Sotatsu Yanase, a 46-year-old tatami shop owner, was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison by the Tokyo District Court on Thursday for burning his girlfriend's body and dumping it in the sea off Izu Oshima.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 30, 2025
Tokyo court sentences man to 30 months in prison for burning girlfriend’s body
According to the indictment, Sotatsu Yanase abandoned his girlfriend's remains in 2024 near Izu Oshima's southwest coast, with police still investigating how she died.
Journalists gather at the Nara District Court as a vehicle believed to be carrying Tetsuya Yamagami arrives on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 30, 2025
Lawmaker Kei Sato testifies at Abe shooter trial
Sato, who witnessed the shooting, expressed his resentment and grief over the fatal attack.
Lawyer Hidetoshi Masunaga (front, left) and others seeking the invalidation of the July Upper House election walk to the Nagoya High Court's Kanazawa branch on Oct. 1.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 29, 2025
Court finds July poll was held in an unconstitutional state
A group of lawyers sought the invalidation of the Upper House election.
The Tokyo headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 29, 2025
Hearings on Unification Church dissolution order to end in November
The church had allegedly inspired the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe three years ago.
Participants march through Tokyo for the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in April last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Oct 29, 2025
Gender identity law reform stalls despite court rulings
Strong opposition from conservatives in parliament have dimmed prospects for reform.
Members of the media gather outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara on Tuesday hours before the start of the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2025
Abe shooting suspect Yamagami pleads guilty to murder
On the first day of his trial, Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, admitted to the 2022 killing of the former prime minister.
The Children and Families Agency plans to launch a system in December 2026 that would allow employers to verify whether job seekers who will work with children have a sexual offense record.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2025
Japan faces gaps in new system to track teachers with sex offense records
The new system excludes offenses such as stalking, as well as cases that end without indictment because the crime is deemed minor or a settlement is reached with the victim.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes