Shōko Egawa worked as a reporter from 1982 to 1987 at the Kanagawa Shimbun, where she covered crime stories and developed serial coverage of related issues. After embarking on a career as an independent journalist, in 1989 she devoted herself to reporting on the Aum Shinrikyō cult, receiving the prestigious Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1995 for her coverage. Her books include Oumu Shinrikyō tsuiseki 2200 nichi (Two Thousand Two Hundred Days on the Trail of Aum Shinrikyō) and Nabari doku budoshu satsujin jiken—rokuninme no giseisha (The Nabari Poisoned-Wine Murders—The Sixth Victim).