Japan Stalking Consultations Top 22,000 in 2025

Consultations Climb Again

According to a National Police Agency survey, police received 22,881 consultations concerning stalking in Japan in 2025, an increase of 16.9% from the previous year. This is the first time for the figure to rise above 20,000 since 2020. The number of cases prosecuting violations of the Anti-Stalking Act rose by 15.3% to 1,546, setting a new record for the fourth consecutive year.

Japan’s Anti-Stalking Act was enacted in 2000, following a fatal stabbing in Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture. Police can issue administrative measures, such as formal warnings and prohibition orders against perpetrators, upon receiving a victim’s request. Violating these orders carries criminal penalties, while some offenders are arrested for other offenses including assault, bodily injury, and trespassing. In 2025, police issued 1,577 warnings under the act (up 98 cases, or 6.6%, from the previous year) and 3,037 prohibition orders (up 622 cases, or 25.8%).

Trespassing Most Frequent Criminal Offense

Cases involving stalking that were prosecuted under the penal code or other special laws rose by 24.6% to 2,171, surpassing 2,000 for the first time to reach a record high. By charge, the most frequent offense was trespassing (437 cases), followed by intimidation (292), assault (159), bodily injury (153), and indecent assault (146). There were 2 cases of murder and 14 of attempted murder.

According to the NPA, 86.9% of the victims in the stalking cases it handled were women and 13.1% were men. Of the perpetrators, 80.1% were men and 12.3% were women, while in 7.6% of cases the gender was unknown. The main age range for victims was in their teens to forties, while the perpetrators were in their twenties to fifties. In around 40% of cases, the perpetrator was a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend, while the next most common connection was that they were friends or acquaintances, followed by workplace colleagues.

Data Sources

• Data on stalking cases (Japanese) from the National Police Agency

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)