Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo Closes After Employee Fatally Stabbed by Former Boyfriend

Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo is temporarily closed after a young employee was murdered on the shop floor Thursday evening. The attack happened at around 7.20pm on 26th March, when 26-year-old Daiki Hirokawa entered the store and stabbed 21-year-old Moe Harukawa multiple times. Hirokawa then stabbed himself in the neck. Both were taken to hospital, where they later died of their injuries.

It's a horrible story. And today it got worse.

Japanese news outlets including TBS News Dig and Asahi News have since revealed that Hirokawa was Harukawa's former boyfriend. They had been in a relationship until around July 2025. After the break-up, Harukawa reported to police that he was stalking her, waiting outside her home and secretly filming her. That same day she made the report, Hirokawa showed up at her residence again and was arrested under Japan's Anti-Stalking Act. Officers found a fruit knife inside his car at the time of that arrest. When questioned, he told police he wanted to get back together with her.

He was given a restraining order in January 2026. Police encouraged him to seek counseling. He refused.

Harukawa had moved to a new address to try and get away from him. She kept her part-time job at the Pokémon Center, though, a job Hirokawa knew she had. By all accounts, she loved working there and didn't want to give it up because of him. "It was her dream to work there as she adored Pokémon," according to reports.

"She was a very polite and cheerful girl who got on well with her siblings. I'm in shock" said someone who knew her personally, speaking to TBS News.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police believe Hirokawa had an obsessive fixation on Harukawa and are continuing their investigation.

The Pokémon Company has issued a statement confirming the temporary closure of both Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo and the adjacent Pikachu Sweets café, with no confirmed reopening date:

"Due to the incident that occurred on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo in Sunshine City, Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, we will be temporarily closed until further notice, prioritizing our full cooperation with the police and the physical and mental well-being of our staff. We sincerely apologize for the great concern and inconvenience this has caused everyone."

The statement is measured and professional. What sits underneath it is a 21-year-old who just wanted to keep a job she loved, and a system that knew about a dangerous man and still couldn't keep her safe. Japan's stalking laws have faced criticism over the years for being reactive rather than preventative, and this case raises those questions again.

There is no timeline yet for when the store will reopen.