William Hawker leaves Narita airport, wearing a T-shirt with the printed face of Tatsuya Ichihashi.

Slain British woman's father back in Japan to renew public appeal

Tuesday 16th September, 01:18 AM JST

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nutsagain at 10:01 AM JST - 16th September

cleo: No what?
cleo at 10:07 AM JST - 16th September

No, serendipity is mistaken; the body was not discovered by a neighbour and reported to the police.
studebaker at 10:27 AM JST - 16th September

Can I invent some stories to add to this thread too?

In all seriousness, I'd suggest that he is living quietly outside of Tokyo, or has gotten out of the country. Knowing that the police and general population is 'looking' for you means that you have to be cautious at the very least. In a sense, he is already 'off the streets' and locked IN instead of UP.

In previous comments, someone suggested putting him in a headlock until the police came along to handcuff him... I would think that they'd handcuff you and let him go.
beavis at 10:57 AM JST - 16th September

As sad as this may sound, I think its time for the parents to come to the realization that they're daughter was killed in a country where the legal system is inept, corruption is the ruling doctrine, and humanity is equivalent to the neanderthal period. The only thing left for them to do is to be thankful that her body was left somewhat in tact and that they were able to offer her a proper final resting place. Of course if it were me, in addition to this, I would take action similar to the advice of tkoind2; Raise as much money as possible and commission some unsavory folk to bring me his head in a bowling ball bag.
moonbeams at 11:05 AM JST - 16th September

In March I saw a guy walking down the street in Kobe at evening. He was earing sun glasses, a hat, and a fake face. He looked very creepy and because of that, no one questioned him.

It shows how easy you can hide, here, because people don't confront strangers.

Anyway, it's most likely that this guy had burns or scars on his face and was hiding. But he was wearing a bagback.
soldave at 12:29 PM JST - 16th September

There is no way the police will catch him now. I have no doubt though that the right people, if showed enough yen, would be able to come up with him.
techall at 04:20 PM JST - 16th September

The police wen to the apartment investigating a missing persons report on her because she had not shown u[p for work for a few days. He was caught on a survelence camera approaching her about private english lessons. They did not go there with the intent of arresting him (although they may have had some suspicions about him). He bycicled past some cops who were waiting and ditched the bake shortly thereafter.
jimmystone at 04:25 PM JST - 16th September

the j-keystone cops are worthless, they better just stick to checking jailwalkers,,
frontandcentre at 12:45 PM JST - 17th September

ninjaboy: "Such cases are not, or will ever be, given priority over J-crimes."

Why should they be given priority over "J-crimes"? In my view, they should be treated with an equal level of seriousness, no less and no more.
nipponreddog at 06:39 PM JST - 17th September

William Hawker should give up the vengence hunt. Instead, he should establish a fund in his daughter's name to aid young women in Japan, gaijin or Japanese.
MrEggAndSpoon at 06:45 PM JST - 17th September

nipponredog- you speak bad words without realise it has bad purposes.

the man has right to fight justice for bthe poor girl, the English rose.

If he set up fund it should be for everyone not label "gaijin" is label, us black know label is bad. If there was more respect and people call correct names, not n word and similar, then maybe crimes can be stopped.
WilliB at 12:23 AM JST - 18th September

There are crimes everywhere. And unsolved crimes. And gaijin or not gaijin should not matter. But in this case, the cops have a lot to answer for. This creep ran through how many was it, 5 cops? And lost his shoes? And still got away?? And with a face like that? That should be embarrassing, by any standard.
Orangeporange at 04:55 PM JST - 18th September

I live in the area where this happened (Gyotoku) and this guy has shown up at hospitals, Elementry school property and in trainstations several times after the incident occured. He is not hiding that well. He is simply slipping through fingers!!!

Yes, many other crimes have happened in this area. Nearly every house and 1st floor apartment has been broken into in the neighborhood, rapes and break ins have taken place not to mention cronic domestic violence. City hall and the police department will listen to you once, and dismiss you every time you make a follow up complaint.
moonbeams at 12:27 PM JST - 20th September

This is upsetting.

There is a wikipedia page for Hawker, but not for Ishihashi.

On the Japanese version of Hawker's page, there is no mention of Ishihashi by name. Just "the suspect."
taniwha at 03:41 PM JST - 21st September

Nipponreddog,

he should establish a fund in his daughter's name to aid young women in Japan, gaijin or Japanese.

That must be the smartest comment I've read relating to this sad story.

Yes, if William Hawker set up a fund, and called for donations to it, then I wager it likely media interest in this unsolved case would pick up again. A fund to help other young gaijin women who are preyed on similarly in Japan. I'm sure he'd get a lot of support for something like that.

Just a pity that it would likely receive more media focus if it was exclusively for foreign female victims of men in Japan rather than all women. I'm sure there are an awful lot of Japanese women who have been victims of similar unsolved crimes.