Murder of Yasuko Watanabe

Murder of Yasuko Watanabe
The apartment where the murder took place
LocationHarajuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
DateMarch 9, 1997 (1997-03-09)
WeaponsPossibly rope
Deaths1
VictimsYasuko Watanabe, 39
PerpetratorsUnknown
Yasuko Watanabe
渡辺泰子
Born(1957-06-07)7 June 1957
Died9 March 1997(1997-03-09) (aged 39)
Cause of deathStrangulation
Body discovered19 March 1997
Maruyamachō, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
OccupationTEPCO Worker

Yasuko Watanabe (渡邉 泰子, Watanabe Yasuko; June 7, 1957 – March 9, 1997) was a 39-year-old unmarried Japanese woman, a senior economic researcher at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) moonlighting as a prostitute on the streets by night. She fell victim to murder by strangulation and rape by an unknown assailant in Harajuku, Shibuya on March 9, 1997. After being reported missing by her mother with whom she lived, her body was discovered on March 19, 1997 in a vacant apartment in the Maruyamachō neighborhood of Shibuya, Tokyo where she engaged in prostitution.

During the investigation it was discovered that she had kept a detailed journal of her many clients, including dates, times and fees.