Airhead female fans can't get enough of 'cool' accused killer Ichihashi

Tuesday 17th November, 09:12 AM JST

TOKYO —

“Kakkoii!” (He’s really cool), one blogger posted. “When he was arrested, I thought his disheveled black hair and the line along his neck to his jaw made him look so sexy. . .” another sighs.

It seems 30-year-old accused murderer Tatsuya Ichihashi, captured by police in Osaka port on Nov 10, is attracting a following of female admirers.

Ichihashi spent 2 1/2 years on the lam after allegedly murdering 22-year-old English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker in his Chiba apartment in March 2007.

But these celebrity groupies appear to be willing to overlook Ichihashi’s transgressions. The son of physicians, he’s tall (180cm), has a lean and mean physique, a talent for illustrating and can converse in a foreign language.

Nikkan Gendai (Nov 17) reports that blogs like 2-channel have opened threads (http://gimpo.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/lifesaloon/1258286080/l50x) to appeal to Ichihashi’s growing fan base, where he has been bestowed with affectionate nicknames like “Ichi-sama” (Lord Ichi) and “Tobo Oji” (the fugitive prince).

For these scatterbrained airheads, idolizing a notorious desperado is the thing to do.

“It’s really cool that someone who’d gone on the run in his bare feet had the vitality to save up 1 million yen while working at a construction job,” another post reads. “And despite that, Ichi-sama was so cute to have wept buckets when his family’s dog died.”

“Ichihashi is also popular with males, and there’s a chance that some of those posts were made by ‘nekama’ (males who pose as females on the net),” an unnamed IT journalist is quoted as saying.

Some posters even go so far as to fantasize having sex with him.

The Gyotoku police station where Ichihashi is currently incarcerated has reportedly received letters addressed to Ichihashi. One woman apparently even came to hand-deliver an album of doggie photos.

This would not be the first time females have been starstruck by a criminal suspect. After the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult released sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo subways in 1995, Nikkan Gendai recalls the cult’s charismatic “Minister of Information,” Fumihiro Joyu, attracted a brigade of groupies who became known as “Joyu gals.”

“From his image on wanted posters, Ichihashi seemed like a hunk, and I suppose this had a strong impact on some young women,” Masumi Kurata, a writer knowledgeable about female psychology, tells the tabloid.

“Some women have become infatuated. They see him as a man of mystery, like a hero in a romantic comic story,” Kurata continues. “Hunks—and fallen hunks—pique their maternal instincts. Some are attracted to shadowy men, and there’s no end to women who wind up marrying men on death row.”

As for the blog posts, Kurata explains that women who ordinarily wouldn’t indulge in such careless remarks lose self control in the anonymity of cyberspace.

“They needn’t take responsibility for what they post, so they let themselves go,” she says.

What’s the world coming to, Nikkan Gendai wonders—when dopey females get the hots for criminals?

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Latest 15 of 154 Total Comments Show All

kitzrow at 07:19 PM JST - 23rd November

Hopefully her meaning of 'kakkoi' is that of just his appearance and not the crime he did. I guess she was his type physically and hopefully she is truly disappointed in what he did.
LoveUSA at 07:34 PM JST - 23rd November

Hopefully her meaning of 'kakkoi' is that of just his appearance and not the crime he did. I guess she was his type physically and hopefully she is truly disappointed in what he did.

i do not believe anybody would write kakkoi about a crime or cirminal. please do not be jealous about ichihashi. Nobody can be infatuated with a murderer.
relmor at 02:29 AM JST - 24th November

Perhaps the police should let him loose. Then he could go visit these airhead females and do to them what he did to Hawker. The would knock the "cool" and "sexy" right out of their mouths.
Icewind007 at 08:34 AM JST - 24th November

Just another part of the current youth rebel culture... nothing special here.
fightfan2008 at 10:01 AM JST - 24th November

Don't act suprised. If most of us guys weren't aware of the fact that a lot of Japanese girls are naive airheads who fall for spoiled English speaking losers that constantly whine about being misunderstood, then a lot of us would never have came to Japan. Joking! Just...joking!!
rei307 at 05:54 PM JST - 24th November

fightfan2008 ...You're funny! LOL.. I thight you may be on to something there!
rei307 at 05:54 PM JST - 24th November

think
irishhighlander at 08:38 PM JST - 24th November

Great, no wonder the guy was able to be on the lamb, he was handsome and whatever these immature, dimtwits felt, he`s a killer, who has no respect but for himself. And he cried over his dog? Yeah, something tells me the hamster fell off the wheel.
1970sweet at 01:04 PM JST - 25th November

Quit hating on "Ichi the Killer." Maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
Damien15 at 10:45 AM JST - 27th November

maybe he didn't

Is that a possibility? I think not. We still don't know why he did it though.
bdiego at 05:31 AM JST - 2nd December

Once again, you've been trolled. Most of the people posting these comments are from sarcastic men provoking other people for fun. Same thing happened after the Akihabara stabbings.
excusemesir at 04:25 PM JST - 3rd December

I told this to a Japanese female friend and she told me she sympathizes with the killer. Needless to say my opinion of this female friend went down a few points. WTF?
riverwalk at 12:15 AM JST - 9th December

I think stupid and irresponsible people always exit.It is important not to spread about dangerous thinking. Radical opinions affect people's thinking.
yuki0426 at 11:37 AM JST - 10th December

I think the people who think ichihashi is cool are crazy. I cannot understand why they think so. Ichihashi is the murderer. He killed the person. He deprived her of the life. And If Lindsay’ s parents hear this news, they must get angry. So we should not have taken this crazy news.
zMeina at 05:16 PM JST - 17th December

Of course idolizing muederer is nonsense. But every day,dominate Ichihashi news headlines and get a lot of media exposure. So,Japan media also have responsibility of this case.