A 49-year-old woman named Masae Sakurai was arrested on July 6 in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on suspicion of assault for sewing her 42-year-old female roommate's lips together on June 29, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].
The incident took place around 1:30 p.m. at their shared home in Koga city. Sakurai reportedly used a needle and thread to sew multiple places on the victim's upper and lower lips, causing injury that prevented the woman from speaking or eating [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].
The victim escaped on June 30 while Sakurai was away. Unable to speak, she carried a handwritten note with the words "Please help me" (請救救我) to a nearby store, seeking assistance [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].
The two had lived together since April 2025. The victim told police she was too afraid to flee immediately after the assault, saying, "Because I was too scared of Sakurai, I could not leave at once" [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].
Neighbors said Sakurai seldom interacted with others. One neighbor said, "She barely socializes with neighbors. I always thought she might have trouble getting along with people. I never expected something like this to happen." [3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12]
Police have noted Sakurai has a history of hosting runaway individuals, sometimes charging rent, though this is under further investigation [4, 6]. Authorities are also probing potential illegal confinement and looking into other possible crimes or residents in the home [7, 8, 12].
The victim received hospital treatment but has no life-threatening injuries [3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12]. Sakurai denied the charges as of July 9, according to police updates [6].
