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May 15, 2024
 

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Karin Kaneko
For Karin Kaneko's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A collapsed building in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Tuesday following Monday's earthquake
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2024
Dozens killed as Japan assesses damage from massive quake
The Monday afternoon quake led to the collapse of multiple buildings, caused landslides and sparked a large-scale fire in a popular tourist area.
Ohkawara Kakohki President Masaaki Okawara speaks to reporters in front of the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday following a ruling ordering the government to pay damages.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 27, 2023
Tokyo court rules executives of spray dryer firm were wrongly indicted
The case involving Ohkawara Kakohki, a Yokohama-based manufacturer, has once again highlighted problems in the nation’s criminal justice system.
A group of 19 host club owners in Kabukicho who own most of the host clubs in the area have pledged to ban the pay-later system by April and prohibit entry to those under 20 years old from January.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2023
How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt
False promises of love — and even marriage — lead to huge bills for some as young as 18, who are often then coaxed into sex work to make repayments.
Haruyuki Takahashi (center) arrives at the Tokyo District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 14, 2023
Former Tokyo Games executive pleads not guilty over bribery
Haruyuki Takahashi is accused of accepting about ¥200 million in bribes to help firms be selected as sponsors and marketing agents for the Games.
Actress Midori Suiren (center), filmmaker Kenzo Kaga (right) and cinematographer Shin Hayasaka attend a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 7, 2023
Actors say sexual abuse is a structural problem in Japan’s film industry
Despite the revelation of Johnny Kitagawa’s sexual abuse, the actors say their claims are being trivialized as personal relationship issues.
An area known as Toyoko in the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2023
High school girl arrested for selling cough medicine illegally
The arrest coincides with a surge of young people in Japan abusing over-the-counter drugs, such as cold medicine.
Ayuko Kato, minister in charge of child policies. A group of children of Jehovah’s Witnesses have submitted a report to the Child and Family Agency detailing sexual abuse.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 28, 2023
Children of Jehovah’s Witnesses submit report detailing sexual abuse
The report said that the most common perpetrators of sexual abuse were “rank-and-file witnesses” and “elders.”
A bed bug in Paris in September
JAPAN / Society
Nov 27, 2023
Bedbugs are spreading in South Korea and China. Is Japan next?
Experts caution that it may only be a matter of time, given the number of travelers now arriving in the country.
Ichikawa Ennosuke IV bows in front of media after being released on bail in July.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 17, 2023
Ichikawa Ennosuke IV given suspended three-year prison term
The 47-year-old, whose real name is Takahiko Kinoshi, had been on trial over his role in a family suicide pact.
Chiba Prefectural Police officers speak at a news conference at Matsudo Police Station on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2023
Woman killed in Chiba was repeatedly hit with blunt object
The suspects — one male about 180 cm tall who was wearing a jacket and a cap, and another man described as fairly thin — remain at large.
Au Pay offers points for each transaction up to ¥250,000, with users receiving reward points.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 10, 2023
Six arrested in ¥171 million au Pay points scam
The store owner is believed to have been recruiting people on social media to cooperate with him on the fake transactions.
Japanese police investigators arrive at Phnom Penh International Airport on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 8, 2023
Japanese fraud suspects extradited from Cambodia
Investigators say the suspects made fraudulent phone calls from Cambodia posing as nursing home staff and lawyers, aiming to scam victims in Japan.
Plumes of smoke rise from a new isle after a recent volcano on Iwo Jima on Nov. 3.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2023
New isle emerges after underwater volcano erupts south of Tokyo
A recent undersea volcanic eruption has led to the formation of a new isle off the coast of Iwo Jima, about 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo.
The civil case centers on whether a foreign national in a same-sex partnership with a Japanese citizen should be granted “long-term resident status,” which allows residency for up to five years in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 2, 2023
Tokyo High Court rejects same-sex couple's residence status lawsuit
The civil case centers on whether a foreign national in a same-sex partnership with a Japanese citizen should be granted “long-term resident status.”
A post office in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, on Wednesday, a day after a man barricaded himself inside with a firearm.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2023
Elderly Saitama hostage-taker had 'grudge' against post office
The 86-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of shooting into a hospital in Saitama Prefecture and taking hostages at a post office.
Police watch over the Dotonbori area in Osaka on Oct. 20 as Tigers fans flocked to the area to celebrate the team's advance to the Japan Series.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 30, 2023
Police prep crowd control plans in case Tigers win Japan Series
The Tigers are facing off against the Orix Buffaloes in the series, which kicked off on Saturday.
Lawyers Kazuyuki Minami (left) and Masafumi Yoshida (right) representing a transgender woman show off signs that say "unconstitutional" and "sent back" to a lower court, during a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo after a Supreme Court decision.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 25, 2023
Supreme Court hands down landmark decision on transgender rights
A law requiring sterilization surgery to change a person's legal gender has been declared “unconstitutional."
Ichikawa Ennosuke IV bows in front of media after being released on bail set at ¥5 million in July.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2023
Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke pleads guilty to assisting parents' suicides
“The feelings of regret, remorse and gratitude (to my supporters) are something I will carry for the rest of my life,” Ennosuke said.
The health ministry found that, following the reported death of a TV personality in May 2022, the number of excess suicides in Japan spiked for two or three weeks.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 20, 2023
Copycat suicides spiked in Japan after celebrity's 2022 death
A government report is calling for the media to ensure that coverage is in line with the World Health Organization’s suicide reporting guidelines.
A smoking room aboard a Tokaido Shinkansen train
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2023
Bullet train lines to nix smoking rooms as health consciousness grows
As of next spring, the smoking rooms will be replaced with areas to store drinking water to be distributed in times of emergency.
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Yen’s fragility raises specter of a new currency war in Asia
Suspected intervention to drag the yen off a 34-year low against the dollar is already seen as unlikely to have a lasting effect if Japan continues alone.
Online booking for Mount Fuji climb to open on May 20
Visitors climb the slopes of Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak at 3,776 meters. From May 20, climbers will have access to a new online booking system for Mount Fuji's most popular Yoshida trail in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Ex-METI bureaucrat given 10-year sentence for drugging and raping women
The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a former industry ministry bureaucrat to 10 years in prison for drugging six women with sleeping pills and then raping or groping them in 2022.
Political party Tsubasa no To investigated over election obstruction
Officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police raid the Tsubasa no To office in Tokyo on Monday.
In a rare event, the Northern Lights show up in Hokkaido
The Northern Lights in Nayoro, Hokkaido, on Saturday
Is black the new green for Japan’s flagging tea farmers?
George Guttridge-Smith brews tea at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farm in Wazuka, Kyoto Prefecture, where he serves as head of international development.
Japan's logistics firms seek partnerships to cope with driver shortage
Japan Post CEO Tetsuya Senda (right) and his Seino Transportation counterpart Satoshi Takahashi announce their companies' agreement on joint long-haul truck operations, in Tokyo on Thursday.
How the discovery of a giant sword in Nara offers clues into ancient Japan
Archaeologists say a 1,600-year-old wooden coffin at the Tomio Maruyama tumulus in the city of Nara was kept in good condition probably because it was protected by a layer of clay and copper ions that had seeped out of the mirrors that were buried together.
Unlike 10 years ago, Japan's new security bill sparks little debate
The Lower House starts discussing a security clearance bill on April 19 in Tokyo.

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