New Ichihashi Photos & Wanted Poster

Apologies for not posting this news when it broke on Friday June 27th.

The investigation headquarters of Gyotoku Police (Chiba Prefecture) have released two additional photos of Lindsay Hawker murder suspect¹ Tatsuya Ichihashi, which also appear on a new version of the wanted poster.



The photo on the left appears to be either a newly created composite showing Ichihashi with dyed blonde hair, or an already existing photo with heavy retouching (see left side of face). The photo on the right appears to be an older image, perhaps a purikura photo (see borders in upper and lower right corners) without retouching.

Police have announced that the offer of up to a one millon yen reward (approx. US$9,400) for information leading to Ichihashi's arrest established one year ago (see the June 29th 2007 entry) has been extended for another year. A new, more eye-catching wanted poster has been created featuring the two photos above.


(a high resolution PDF version of the poster can be downloaded on the police site).

As of the end of May, police have received 4,572 tips nationwide. This means there have been approximately 1,464 new tips since the previous wanted poster (please see the March 17th entry), featuring conceptual images of Ichihashi in radically different disguises. As with previous wanted posters, an A4-sized flyer has also been produced and is being distributed.



¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.


Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, June 27th 2008, 3:39pm (Tokyo). Originally appeared on Mainichi Shimbun (MSN portal) on the same date. Unfortunately there is no guarantee as to how long original Japanese language articles remain archived online for free.

40 Eyewitness reports of Ichihashi in Ikebukuro

The investigation headquarters of Gyotoku Police (Chiba Prefecture) have announced that they have collected approximately 40 eyewitness accounts of Lindsay Ann Hawker murder suspect¹ Tatsuya Ichihashi in Tokyo's Ikebukuro² district (please also see the March 18th entry for the first mention of the Ikebukuro theory). Exactly one year has passed since the discovery of Lindsay Hawker's body at Ichihashi's condominium on March 26 of last year.

Police announced additional investigators have been dispatched to Ikebukuro and that all efforts would be made to resolve the case.

From the time police first released wanted posters of Ichihashi (see the April 10th 2007 entry) until recently, a man said to resemble the suspect, including his eye characteristics, has been seen on frequent occasions at pachinko parlours, hotels and restaurants in the vicinity of JR Ikebukuro station.³

Additionally, it has been established that Ichihashi had visited Ikebukuro with an acquaintance before the time of Hawker's murder. Police believe that Ichihashi is familiar with the area and has possibly returned, leading to concentrated efforts to investigate restaurants, hotels and fûzoku businesses in the area.


¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.

² Ikebukuro happens to be very close to where this blog originates from.

³ Although exact details of the eyewitness reports were not mentioned, it is likely that the pachinko parlours and hotels being referred to are those concentrated in the area north/north-west of Ikebukuro station.


Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, March 26th 2008, 3:59pm (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Mainichi Shimbun on the same date. The last two paragraphs of the article briefly summarize information covered in the March 17th entry. Unfortunately there is no guarantee as to how long original Japanese language articles remain archived online for free.

Lindsay Hawker's family come to Japan in the continued quest for justice

Lindsay Hawker's entire family have come to Japan for the one-year anniversary (if that's the appropriate word) of Lindsay's murder. The Hawker family hope to urge continued and increased efforts to bring Lindsay's killer to justice.

This excellent article in The Times Online covers the press conference that was held in downtown Tokyo yesterday. The Japanese media is of course covering the news as well (if there is anything of note not found in the English press, it will be translated for this blog).

I was impressed to read that the family have been studying Japanese and that one of Lindsay's sisters, Lisa, spoke in Japanese at the conference. It's a shame that such tragic circumstances forced them to learn such a great language.

Possible sighting(s) of Ichihashi in Ikebukuro / New images on police site

On the heels of the latest wanted poster released by Gyotoku Police comes news of possible sightings of Lindsay Ann Hawker murder suspect¹ Tatsuya Ichihashi in Tokyo's Ikebukuro² district.

An (unnamed) female resident of Ikebukuro recounted the police's visit to her apartment last week in today's issue of pseudo-tabloid newspaper Nikkan Gendai.

"Two plain-clothed detectives visited my apartment last Wednesday at around 9pm. They were handing out flyers and warned me that 'There's a possibility Ichihashi is hanging around this area. He has a tendency to approach women, so please be careful.' The visit surprised me so I called my friend and she said the cops had been going door to door at restaurants and bars in Ikebukuro doing the same thing. When I stepped outside, a bunch of patrol cars drove by."

The Ikebukuro theory is the latest of possible Tokyo hideouts that include the Tokyo Bay area³ and the gay quarters of Shinjuku's 2-chome district (please see the July 31st 2007 entry).

Today Gyotoku Police updated their page on Ichihashi for the second time in two weeks, featuring the sketch Ichihashi made of Hawker on March 21 2007, 5 days prior to the discovery of Hawker's body. There are also photos of the articles of clothing Ichihashi dropped during his shoeless escape.

How nobody noticed which direction a 180cm tall, barefoot man on the run went in the minutes and hours directly after the escape remains a mystery.



¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.

² Ikebukuro happens to be very close to where this blog originates from.

³ I had not previously read or heard of the Tokyo Bay area theory until its mention in today's Nikkan Gendai article.



Article Source: Original article and commentary based on information and quotes from Yahoo! Japan News, March 18th 2008, 10:00am (Tokyo), originally published in Nikkan Gendai (article not available online). Unfortunately there is no guarantee as to how long original Japanese language articles remain archived online for free.

New wanted poster with Ichihashi in disguise as first year comes to a close

It has been almost one year since the body of Lindsay Ann Hawker was discovered at the residence of yet-to-be-apprehended murder suspect¹ Tatsuya Ichihashi on March 26 of last year, resulting in renewed interest and articles in the media.

Late last week on the 13th, the Gyotoku Police Department in Chiba Prefecture released a new wanted poster featuring images of Ichihashi in disguise (hensou) on the left and a female disguise (josou) on the right. The central image and text remain the same as seen on previous flyers and posters. If you click on the image of the poster found on the police site, you can download a large format PDF version.

3000 A4-size flyers and 4000 A3-size posters were printed and have been distributed at police stations/koban, train stations and lodging facilities in urban and suburban areas.

For those who haven't followed the case since the early days, information that came to light last summer (please see the July 31st 2007 entry) led police to believe that Ichihashi may be hiding out in Shinjuku's gay quarters, hence the type of disguises police believe he may be using. Why these two particular looks were rendered has not been mentioned but it is assumed that they are based on eyewitness reports of people matching Ichihashi's description.

The two renderings are the work of artist Motoaki Sudo. With the aid of computer "age progression" software first used to create portraits in the case of North Korean abductee Megumi Yokota, Suda created the two images.

The police also released current statistics on the case. From the time of the murder up until the 6th of March, approximately 42,000 police and detectives have worked in some capacity on the case. There are currently 141 active investigators. There has also been a total of 3108 eyewitness reports nationwide, none of which have led to Ichihashi's whereabouts.

While the police have been rightly criticized for letting Ichihashi slip away in the first place, the subsequent efforts to locate him have been constant and widespread. While it is hard to comprehend that someone could seemingly vanish as Ichihashi has, sadly there are many other cases that date back much further than this one where suspects have yet to be tracked down.


¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.


Article Source: Original article and commentary based on information from Sankei Newspaper, March 13th 2008, 6:27pm (Tokyo) and Mainichi Newspaper, March 14th 2008. Unfortunately there is no guarantee as to how long original Japanese language articles remain archived online for free.

"I've Even Arrested Him In My Dreams"

The following article ran as part of Sankei Newspaper's year-end wrap up column dubbed "End of the Year Journal," where reporters reflect on some of the year's high profile stories.

-----

"A guy working at the restaurant looks like Ichihashi."

Two detectives pull up in their car, returning from checking out the restaurant lead. "He really did look like Ichihashi, but it wasn't him," the senior detective sighs.

September 2007. Six months after the body of 22-year-old British English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was found at a condominium in Ichikawa City in March, reporters joined two detectives as they tracked 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi's whereabouts.

The detectives revisit a Tokyo district with plenty of cheap lodging where Ichihashi may be holed up.

"You're back again? Haven't you caught him yet?" says the woman who runs one of the rooming houses. Return visits to a previously investigated scene is an ironclad rule of police work.

"Not yet. You haven't heard anything?"

"Nothing. He's gotta be dead by now."

Everywhere they visit the detectives hand out new wanted flyers¹, bowing as they ask for cooperation.

"If I was off duty or on my way to work, if Ichihashi suddenly appeared I wonder about how I would make sure to arrest him. I have dreams where I catch him, and dreams where he gets away...I'm sure other detectives on the case have similar thoughts."

"I will never forgive the man who killed my daughter," said Hawker's tearful father as he held up a photograph of Lindsay. He saw off his daughter to what they believed was a safe country, but she ended up dead.

"The pain her family is going through must be unbearable. [Ichihashi] has to be caught," says the detective.

The search continues to crawl across the country, but it doesn't seem as if the words "Suspect Arrested" will reach the shores of England before year's end.


Mizuho Nishioka.



¹ The revised flyer with the reward money for any leads leading to the arrest of Ichihashi. See the June 29 entry for details.


Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, December 21st 2007, 8:21am (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Sankei Newspaper (article not online).

Closeup Photo of Ichihashi Distinguishing Marks / 2channel Latest

In an unfortunate repeat of the words stated at the top of the previous entry (July 31), there have been absolutely no developments since the reward campaign announced at the end of June (see June 29th entry). That doesn't mean that the case has been forgotten or that this blog has ceased operations.

I'm not sure when it was updated, but I noticed that the Chiba Police site now provides a closeup photograph with arrows indicating the two moles on Lindsay Hawker murder suspect¹ Ichihashi's left cheek. I had mentioned in footnote 7 of my June 29 entry that the moles weren't visible on the wanted poster (or in other photos for that matter), but the image at right clearly shows what to look for. However, judging by how small they are they could easily be concealed by makeup.

Although there hasn't been any legitimate news since the summer, discussion on message boards such as 2channel (see Wikipedia's explanation of the service here) continues at a regular pace. While many of the comments are ridiculous, and sometimes offensive, it shows that the case is still in the public consciousness.

A selection of recent comments from a thread entitled 「市橋達也（英リンゼイさん殺害犯）を探し出す」("The Hunt for Tatsuya Ichihashi [Lindsay Hawker's Killer]"):


Oct. 7: There have been cases in the past where suspects hid out in Osaka² until the statute of limitations ran out.

Oct 23: I think the reason they can't find him is because someone's harbouring him.

Nov. 9: Stick to his parents' house, his friends and the original crime scene. I would tap their phones, monitor all his parents' bank accounts, seize his computer and investigate any associates he made on the internet. He escaped in sweat pants and bare feet -- he might have forced his way into a nearby apartment and killed the owner (which would be possible if it were a senior citizen or a single woman). That would be his only shot.

Nov. 26: Saikyô Line departing from Shinjuku (Ômiya-bound), 6:01pm train, front car.

Dec. 10: Ichihashi is a totally ugly, disgusting homo killer.

Dec. 11: If he's working or renting a room he must have shown some kind of ID. How's he doing it?




¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.

²One previous theory was that Ichihashi disappeared into Osaka's Kamagasaki flophouse district. Please refer to April 10th entry.

Ichihashi in Shinjuku's Gay Quarters?

There haven't been any developments whatsoever since the push for further action at the end of June (see June 29th).

I recently came across a citing for an article that appeared in a June edition of Shûkan Gendai, one of Japan's many shûkanshi (weekly magazines), which posits the theory that Ichihashi is hiding out in the gay quarters of Shinjuku's Ni-chôme district.

It appears that Japan Today has recently translated the piece as part of its "Shûkan Watch" column. You can read the article and accompanying comments here.

While these magazines often contain a combination of outrageous gossip and legitimate news, a story like this without one source cited is hard to take seriously. Nonetheless, it's another theory as to how a man could so completely disappear.

Also interesting is the mention of as yet unseen elevator footage (see May 16th) of Ichihashi and Hawker as they went up to his apartment.

1 Million Yen Reward Offered For Information in the Lindsay Hawker Case

"We want to raise public concern"

Three months have passed since the body of Lindsay Ann Hawker was found at a condominium in the Fukuei neighbourhood of Ichikawa City. However, murder suspect¹ Tatsuya Ichihashi's whereabouts remain unknown.

Today (June 29), National Police Agency announced a 1 million yen² cash reward for information leading to the arrest of Ichihashi.³

The reward money will be offered for a one year period from June 29 2007 until June 28 2008. Additionally, 20,000 copies of a new wanted poster and 10,000 copies of a flyer have been produced⁴. 5000 of the flyers will be distributed for display at nationwide branches of Hawker's previous place of employment as an English language instructor. ⁵

As the investigation has prolonged, new leads have rapidly decreased. As of June 27, 1049 tips have been received: 457 in April, 356 in May and only 101 in June.⁶ While a suspect has already been identified, a cash reward lends the case more public impact. "We want to raise public concern and receive more reliable and accurate information" said a high-ranking police spokesperson.

Ichihashi is 180cm tall with a slim build and has a habit of walking with a slightly slouched back. He also has two vertically aligned moles on his left cheek.⁷


Lindsay's flatmate suspected something was wrong when Lindsay did not return home and contacted police. Police paid a visit to Ichihashi, who had sheduled an English lesson at his house with Hawker shortly before her disappearance. While being questioned, Ichihashi fled along a road 200m from his apartment. Police lost his trail in the pursuit and his whereabouts have remained unknown since.

Police have kept 145 officers involved in the case (see April 26th entry). Tips from witnesses claiming to have seen someone who resembles Ichihashi have been gathered by investigators dispatched around the country, yet he remains at large. Train station and convenience store security cameras are being monitored, but no images of Ichihashi have appeared as of yet.

"In most cases, there is uncovered evidence or captured security camera images. For an investigation to continue this long with nothing turning up is rare," said the spokesman.

Gyotoku Police Hotline: 047-397-0110

Update: As mentioned in this Japan Times article (free subscription required), it was the National Police Agency that has put up the reward. The international aspects of the case are also covered.

Update 2: This article on Yahoo! UK includes quotes from and an image of Lindsay Hawker's parents at the press conference held today in Tokyo.


¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of (in all media) is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case. The standard reference to Ichihashi in every article is the unwieldy "Unemployed Ichikawa City resident suspected of abandonment of a dead body, Tatsuya Ichihashi." The replacement of this with "murder suspect" or simply "suspect" in my translations both aids the flow of the writing as well as providing the Western equivalent of the crime he'd be wanted for questioning in, though it is not technically a correct translation.

² Approximately US$8,500 according to June 29 rates (see the Universal Currency Converter for the most up to date exchange rates).

³ It's difficult to explain in the flow of the article itself, but esentially the case has been "designated" as one in which reward money (garnered from public funds) can be offered.

⁴ See info and images on the official Chiba Police site. There are downloadable PDF files of the current wanted poster (which offers the reward and features new photos of Ichihashi) and the previous version (see April 10th article). Click on poster image to download a high resolution version.

⁵ Lindsay Hawker worked as an English language instructor for Nova at the company's Koiwa branch (also see school's dedicated page here -- Japanese only).

⁶ The discrepancy between the 1049 total tips and the 914 received from April 1 until June 27 may be accounted for by tips received in the last six days of March.

⁷ The article uses the term nekoza, which literally translates as "cat's back". It's often used to describe a slouched gait and is sometimes purposely affected by criminals, particularly yakuza members. The moles are not visible in either of the wanted posters. This could be because they are of similar colour as the rest of Ichihashi's face.

Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, June 29th 2007, 1:01pm (Tokyo). Originally appeared in the Mainichi Shimbun, June 29 (article not online).

Lindsay Hawker T-Shirt Campaign

I just came across an article on Arudou Debito/David Aldwinkle's site regarding the news of a T-shirt campaign underway to keep the Lindsay Hawker case in the spotlight here in Japan (where, as I mentioned in my previous post, it's fading from view).

Caroline Pover has created shirts in various sizes and styles which feature the image of suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi and the words 「捕まるまで　眠れない」(roughly "I won't be able to sleep until he's caught"). Pover's site explains it further:

The Japanese words on the T-shirt roughly translate to ‘Until this man is caught, I won’t sleep at night’, which can be interpreted in many ways: perhaps you are that bit more nervous at night knowing this man has not been caught; perhaps you are a father and worried about your daughter; perhaps you are a husband and worried about your wife; perhaps you want to make a statement against all violent crime against women. For men and women, Japanese and foreign, this T-shirt can have many meanings.

To order, please visit her page on the Café Press online shop here.

Hawker Family and British Police Coming to Japan

I haven't posted anything for almost a month, simply because there haven't been any developments in the search for suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi. However, I've just read this article on the website of UK newspaper The Sun which states that the Hawker family (parents Bill and Julia, as well one of Lindsay's sisters) are coming to Japan accompanied by two British police detectives in order to liase with local authorities and make another plea for assistance from the public.

It's sad to say, but the Hawker case has really dropped off the radar here. Additionally, Yahoo! News (Japan) seems to have changed their policy on storage of past articles, greatly shortening the time frame of their archives (perhaps to 30 days or less). None of Yahoo! links in the previous entries work anymore.

Letter To Ichihashi's Parents From Grieving Father: "Tell Your Son To Turn Himself In"

I was prepared to translate an article (see source below) for the above headline when I realized that Reuters News agency had already picked up the story, which can be read here

Further details regarding the case of beaten-to-death Rikkyo University student Satoru Kobayashi can be read in this Japan Times article (free subscription required).


Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, May 22nd 2007, 8:00am (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Sankei Shimbun, May 22nd, 3:31am. Variations also appeared in other publications, including Jiji Tsûhin.

Video Of Ichihashi Posted On Gyotoku Police Website

The video footage described in the previous entry has now been removed from Nippon News Network's site, but is now available on the official Gyotoku Police website.

Please visit this page and click the first link under the wanted poster to watch the footage. If you want to save the file (1.8Mb) on your local hard drive, right click and save. Microsoft's Windows Media Player is required to view this video.

As the video was taken from Ichihashi's building's elevator security camera, the footage is quite choppy (not unlike a convenience store camera) and there is no audio. It is, however, larger and of better quality than what was shown on TV and contains Ichihashi's full entrance and exit from the elevator.

New Video Footage of Suspect Ichihashi Made Public

In a development in the case of murdered British English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, new video footage of suspect¹ Tatsuya Ichihashi was made public by police on May 7th. Hawker's body was found at Ichihashi's condominium in March of this year.

The footage was captured by a security camera in the elevator of Ichihashi's condominium² sometime between March 20th and March 25th, when Hawker's whereabouts become unknown.

There remain no clues as to Ichihashi's whereabouts as police continue to appeal to the public for information.

Gyotoku Police Hotline: 047-397-0110


-----

Please follow this link to Nippon News Network's online article, where you can view the news segment including the elevator footage by clicking either the 56k icon (small video window) or 300k icon (large video window) in the lower right corner of the article. (Windows Media Player required).³

The newscasters cover the same information in the article above, emphasizing that these are the first images of Ichihashi in a "normal" state, fixing his hair etc. The text on the image above also mentions the image as Ichihashi's sugao -- his "natural face" or "real self" -- as captured right before the crime (the black clothing appears to be the same clothing worn in the café footage).

----


¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of (in all media) is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case. The standard reference to Ichihashi in every article is the unwieldy "Unemployed Ichikawa City resident suspected of abandonment of a dead body, Tatsuya Ichihashi." The replacement of this with "murder suspect" or simply "suspect" in my translations both aids the flow of the writing as well as providing the Western equivalent of the crime he'd be wanted for questioning in, though it is not technically a correct translation.

² In the first segment of footage, Ichihashi appears to be wearing the same striped top he has on in the wanted poster image.

³ I am not sure how long this footage will remain available online. If anybody has the capability to capture streamed WMV files, please contact me. It could be hosted on Youtube or a similar solution.


Article Source: Nippon News Network (NNN) (a division of the Nippon Television Network [NTV]), May 7th, 5:18pm (Tokyo). Also appeared in slight variations in the Mainichi Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun, Jiji Tsûshin etc.

Anti-Japan Sentiment Intensifies - Golden Week Travellers Going to the UK, Beware!

Japanese travelers heading to England this Golden Week should take extra precaution.

With English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker's funeral being held at a church in England on April 26th as well as a not-guilty verdict in the Lucie Blackman case reached on the 24th, anti-Japan sentiments have risen sharply.

The Daily Telegram featured a large photograph of Lindsay Hawker's casket accompanied by the headline "Misery continues after not guilty verdict in Obara case"¹. Other newspapers harshly criticized the Japanese police. "Ichihashi still loose due to botched police investigation"(Daily Mirror), "Japanese police rife with negligence" (Times)².

Other publications commented on the Obara ruling. "If it were a British or American courtroom, the verdict would've been different" (The Guardian)³. BBC television commentary stated "The British public's distrust of the Japanese police has certainly increased."⁴

"Japanese men are gross" and "Japan is filled with stalkers" are among the flood of comments on the internet, some of which are shockingly racist.

There may be many Japanese travellers heading to England now, but it might be better not to walk alone.


¹ Original English headline not yet retreived -- this is a translation.
² ibid
³ ibid
⁴ ibid


Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, May 1st 2007, 10:00am (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Nikkan Gendai, May 1st, 10:00am (original article not online).

One Month Since Murder Of British Woman in Ichikawa: No Leads on Suspect Ichihashi

Investigation HQ Increase Force to 150

One month has passed since the discovery of the body of British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker at a condominium in Ichikawa City. Meanwhile, the search for unemployed suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi continues.

Today, Gyotoku Prefectural Police Headquarters increased the investigating team from 100 officers to 150. Despite receiving 379 tips from the public since the beginning of the search until April 26th, Ichihashi's whereabouts remain unknown. (Tsuyoshi Terada) ¹

Ichihashi escaped shortly after investigators questioned him at the entrance of his condominium suite at 9:40pm on the night of March 26th. Ichihashi was seen running toward Gyotoku Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Subway line, approximately 600m from the condominium.

Ichihashi lost both shoes while scaling the fence behind the condominium. His discarded socks were later found along the road leading to the station. Prefectural police pursued with scent sniffing dogs, but lost Ichihashi's trail. The bicycle used by Ichihashi to go to and from Gyotoku station was found parked at the station.

Inside Ichihashi's apartment, police found a garbage bag containing Hawker's clothes and an empty plastic bag of gardening sand, used to bury Hawker's body in a bathtub found on the balcony.

Ichihashi also dropped a backpack containing underwear when he encountered investigators in front of the building. Police believe Ichihashi was planning to destroy evidence and was preparing his escape before they arrived.

Gyotoku Police released two photos of Ichihashi as well as distributing 30,000 wanted posters. Police forces across Chiba Prefecture began concurrent investigations, including searches of moored pleasure boats along the Edogawa River, the Imperial Household Agency-run duck sanctuary ² and detailed checks of residential areas, but Ichihashi's whereabouts remain unknown.

In the early stages of the investigation police offered over 20 updates a day, but recently there has been little new information. "As the climate becomes warmer, we plan to increase searches of outside areas where [Ichihashi] could easily dwell," stated Gyotoku Vice-Police Commissioner Takeshi Terajima.

Timeline of Lindsay Hawker Case

• March 21st, early hours of the morning: Ichihashi enters Hawker's apartment uninvited ³ and demands private English lessons.


• March 25th, approx. 8:55am: Ichihasi and Hawker meet at a café in front of Gyotoku station.


• March 25th, 9:45am: Ichihashi and Hawker leave the café and head for Ichihashi's condominium.


• Between March 25th and the morning of March 26th: Hawker is murdered and her body abandoned in a bathtub.


• March 26th, approx. 3:30pm: A colleague of Hawker's files a missing person's report at Funabashi Police Station.


• March 26th, evening: Ichihashi purchases a bag of sand (used to bury Hawker's body) at a home & garden center.


• March 26th, approx. 9:40pm: Police question Ichihashi at the entrance of his condominium unit. After he escapes, police discover Hawker's body.

¹ A reporter at Mainichi Newspaper who has written about the case previously.
² The Imperial Household Agency is the government agency in charge of matters concerning the Imperial Family. They also apparently manage this 13,000 sq. metre duck sanctuary in Ichikawa.
³ Previous articles have stated that Hawker let Ichihashi enter her apartment after he followed her home from the station as her roommate was present at the time. The nuance here is that he was an uninvited guest, or "intruded".

Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, April 27th 2007, 11:00am (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Mainichi Newspaper, April 27th.

One Month Since Lindsay Hawker's Death, No Leads - Search Focuses On Places Such As Manga Cafés

It has now been one month since the discovery of British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker's body at a condominium in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture.

Gyotoku Prefectural Police Headquarters have approximately 150 officers conducting investigations at manga kissa and the like in the search for suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi.¹

Ichihashi escaped from the condominium where he lived on the evening ² of March 26th after police arrived to investigate the whereabouts of Hawker. Ichihashi apparently had only 40-50,000 yen in his possession, but there has been no evidence of further withdrawals from his bank account.

This has led police to focus searches at establishments where one can stay for an extended period of time for a relatively small amount of money such as manga kissa, internet cafés and capsule hotels.

Additionally, police are making efforts to search empty and abandoned houses and have checked boats moored along the Edogawa River. Morning rush hour subways have also been stopped for several minutes while police conducted searches.


¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.
² Could be read as evening or night -- I'm not aware of the exact time police arrived at the condominium.


Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, April 26th 2007, 6:30am (Tokyo). Originally appeared on Jiji Tsûshin, April 26th, 6:13am.

Ichihashi's Whereabouts - Rumours Of Suicide Persist

It has been 20 days¹ since the discovery of English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker's body, but escaped murder suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi's whereabouts are still unknown. Even criminal investigators are now suggesting that the rumours of Ichihashi committing suicide may be true.

A reporter close to the case has commented on the current situation. "The most recent picture of Ichihashi was released to the public around April 3rd³, but there have been absolutely no leaks of new information from the police. The press had been anticipating an arrest, but there's been no progress. Out of frustration we finally asked 'Could he have committed suicide?' to which they wouldn't comment nor deny. There were also investigators⁴ that clearly stated 'Maybe the guy is already dead'."

Investigators have conducted a thorough search of Ichikawa City, Chiba but have turned up no clues. Nikkan Gendai also reported the rumours of Ichihashi hiding out in Osaka (see April 10th article), but Ichihashi's trail could not be traced there either.

"Eyewitness reports of a man matching the description of Ichihashi have come in from shops all over the Kanto region, but all the leads have turned up empty. When there are reports of a body being found, people chatter, asking 'Is it Ichihashi?'. The case is really at a dead end. The 50,000 yen he reportedly had in his possession must be almost gone by now. Some are beginning to label the case 'Unsolved'," said an informed source close to the Chiba prefectural police.

If Ichihashi has committed suicide and the case remains "Unsolved" after that brief moment police had Ichihashi before he slipped away, the Chiba police will lose all face and Lindsay definitely won't be able to rest in peace.


¹ 20 days as of the publication of the original Nikkan Gendai article, but 23 days as of Yahoo! Japan's syndication of it.
² ibid.
³ See info and images on the official Chiba Police site. There is also now a downloadable PDF file of the wanted poster (see April 10th article). Click on poster image to download a high resolution version.
⁴ As singular and plural nouns are often not clear in Japanese, it's vague whether it was one or more investigators that stated the possibility of Ichihashi already being dead.

Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, April 17th 2007, 10am (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Nikkan Gendai, (text not available online).

No Current News

There have been no major Japanese lang. stories on the case in the mainstream press or in the tabloids since April 9th. This reminded me to mention that if you come across a piece that you think should be translated, please let me know by posting a comment. Comments are set to "moderated," so I will receive an email notification first.

British Beauty Murder Suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi May Be Hiding in Osaka

(Ichikawa, Chiba). Ten days after the discovery of beautiful British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker's body, the trail of barefoot escaped murder suspect ¹ Tatsuya Ichihashi (28) is still cold. Amidst theories that Ichihashi has committed suicide, shocking new revelations that he may be hiding in Osaka have suddenly surfaced.

"Ichihashi's parents received a phone call on April 3rd at their house in Gifu Prefecture. The call was traced to a public telephone in Osaka City's Nishinari Ward. Chiba police requested the Osaka prefectural police investigate. A two-day investigation was conducted on April 3rd and 4th, but the police were unable to attribute any fingerprints to Ichihashi. Investigators will stick to the area of the payphone for the time being," said someone related to the case. ²

At investigation headquarters, dozens of eye-witness reports have come in. On March 29th, love hotels in Funabashi City were searched and on March 30th the Tozai Subway Line was shut down to conduct another search, but no clues were turned up in either operation.

"Based on the large amount of eye-witness reports, the prefectural police have dispatched over 150 investigators to search neighbouring prefectures in the Kanto region. Despite a widening dragnet, there are no major clues," said an informed source close to the prefectural police. ³

Despite being 180cm tall and having escaped barefoot, Ichihashi has yet to be located. Some believe he may have already committed suicide. The online edition of Britain's Daily Mail have even proposed a theory that the yakuza may be harbouring Ichihashi. ⁴

It was during a stalemate in the investigation that the theory of Ichihashi hiding out in Osaka suddenly came to light. He's believed to have a degree of money in his possession. If he were to hide in Osaka's doyagai (flophouse) district, it would prove quite difficult to find him. ⁵

"The phone call was silent, and Ichihashi's parents' home phone number is rumoured to have been posted on the internet. It could just be a nasty prank. For these reasons, investigators cannot say for certain whether (Ichihashi) is hiding in Osaka or not." ⁶

As long as the investigation continues to go hither and thither, victim Lindsay Ann Hawker won't be able to rest in peace.


¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.
² No name or position provided.
³ Most likely a reporter with close ties to the police.
⁴ The nuance in original article is that the yakuza theory was a highly unbelievable scenario. I have to agree that it's an outlandish idea, considering that Ichihashi, by all accounts the somewhat spoiled son of a rich family, has absolutely no connection to the underworld.
⁵ Kamagasaki, one of Japan's largest districts of cheap lodging for day labourers and homeless, is located in Osaka's Nishinari Ward, where the phone call originated from. The area is also well-known as an place where people drop out of society for different reasons.
⁶ Quote attributed to same source as note ²

Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, April 8th 2007, 10am (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Nikkan Gendai, April 5th, 2007 (full text not available online).