Mutsuko Ayano
Mutsuko Ayano (1956–1983) was a Japanese doctoral student who studied German in Germany. Born in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, she attended Okayama University and went to the University of Trier in 1981 on a Rotary scholarship to pursue her doctorate under Professor Hermann Gelhaus. She was known as a diligent and gifted student, and in letters to her parents she described life in West Germany and her love of the German language. Some of these letters were published in German and later reissued.
On the morning of November 17, 1983, Ayano was walking near the Trier campus when a 20-year-old Czech man, Janusz Komar, tried to snatch her handbag. She resisted, was attacked, and died days later in hospital at age 27. Komar was later caught in Regensburg for another crime and sentenced to life in prison.
The murder drew widespread sympathy. In 1984 a memorial stele was erected at Petrisberg Hill, built to the wishes of Ayano’s parents. A street in Petrisberg-West was named after her in 2008. Ayano’s parents also created the Mutsuko Ayano Fund, which has supported Japanese students studying at Trier University since 1985. Since 1993 Osaka Gakuin University has sent students to Trier, and since 2016 there has been an ongoing exchange of both faculty and students between Trier University and Okayama University.
Two of the scholarship recipients later became professors of German studies in Japan. Ayano’s death helped establish Japanese studies as a discipline at the University of Trier.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 21:18 (CET).