Man Who Attacked Female Idol Used “Unexpected” Method To Find Her Address

A criminal was able to track down a Japanese idol in an almost unbelievable way.

In 2019, a man was arrested after breaking and entering into the house of an idol. The latter was Ena Matsuoka, a member of Tenshi Tsukinukeni Yomi, an underground group.

The 21-year old was returning to her apartment in Tokyo one night when the stalker sneaked up behind her and covered her nose with a piece of cloth. He brought her to a secluded area nearby and assaulted her until she managed to escape. The idol reported the incident to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, showing them the facial bruising that he caused.

The criminal was none other than Hibiki Sato, 26, who claimed to be a fan of Tenshi Tsukinukeni Yomi. He confessed that he did not originally know her exact address. He was only able to piece it together by zooming in on her public photos and finding clues through the reflections on her eyes.

For instance, the reflection of a bus stop sign was visible in her eyes in one of her selfies. This allowed him to find the general area of her home using Google Street View.

Example of a Google Street View location in Japan | Google

Afterwards, he studied other photos that she posted to find out exactly which apartment she lived in, matching her window dressings and the angle of light entering her room with other pictures.

In an interview with Tokyo Reporter, Shuichiro Hoshi, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, commented on this case. He noted that information such as one’s address can easily be “leaked unexpectedly” due to technological advancements.

The picture quality of smartphone cameras has become very fine, and a new risk has arisen in which private information is being leaked unexpectedly.

— Shuichiro Hoshi

Sato was eventually charged with indecent assault resulting in injury.