxury apartment allegedly belonged to her fianceé, said to be named Yui Dykin. I streaming money supposedly went straight to UI’s bank account. Whenever I spoke about UI on stream, she called him a corporate president and mentioned owing him a debt.
UI claimed to be a representative director for a company called Onrisco. LTD, but we couldn’t find publicly available information that connected a company of this name and a person called UI Dykin. The Twitter account was said to have a document with more details, but it has since been deleted. Allegedly, IE owed Yui a considerable amount of yen, but promised she could repay it through her streams.
She confided that she was, as she put it, being harassed by Kenichi for the money she owed. UI borrowed money from his company allegedly as a temporary solution, but eventually had to start the process of moving into a cheaper apartment. IE and her boyfriend fiance, if he even exists, tried to deter Kenichi from pursuing legal action, even trying to get him to sign an NDA.
When he didn’t, they blocked him on their social media accounts, line messages, and from viewing Ireie streams. When she appeared on another streamer’s broadcast, Kenichi donated 5 yen. Ireie called him gross and ignored him. The last message Kenichi sent to Ireie read, “Please return the money. I’m in debt now because of the consumer loans I took out to lend to her and I can’t make ends meet.
Is there any way you could return at least 10,000 yen?” She did not respond to him. In March of 2025, Iris started a live stream in Shinjuku. She announced her stream as a Yamanote line walking tour and intended to document her journey on the Yamanote line, which is one of Tokyo’s major train routes. Kenichi was among those who saw her stream announcement.
No one can know what was going through his head. We do know he packed a backpack with knives and traveled about 60 miles to find Ireie. He tracked her based on landmarks and eventually found her in the Takadano Bababa neighborhood near the train station. Ireie set up her tripod and phone in an alleyway to speak with her viewers and get some footage when she was suddenly stabbed multiple times by a darkclad figure wielding a knife about 5 in long.
She screamed for help and bystanders rushed to see what was going on. All while her stream was still running, her viewers could do nothing but watch. Many of the witnesses called emergency services. The first call came in around 9:50 in the morning. By the time medical service and police arrived, Ireie was unresponsive. Kenichi hadn’t fled the scene.
Witnesses said he was loitering as a crowd gathered, looking into the camera, kicking IE, and taking pictures as she lay dying on the ground. He also picked up her cell phone, which was still running her stream. One man who was at the scene said, and I quote, “I thought it might have been a traffic accident, so I went to check it out and found the woman lying on the ground.
She was covered in blood from the neck up and blood was spilling onto the road. There was a man next to the woman, so I asked him if he had called the police, but he didn’t say a word. I later found out that he was the perpetrator, but he didn’t seem excited or expressive for a perpetrator. He didn’t leave the woman’s side and kept taking close-up pictures of her face with his smartphone, which was creepy.
Another witness, an elderly man, said he saw Ireie briefly open her eyes. He stood next to another man who pointed Kenichi out and said he was the attacker. Like the other witness, the older man also saw Kenichi taking pictures of Irie. Allegedly, one of the police officers turned to Kenichi and asked, “You’re the one who did this, right?” Kenichi responded he was and he was arrested at 9:58 a.m.
8 minutes after the initial phone call. There was nothing doctors could do and I was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her official cause of death was hemorrhagic shock. She was only 22 years old. The crime scene was swarmed by police. Officers found two knives on Kenichi. There was a 5-in blade at the scene and a second in his backpack with some sources alleging a third.
After searching his home, they found financial documents which included bank transfers to Ireie’s accounts. He was taken into custody. He reportedly said the following to investigators and I quote, “I got to know the woman through her video streaming and I started meeting her 3 years ago by visiting the club where she worked.
I had money troubles with her. I saw a notice about her live streaming schedule and came to Tokyo on the morning of that day. Then I identified her location by watching the live video she was streaming. Now Kenichi did admit to planning some of this. He said he intended to follow Ireie and attack her, but said he did not want to kill her.
His name was at first unreported by Japanese news outlets since it was believed that Kenichi was intellectually disabled or mentally ill. It was only a theory that investigators had at first, but it was treated as the truth. A short time later, Kenichi’s name and hometown were released without any additional information. Japanese spokesperson explained, “Immediately after the man’s arrest, the head of the first investigation division stated that it wasn’t a random act of violence, but rather there had been trouble between the victim and the
suspect, and further suggested that the man likely had mental health issues, thus avoiding the release of his name.” A few hours after various media outlets reported on this, stating the reasons for anonymity, the police hastily released the victim’s name along with the suspects. Another narrative was that Kenichi had unrequited feelings for Ireie and he killed her because she rejected him.
Kenichi’s anonymous friend who shared messages between them said this was only half true. They said, and I quote, “I think Ken had feelings for Moami. He said, “I liked her, but she clearly told me she didn’t want to be in a relationship with me. He’s not the type to get angry and rage. He’s the kind of person who would say, I don’t think I’d ever date you. Haha.
” I think there was an aspect where Konichi had feelings for her, but I also think that given his personality, he couldn’t refuse when she asked for money. I think Mr. Takano believed Ms. Moami’s words. I will return the money until the very end. It’s the only way it looked to me. Recently, Kenichi had said that he had been taking quite a lot of medicine and sleeping all day.
I saw photos of him on social media right after the crime, and there was no light in his eyes. The evening before the incident, Kenichi sent me a line message, and he sent me his favorite character from Monster Hunter. That was the last line message Kenichi ever sent me. Kenichi’s mother and father allegedly asked journalists to leave when they were approached for comment, but others in his hometown were open to sharing their experiences with him.
Two of his former classmates offered their thoughts with, and I quote, “When I first saw the news, I didn’t recognize Kenichi at all. I saw the man who appeared in the live stream online and he looked kind of sinister during middle school. He was quiet, delicate, and cute, and there were no stories of him ever being violent towards anyone at school.
He wasn’t the type to stand out, and I only remembered his existence when I looked at the graduation album after the incident happened. That’s why I was so surprised to find out that Kenichi was the culprit. All we can do is offer our condolences to the victim. But all of our classmates were worried about Kenichi.
Even classmates who were close to Kenichi said, “Kenichi was such a kind, quiet, and good guy. I can’t believe he would do something like that. He must have been really cornered.” He gave the impression of being someone who was completely unrelated to conflict with others. And because of that, everyone was sympathetic, thinking maybe he was just used and had his money taken away and there was nothing he could do.
It was a terrible incident. I think it’s something that should never be done. But still, I audience mourned her, and those who witnessed her murder live on stream were horrified. One of her viewers spoke with the Tokyo Sports newspaper and said about her, again, this was loosely translated, “I’d heard there was a funny girl, so I started watching her streams.
Charm of her streams was that they were always cheerful. She’s the kind of girl who could give you energy. I also knew that there would be a stream from the Yamanote line today.” She did quite a few live streams, even from outdoors, so there were some funny parts. I’m heartbroken that the girl I was rooting for has passed away.
Other fans had a chance to speak to Tokyo Hive, an entertainmentbased news organization. It all happened so suddenly. I heard her yell for help and then the stream cut to her lying on the ground covered in blood. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were wide open, almost lifeless. It was so shocking.
I couldn’t process what I was seeing at first. Everything seemed fine at first. Then suddenly it was chaos. Camera was shaking and the image of I on the ground barely conscious and covered in blood left us all in disbelief. A man in a mask was visible in the frame, but no one knew what was happening. It felt like a nightmare. I’ve been following I for over a year.
She always seemed so strong. It’s hard to believe something like this happened. Now I just feel lost. I was there watching her last moments unfold. There was nothing I could do. >> The stream footage was circulated in online spaces. Soon, pictures taken by the onlookers joined the noise. Amid the morbid curiosity, Ireie’s who watch page gained more followers.
Reaction to Ireie’s murder were split. One group said Ire’s death was a tragedy, highlighting the dangers of having an online presence. Another group believe she brought it on herself after draining Kenichi’s bank account and refusing to reimburse him. A rumor spread on Japanese social media based on the investigation’s initial theories that Kenichi had schizophrenia and I took advantage of that.
No news outlets confirmed this claim, but the rumor persisted enough for Twitter users to construct their arguments around it. Two posts picked out by an article by Jay Allen of Unseen Japan highlight the division people had in reaction to Ireie’s death. One person said, and I quote, “I feel sorry for the old dude who killed Moami.
” Laughing after you tricked a disabled man in his 50s out of 2.5 million yen. From his perspective, he probably thought he couldn’t get on with his life except by killing her. She lost in court and ignored an order to repay him. that makes I Moami the aggressor. She brought it on herself.
Another stated this incident with the woman Moami I who was stabbed and killed and the male asalent who gave her a lot in donations has people saying not to share your location via your online activity. Maybe don’t stab people. Don’t kill them even if they did you dirty. He kicked her after he killed her.
He’s 100% in the wrong here. No. Stop blaming the victim. As with many cases, the crime scene was also a memorial site for Ireie. Classmates from Yamagatada traveled to Tama and placed flowers, drinks, snacks, and candies on the ground in her memory. A video did surface of someone jumping directly on the flowers and vandalizing the memorial.
This angered many people on social media. There was some confusion among the Japanese news about Ireie’s identity. She’s referred to both with her real name Iris Sato and her online pseudonym Iami. There is a Japanese voice actress named Imoami, also known as Hiona Wakamia, who is very much not IE, but the two women were thought to be the same person.
The miscommunication was widespread enough that the voice actress’s talent agency had to issue a statement addressing the mistake and offering condolences for Ireie’s family. It said, “Regarding the incident that occurred today, March 11th, Tuesday, in Takadano Bababa, we have confirmed that some online reports have mistakenly identified the victim as our employee Imogami due to misinformation.
We offer our deepest condolences to the victim in this incident and would like to inform you that we have confirmed safety, that the victim is not our employee. We sincerely apologize for the worry and inconvenience caused to all those involved.” Ireie’s supposed fianceé, Yui Dyken, made a stir on Japanese social media when he voiced his opinions on Twitter.
The account is now deleted, but some screenshots made it to Japanese news articles along with quotes from the account itself. Shortly after I death, Yui wrote, “The reason I am writing this is because Iami, Iris Sato, has passed away. I’m not trying to claim that she was an honest person. In fact, she did not have good financial morals.
But information currently posted on Twitter appears to be information that the perpetrator of the heinous crime leaked to the public beforehand. The perpetrator’s motives were not merely to recover the repayment money, but also to harbor an obsession and resentment because the relationship did not develop despite the money being spent.
IE, who had no fixed address, was unaware of the public notice of service, and all of the plaintiff Takano’s claims were accepted, resulting in a victory for Tano. The period for filing an appeal had passed. Some of the money was borrowed, but some was given out of kindness, and the exchanges were varied. I conveyed to Mr.
Takano and his lawyer my intention to repay 2,550,334 yen again. A popular manga artist, Yashiro Azuki, retweeted and replied that he knew I statements were legitimate. Still, the Twitter account and Yui’s statements received a lot of push back from Kenichi sympathizers. Konichi Takano’s fate is unknown to us.
While Japanese legislation says that criminal trials should be conducted and judgment declared openly, the court systems are not very transparent with journalists. It is a research rabbit hole in and of itself with many Japanese citizens calling for more transparency between the courts and the press. As of the date of this recording, we do not know what the verdict is.
However, Japan has a track record of harsh punishments for those convicted of murder. So, it’s likely that Kenichi is serving life in prison or even awaiting the death penalty.
