Photo/Illutration The headquarters of the Aichi prefectural police in Nagoya (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Aichi prefectural police rearrested Masaki Eguchi on suspicion of murdering a high school girl whose body was found in his home in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture.

According to police, Eguchi, 21, is suspected of stabbing 16-year-old Waka Kato multiple times with a knife that resulted in her dying from hemorrhagic shock triggered by excessive blood loss. 

He is accused of killing her in his home sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on March 29 before leaving her body in a second-floor closet.

Kato was from Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward. According to investigative sources, Kato told her family she was going to stay with a friend she played video games with online for a few days and left her home on March 28. 

She arrived at the suspect's house in Ichinomiya after traveling via Shinkansen.

Her family reported her missing after they were unable to reach her after the afternoon of March 29, and police visited Eguchi's residence on March 31 using her phone's location information. 

Eguchi, who is unemployed, was arrested that first time on suspicion of abandoning her body after police discovered it—a charge he has since admitted to. 

The two are said to have met several years ago and became friends through the popular online video game "Fortnite." The game has a mobile version and is a battle royal-style setup with assorted playable characters and weapons.

EMPHASIZE CAUTION TO KIDS

Online games are especially popular among young people, and the size of the market has grown rapidly in the past decade.

Its estimated worth is approximately 1.26 trillion yen ($8.9 billion) as of 2023, about 1.5 times the size it was 10 years ago, according to the economy ministry. 

This spike is thought to have been driven by the "stay home" trend during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and smartphones becoming more common.

A 25-year-old office worker who lives in western Japan said he was playing a game around three years ago where multiple players cooperate to defeat monsters.

In an attempt to recruit fellow players, he posted, “To anyone who likes this game, why don’t we play together?” on social media. 

He ended up connecting with a woman who had made a similar post and they decided to play together, hitting it off while talking to each other on voice chat.

They played every day for about three months, sometimes up to eight hours a day.

One day, they decided to meet in person. 

That was the first time he had ever met a "game buddy" in person, but said "there was no awkwardness" and that they still meet regularly.

“I became friends with someone I would never have met in my daily life through the sense of accomplishment of defeating a common enemy,” he said. 

Unfortunately, not all online friendships are like this.

According to the National Police Agency, 98 children under the age of 18 were involved in crimes stemming from online game interactions in the past year.

The number has hovered around 100 in recent years and remained high.

"Children tend to be drawn to someone playing a strong character like a 'senior member of a club.' Some adults take advantage of children's longing and loneliness and try to groom them,” said Kazuo Takeuchi, a professor at the University of Hyogo specializing in children's relationship with the internet. 

He said children should be taught at school and at home about online dangers as well as encouraged to be cautious.

(This article was written by Shun Noguchi, Akimitsu Ishigaki and Toshinari Takahashi.)

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