The number of stalking cases handled by police in Japan in 2025 hit the highest level since the anti-stalking law took effect in 2000, National Police Agency data showed Thursday.

The figure rose by 205 from the previous year to 1,546. Other violations linked to stalking, such as illegal entry into homes, also jumped by 428 to 2,171 cases. The number of restraining orders to stop stalking and similar acts topped 3,000 for the first time.

Last year, police received 22,881 cases of consultation requests on stalking from victims and others. This marked an increase of 3,314 cases.

The number of restraining orders issued grew 622 to 3,037. Of them, about 60% were emergency orders, which are given without holding hearings involving perpetrators. Police handled 244 violations of the orders.

Warnings issued by police to stalkers increased by 98 to 1,577. The figure rose for the first time in five years, although it had been falling from a spike after the country switched to a system allowing police to issue an emergency order before a warning.

¡°We are responding to cases proactively, using warnings effectively depending on the situation, instead of relying solely on orders,¡± the agency said.

Following a revision in December last year, the anti-stalking law allows police to give warnings to stalkers without complaints from victims. The agency plans to use this system further, as warnings can be issued quickly.

Regarding cases relating to tracker tags, whose misuse for tracking and location identification has been banned under the revision, police received 679 consultation requests from victims last year, up by 309 year on year. The figure surpassed that of consultation inquiries over GPS-linked devices, which stood at 511.

In March 2024, police started a program to communicate regularly with people who receive restraining orders to check on how they are doing and how much they are fixating on victims, in order to improve patrolling and help prevent escalation. Last year, 1,698 cases were handled under the program, up 63.4% from a year earlier.

The NPA last September instructed police across the country to enhance coordination among divisions of theirs that handle stalking cases and review their related manuals.

The agency took the action in response to a high-profile 2024 murder case in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, in which a female victim was killed despite having repeatedly consulted prefectural police over incidents of stalking.

After the instructions, the numbers of police-handled stalking cases and warnings rose markedly across Japan. ¡°This is believed to be the result of actively responding in line with the instructions to consultation requests, which increased following media coverage of the case,¡± an NPA official said.