Tatsuki Shirai, the YouTuber better known by his channel name Vanbi, was arrested by Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department on October 1 on suspicion of touching a woman’s lower body at a club in Roppongi, Minato Ward, according to TBS News Dig and Livedoor News.
Police said officers responded to a report from the scene and took Shirai into custody on the spot, catching him in the act under suspicion of violating Tokyo’s public nuisance prevention ordinance. Investigators believe Shirai, whose age has been reported as in his 20s, was intoxicated at the time. The woman he is accused of touching is also reported to be in her 20s. As of this writing, Shirai has not issued a public statement regarding the arrest.
Who is Vanbi?
Vanbi built his online following as one half of the YouTube duo Vanyun, alongside a partner known as Yun, before the pair went their separate ways. After the breakup, he pivoted to the business side of influencer culture, founding the SNS training school HERO’ZZ university in May 2025 together with entrepreneur Yuji Mizoguchi, a program aimed at teaching individuals and company executives how to grow a following online. He later expanded the venture into HERO’ZZ for BIZ, a corporate-facing arm pitched at business leaders looking to market themselves as influencers.
Vanbi is also known for a separate project: he previously revealed himself to be the person behind Spider-maaaaaaan, a masked short-form video persona that set a Japanese record for reaching 10 million subscribers faster than any other account.
News of the arrest quickly spread on social media in Japan, where users noted that Shirai is the latest in a string of people connected to Mizoguchi’s ventures to be swept up in scandal or arrest, reviving a running joke online about a so-called “Mizoguchi circle.” Several commenters also pointed out that Yun, Shirai’s former Vanyun partner, had ended their professional partnership well before this incident and has since reportedly married.
Author’s Comment
At this point I don’t even blink when a name tied to Yuji Mizoguchi’s business orbit ends up in a police report — it happens so often that Japanese Twitter has basically turned it into a running bit. I’m not saying there’s a curse on that circle, but if you’re running a school that teaches people how to build a personal brand, maybe audit your own house first. What really gets me is the Spider-maaaaaaan twist: the man broke a national subscriber record hiding behind a mask, and now he’s making headlines for something far less fun to explain to his students. Spare a thought for his old partner Yun, who apparently got out of that duo at exactly the right time. Japan’s influencer economy really is just a revolving door of reinvention, reunion, and regret.
