Crime & Legal Aug 15, 2013

Japanese sue government for wartime suffering on Pacific islands

A lawsuit was filed Thursday against the government by 24 residents of Okinawa seeking compensation for their World War II suffering while living on Pacific islands Japan had occupied. The suit, filed with the Naha District Court in Okinawa, is the first to seek ...

Crime & Legal Aug 14, 2013

Kan says he shouldn't be held criminally liable for Fukushima disaster

Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who led the government's response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, says he shouldn't be held criminally liable for the crisis.

Crime & Legal Aug 13, 2013

Woman in Brazil convicted over Japan road death

A Japanese-Brazilian woman was sentenced to 26 months in prison, commuted to one year of community service, Monday by a Sao Paulo district court for causing a road accident that resulted in the death of a 2-year-old Japanese girl in Shizuoka Prefecture in 2005. ...

Crime & Legal Aug 13, 2013

Chinese firms to sue Hitachi Metals

A dozen Chinese rare-earth firms plan to jointly sue Hitachi Metals, claiming it is holding invalid patents and exercising patent rights in an illegitimate manner.

Crime & Legal Aug 10, 2013

Manual issued for Hague treaty child retrievals

by Magdalena Osumi

Supreme Court issues manual for court-appointed administrators on how to retrieve children in parental cross-border abduction cases under the Hague Convention.

Crime & Legal Aug 9, 2013

Kan, Tepco execs won't face negligence charges

Sources say prosecutors are not planning to indict former Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Tepco executives over the 3/11 nuclear meltdown calamity.

Crime & Legal Aug 8, 2013

Guam court grants rampage suspect second psychological evaluation

A court on Guam on Thursday said it will allow a psychologist to re-examine the man charged with killing three Japanese tourists and wounding 11 other people in a vehicular and knife rampage in February. Judge Anita Sukola, who is handling the murder case ...

Crime & Legal Aug 7, 2013

Fukuoka police rocked by another bribery scandal

Police said Wednesday they have arrested a veteran member of the Fukuoka Prefecture Police for allegedly taking money in return for leaking personal information and a former president of a credit research company for providing bribes for the information. Norifumi Chiyohara, 51, an assistant ...

Crime & Legal Aug 4, 2013

Korean fishing boat skipper arrested

The Japan Coast Guard has arrested the captain of a South Korean fishing boat that ignored an order to stop for inspection in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the coast guard said Sunday. Im Chae-moon, 57, was arrested at around 6:10 p.m. Saturday in waters ...

Crime & Legal Aug 3, 2013

Japanese police highlight crimes by, against elderly in white paper

Crimes by and against the elderly are growing nationwide at a time when the crime rate overall is dropping, the National Police Agency said in its annual white paper released Friday. In its 2013 report, the NPA said the number of criminal cases in ...

Crime & Legal Aug 2, 2013

Chiba man arrested for stalking, threatening woman

A man from Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, has been arrested on suspicion of stalking a woman by bombarding her with emails, becoming the first person to be held under a revision to the anti-stalking law that took effect last month, police said. Keiji Shirakawa, 40, ...

Crime & Legal Aug 1, 2013

Court to warn lay judges of possible gore

by Tomohiro Osaki

The Tokyo District Court will now inform lay judge candidates in advance that they may be exposed to gruesome photographs of crime scenes and will allow them to be excused if they fear they could be traumatized.