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July 19, 2025
 

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JAPANESE COURTS

Hideko Hakamata (left), the older sister of ex-boxer Iwao Hakamata, and Hideyo Ogawa, an attorney on his defense team, speak at a news conference on Tuesday in the city of Shizuoka, following prosecutors' decision not to file an appeal against the Shizuoka District Court's not-guilty verdict in a retrial of a 1966 murder case against Iwao Hakamata.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 9, 2024
Japan’s ‘hostage justice’ system breeds false convictions, groups say
False convictions will continue to occur unless the system of extracting confessions through prolonged, harsh interrogations is eliminated, human rights groups say.
A victim of forced sterilization (second from right) reacts Tuesday as the Upper House unanimously passed a bill into law to compensate victims of the practice.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 9, 2024
Informing forced sterilization victims of new law remains challenge
Some victims said that they did not want to remember the sterilizations, and others said that they had not told their families about their past.
Iwao Hakamata, together with his sister Hideko, speaks to his supporters on Sept. 29 in the city of Shizuoka after the Shizuoka District Court handed down a not-guilty verdict in a retrial of a 1966 quadruple murder case against him.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2024
Ex-boxer Iwao Hakamata finally exonerated over 1966 murder case
Prosecutors have decided not to appeal against the Shizuoka District Court's not-guilty verdict at the end of a rare retrial, his lawyers said.
A bill to grant compensation to victims of forced sterilization clears the Lower House on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2024
Parliament clears bill to compensate all victims of forced sterilization
With the latest legislation, all victims — whether or not they are plaintiffs in related lawsuits — will be compensated, paving the way for resolution.
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, former chairman of publisher Kadokawa, said he is innocent of bribery allegations during his first trial hearing at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2024
Ex-Kadokawa chair pleads not guilty to bribing Tokyo Games executive
Fifteen people have been indicted over the Tokyo Games bribery scandal.
Japan's new justice minister Hideki Makihara says abolishing the death penalty would be "inappropriate."
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2024
New justice minister says scrapping death penalty 'inappropriate'
Capital punishment has strong public support in Japan, where scrapping it is rarely discussed.
According to a man seeking compensation through the courts for his forced hospitalization at a psychiatric ward, it was clear from his medical records that there was no need for him to stay in hospital from 1988.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 1, 2024
Plaintiff denied compensation for decadeslong stay at hospital
Plaintiff Tokio Ito, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, claimed that he suffered emotional damage from the extremely long and involuntary stay.
The former treasurer of the Liberal Democratic Party's former largest faction has been found guilty in a case tied to a major political funds scandal that the party has been mired in since late last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2024
Former Abe faction treasurer given suspended three-year prison term
Junichiro Matsumoto underreported political funds totaling ¥670 million between 2018 and 2022.
Hideko Hakamata (center) and lawyers representing her younger brother, Iwao Hakamata, pose with a banner that reads "Iwao Hakamata verdict not guilty" as they leave the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday after the ruling was delivered.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2024
In rare retrial, Shizuoka court rules ex-boxer not guilty of 1966 murders
Iwao Hakamata, the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner, has maintained his innocence for decades.
Iwao Hakamata in March 2023 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Hakamata was convicted in 1968 over the fatal stabbings of a couple and their children two years earlier. He has pleaded his innocence throughout his trial, maintaining that his confession was coerced.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2024
In Japan, the road to exoneration takes decades
Defense lawyers’ extremely limited access to evidence and prosecutors’ right to appeal a court order for a retrial result in a long, drawn-out process.
Plaintiffs living in Tokyo and the neighboring city of Kawasaki had sued the government saying the Haneda routes posed risk of falling objects and aircraft crashes, as well as causing noise and exhaust gas pollution.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 20, 2024
Court rejects petition against low-altitude Haneda routes
Residents said that the routes posed the risk of falling objects and aircraft crashes, as well as causing noise and exhaust gas pollution.
Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are suing video game developer Pocketpair for patent infringement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024
Nintendo sues 'Pokemon with guns' maker for patent infringement
"Palworld" — which sold more than 5 million copies in just three days — features weapon-wielding player avatars and monsters that look similar to Pokemon.
Visitors take pictures of Tokyo's National Stadium before the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Aug. 8, 2021.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2024
¥300 million fine sought for Dentsu over Olympics bid rigging
The Tokyo District Court is slated to issue a ruling on Jan. 30 next year.
There are at least 17 murder retrials in which guilty sentences have been overturned in Japan since the end of World War II, and public prosecutors had appealed court decisions to hold retrials in 12 of the cases, resulting in delays in the completion of the retrials, according to sources.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 14, 2024
70% of murder retrials with acquittals delayed by prosecutors
Retrial decisions where prosecutors didn't appeal to the top court took a short amount of time to finalize.
Ayuko Kato (center), state minister in charge of building an inclusive society, and government officials bow their heads in apology to victims of forced sterilization, at a meeting to sign a compensation agreement in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024
Forced sterilization victims to receive ¥15 million in compensation
The agreement covers those involved in 13 ongoing lawsuits at courts across Japan.
A court sketch shows Saki Sudo in her first hearing for her murder case at the Wakayama District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2024
Former wife pleads not guilty to murder of 'Don Juan of Kishu'
The outcome of the trial may affect the treatment of inheritance money left by Nozaki, which is said to total more than ¥1.3 billion.
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking recognition as atomic bomb victims hold up a sign saying "Partial victory" in Nagasaki on Monday, after the Nagasaki District Court recognized some of them as hibakusha.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2024
Nagasaki court recognizes some plaintiffs as A-bomb victims
The court ordered the issuing of atomic bomb survivor's certificates to 15 of the 44 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, four of whom have already died.
A building housing the Tokyo District Court's Tachikawa branch in the city of Tachikawa
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 6, 2024
21-year-old gets 23 years over robbery-murder in western Tokyo
The case was part of a high-profile series of robberies across Japan allegedly committed by the same group.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologizes during a meeting with victims of forced sterilization, on July 17, following a Supreme Court ruling that recognized the now-defunct eugenic protection law unconstitutional.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2024
Forced sterilization settlement deal imminent
The government will agree to pay up to ¥15 million per plaintiff and ¥2 million per spouse in consolation money to bring an end to the lawsuits.
Keisuke Yoshida, 42, is accused of killing his wife by poisoning her with methanol at their home in Tokyo’s Ota Ward between Jan. 14 and 15 in 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 2, 2024
Ex-employee of Daiichi Sankyo denies poisoning his wife with methanol
Keisuke Yoshida, formerly a senior researcher at the pharmaceutical firm, said he had never thought of killing his wife.
Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan
The share of respondents to a Bank of Japan quarterly survey in June who said they have become worse off came to 61.0%, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.
Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
CDP leader criticizes ‘Japanese First’ policy and calls for inclusive society
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said it is obvious that Japanese society could not function without the help of foreign workers in manufacturing, health care, construction and public transportation.
JSA’s 100th anniversary event is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for sumo fans
Egyptian wrestler Osunaarashi has some fun with children during a special Japan Sumo Association event in 2017.
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.

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