Japanese blogger stabbed to death after giving lecture on online abuse

A Japanese blogger was stabbed to death on Sunday night, shortly after giving a seminar on how to manage online disputes.

Kenichiro Okamoto, 41, who was also a well-known figure among internet security industry circles for writing on cyber-attacks and threats of hackers for websites and magazines, was allegedly stabbed by a man he had an argument with online.

Known to his web users as Hagex, Okamoto was reportedly followed to the toilets and stabbed several times in the back after the seminar in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, according to the Japanese media.

Police have arrested Hidemitsu Matsumoto, who has confessed to the crime, saying he "hated" the blogger, according to Japanese state broadcaster NHK.

A blood-stained knife was also found in the bag carried by the suspect. 

According to reports, the suspect was described as a “hikikomori”, one of the estimated half-a-million Japanese who have shut themselves off from society and only communicate through their computers.

The suspect reportedly had a history of becoming embroiled in disputes in cyberspace and it is believed that he had argued with Okamoto prior to the incident.

In a message written immediately after the stabbing, Matsumoto said he had continued to abuse Okamoto by opening a new account every time his existing account was deleted.

He added: “I am going to go now to my neighborhood police box to voluntarily surrender and take responsibility for my actions.”

Internet trolling has recently started to grow in Japan, with the country's  National Police Agency stating the number of reports for March, for online libel and slander had increased to 11,136 in 2016 from 9,425 in 2013.