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October 04, 2025
 

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COURTS

Mai Nishitaka was sentenced to 17 years in prison by the Yokohama District Court for killing her ex-partner in 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2025
Woman sentenced to 17 years for killing ex-boyfriend
Mai Nishitaka and four others strangled her ex-partner and abandoned the body in a suitcase by the Tama River in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Yoshitami Kameoka, elected to the Lower House for the first time in 2005, served in posts including state minister for post-disaster reconstruction.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2025
Ex-lawmaker Kameoka pleads not guilty over cash distribution
Kameoka, elected to the Lower House for the first time in 2005, served in posts including state minister for post-disaster reconstruction.
The Nara District Court will deliver its verdict on the case against Tetsuya Yamagami, the man charged with the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Jan. 21, 2026.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2025
Nara court likely to deliver verdict on Abe shooter in January 2026
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is charged with the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.
Lawyers representing three former followers of the Unification Church speak during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday after the followers reached settlements with the group to refund the donations they made.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2025
Unification Church reaches first settlements on donation refunds
Three women in Hokkaido are believed to have lost about ¥70 million in total through purchases of seals and pots in addition to donations.
A teacher at a public elementary school in Yokohama, who has been indicted for voyeurism and indecent assault, admitted to the charges during a trial on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 1, 2025
Elementary school teacher pleads guilty to sharing child sex abuse images
The charges are "correct, and I'm very sorry," said Fumiya Kosemura, a teacher at a public elementary school in Yokohama.
A couple poses with the rainbow flag, which they brought from their home for a wedding photoshoot in Tokyo in November 2023.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2025
Same-sex partners recognized under more laws in Japan
However, the government maintains the position that same-sex partners are not covered by 120 laws and ordinances, including those related to taxes and social security.
Former Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Hakubun Shimomura had sought to resume kickbacks from party fundraising revenues, according to the testimony of a former faction accountant to the Tokyo District Court on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2025
Shimomura asked for resumption of kickbacks, LDP ex-accountant testifies
The former LDP policy chief suggested that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had agreed to resume the practice, former Abe faction accountant Junichiro Matsumoto said.
The Osaka High Court in Osaka
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2025
10-year sentence upheld over 2023 attack on Kishida
Presiding Judge Kyoji Ishikawa rejected the defense's claim that Ryuji Kimura had no intention to kill.
The Nagoya High Court overturned a lower court decision that obliged the government to recognize a Syrian man as a refugee.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2025
Court rules government not obliged to recognize Syrian man as refugee
The court overturned a lower court decision that obliged the government to recognize a Syrian man as a refugee.
The Sapporo Family Court on Friday ruled that a legal provision requiring individuals to undergo genital surgery to change their legal gender is unconstitutional and invalid.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2025
Court rules sex change appearance requirement unconstitutional
A court said that the world has made advances in medicine since the law was established, so genital surgery may not be necessary in some cases.
Masanori Aoki has been indicted on charges of fatally stabbing two local women and killing two police officers with a knife and a hunting gun in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, in May 2023.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2025
Death penalty sought for man over quadruple murder in Nagano
Masanori Aoki has been indicted on charges of fatally stabbing two local women and killing two police officers with a knife and a hunting gun.
A man was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison for driving in the wrong direction under the influence of alcohol, which led to a fatal collision with another vehicle.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2025
Man gets nine years after fatal drunken driving crash in Saitama
In the lay judge trial, Saitama District Court ruled the 19-year-old defendant guilty of dangerous driving resulting in death.
Prosecutors have sought a 12-year prison sentence for a former MUFG Bank employee charged with stealing cash and gold from customers' safe deposit boxes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2025
Prosecutors seek 12-year sentence for former MUFG bank worker over thefts
Authorities said the defendant caused some ¥1.4 billion in financial damage to 70 customers since 2020.
A 33-year-old woman has admitted to murdering her ex-boyfriend, whose body was found in a suitcase in the Tama River, during a trial at the Yokohama District Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 16, 2025
Woman admits killing ex-boyfriend found dead in suitcase
During a trial, the defense argued that the victim had provoked the defendant and was therefore partly to blame.
A U.S. Air Force serviceman in Okinawa Prefecture has appealed to the Supreme Court against a high court ruling that upheld a five-year sentence for abducting and sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 in the prefecture, it was revealed on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2025
U.S. airman appeals to top court in Okinawa assault case
Brennon Washington filed the appeal Wednesday after receiving the ruling by the Fukuoka High Court's branch in Naha that day.
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld an indefinite prison sentence for 54-year-old man over a fatal 2023 robbery in Komae, Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2025
Indefinite term upheld for man over Tokyo robbery resulting in death
The case was one of a series of high-profile robberies committed across Japan by a group led by masterminds using the pseudonym "Luffy."
Upper House lawmaker Yasutada Ono speaks to reporters in the parliamentary building in January last year after being indicted without arrest.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2025
Ex-lawmaker Ono pleads not guilty in LDP funds scandal
Ono was indicted without arrest on charges of violating the political funds control law and left the party in January 2024.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday prior to a Cabinet meeting
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2025
Japan to start a new support system for crime victims next year
The government has increasingly been urged to enhance public assistance for people afflicted by serious crimes.
U.S. military personnel join Japanese officials and residents for a one-off joint nighttime patrol on the streets of the city of Okinawa in April, following sexual assault cases involving U.S. service members.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2025
Pentagon begins probe of crimes involving U.S. troops in Japan
The review will "examine the performance, training and criminal history of service members who committed violent crimes against Japanese nationals," according to a Pentagon memo.
A man accused of killing four people, including two police officers, in Nagano in 2023 intends to remain silent at the first court hearing of his lay judge trial on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2025
Suspect in 2023 Nagano quadruple murder plans to stay silent during trial
The defendant's attorney said his client is in a diminished state due to integration disorder syndrome and doubts he has the capacity to take criminal responsibility.
Tokyo's newest stationery store sells 'a slower, more human rhythm'
Plotter's signature customizable leather binder is just one of many products contributing to the ongoing boom in the popularity of Japanese stationery.
The party that ruled Japan for decades is in danger of crumbling
Haruo Tsukamoto, a rank-and-file member of the Liberal Democratic Party and a rice farmer in Ibaraki Prefecture, questions if the party still stands for people like him.
8,432 foreign children in Japan seen not attending school
The total number of foreign children registered in Japan as residents eligible for education at elementary or junior high schools stood at 163,358, up by 12,663.
U.S. federal shutdown affects Americans in Japan and diplomatic talks
The U.S. government shut down on Wednesday, though essential services are still being offered.
Isuzu to build first independent U.S. plant
Isuzu Chairman Masanori Katayama (third from left) and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (center) attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the firm's vehicle plant in South Carolina on Wednesday.
Tea ceremony experts see matcha boom as a big opportunity
Atsuko Mori, founder and director of Kyoto-based tea salon Camellia Tea Ceremony, prepares matcha during a tea ceremony in Kyoto.
Japan's far-right party courts Trump allies and vows not to get 'wacky'
Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
How Ohtani has boosted Japan's soft power and made LA even more baseball-obsessed
Fans at Dodger Stadium pose in front of a mural highlighting the Dodgers' Japanese stars from past and present during a game earlier this year.
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.
Architecture art exhibition highlights unsung industry artists
Yuanhui Li's illustration is one of the awardees in the student category of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators' annual award for artists.

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