Kanagawa Prefectural Police headquarters (Mainichi/Akihiko Yamamoto)

       YOKOHAMA -- A 39-year-old Kyoto man was arrested Nov. 17 on suspicion of stalking a woman after following a vehicle carrying her belongings to the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, when she moved from Kyoto to the city more than 400 kilometers away.

       Futoshi Kimura of Kyoto's Kamigyo Ward is specifically accused of waiting in ambush for a woman in her 20s at a train station in Kawasaki at around 8 p.m. on Nov. 1 to ask her to go out with him. He allegedly said to her, "Can I see you? It can just be once a month."

       Kimura reportedly has admitted to the allegations, telling police that he did it because he liked her. He is also quoted as telling police, "I thought there was a chance I could date her."

       According to Kanagawa Prefectural Police's Takatsu Police Station, Kimura developed romantic feelings toward the woman in summer 2020 when she worked at a local convenience store in Kyoto and started stalking her. After seeing the woman getting ready to move out this past spring, Kimura rented a car to follow the vehicle carrying her belongings. He apparently found out her new home in Kawasaki by doing so. He is quoted as telling police, "I couldn't contain myself and went to Kanagawa."

       (Japanese original by Minhyang Hong, Yokohama Bureau)

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