Woman found dead in love hotel in Shibuya

Friday 09th January, 10:20 AM JST

TOKYO —

A woman in her 30s was found dead in the bathtub of a room at the love hotel Lumiere in Shibuya on Thursday afternoon, police said Friday. A man, who checked in together with her, is missing, police said.

According to police investigations, hotel employees found the naked body of the victim in the bathtub filled with water at around 3:50 p.m. Police found a driver’s license in the room and are currently trying to confirm the identity of the victim.

Police said the victim and the unidentified man checked into the hotel around 2:40 a.m. the same day.

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Latest 15 of 33 Total Comments Show All

smithinjapan at 03:53 PM JST - 9th January

There's no way in hell they'll find the guy, particularly if the woman was an escort/prostitute. Love Hotels are specifically designed for the sake of remaining discreet, and while I think some have cameras in lobbies for this kind of thing (or even in the room for 'home made movies'), most do not.

Unless the guy was dumb enough to pay by credit card, or is an acquaintance of the vic., there's no way they'll find him.
Zer00 at 04:07 PM JST - 9th January

~smithinjapan

they will... all of them have surveilance cameras. Might even have them inside the rooms :)
EmmaKellyJapan at 04:27 PM JST - 9th January

Having been in quite a few love hotels I don't think the majority of them have cameras in the rooms. It kind of defeats the whole "discrete and anon" thing. But I imagine they have some system for security.
nandakandamanda at 05:21 PM JST - 9th January

EmKellyJ. you'd be surprised at some of the stories! One classic where the wall collapsed under the weight of a family leaning and listening. Two-way mirrors, secret filming, etc., ...hehehehe
Sarge at 05:50 PM JST - 9th January

I'll bet the man who checked in with her has something to do with her death.
BBLeo at 05:55 PM JST - 9th January

We are all aware why they came, and what they were doing in this hotel. Did cops find any money on her? Can we get some more explanations or details of this so called: ... love hotel Lumiere in Shibuya...? I'm a little confused about this hotel being called with 'love.' Certainly was a short love story. If she was call girl perhaps her demand was not the right one for this man. It is also possibility he didn't like girls to sell their bodies and it was revenge killing. What a way to go, in bathroom nice and clean.
techall at 06:01 PM JST - 9th January

BBLeo: She was naked........no money on her.

Sarge: just adding to the post by nandakandamanda. A couple of my comments on this one have been not so graciously axed by the moderators.
nandakandamanda at 06:20 PM JST - 9th January

Reading other news sources, the cops found the guy apparently, but he said he had no idea that she had died. No suspicious marks were found on her body, they were saying, so the police do not think she was caught up in anything unnatural.
timeon at 07:16 PM JST - 9th January

they found a driver's license, but still both of them are unidentified?
YangYong at 11:41 PM JST - 9th January

My eyes opened wide with horrific expectation as I read the sentence, ...in the bathtub filled with but I soon slumbered back into inertia as I read water and not sand.
elbudamexicano at 05:34 PM JST - 10th January

Anyway, a horrible way to die and and horrible place to be found in dead, RIP young lady.
BBLeo at 07:01 PM JST - 10th January

techall - Ok she was naked! There is a chance that whoever was with her could took all her money and flew off. The only truth will be revealed when authopsy is performed. By the way what is the reason that she was naked? Were they playing 'boys and girls' game?
romselecta at 02:38 AM JST - 11th January

hmmm.... naked... in a bath... filled with water, none the less... so many people jumping to conclusions when the simplest answer is often the right one... she sliped in the bath and drowned... one of the most common ways to accidentally die.
rurika at 04:56 AM JST - 12th January

Do we actually know for sure she was murdered and didn't die of natural causes?

Maybe she was married, maybe the guy was married, maybe it was just a one-night stand, maybe she was an escort, who knows? I can think of many reasons why the guy would panick and run off even if he didn't kill her.
PepinGalarga at 09:54 PM JST - 13th January

this story is alredy 4 days old and according to other posters the guy has been caught. i'm sure the autopsy is already completed. depending on the autopsy and any additional evidence, police may be able to "extract" some sort of confession from this guy, regardless of what happened.

if anyone has found any additional details from other sources let us know.