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September 30, 2025
 

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JAPANESE COURTS

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.
Sayaka Togitani's daughter Hinami was delivered via emergency cesarean section but suffered fetal hypoxia, which left her with a severe disability.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 3, 2025
Family calls for daughter born after car accident to be recognized as a victim
The family of a pregnant woman who died after being hit by a car wants the daughter, born afterward with a severe disability, to be deemed a victim.
Tokyo District Court has ordered a former employee of NHK to pay ¥11 million for unscripted remarks during a Chinese-language radio program aired in August last year.
JAPAN / Media
Sep 2, 2025
Chinese ex-staffer ordered to pay NHK ¥11 million over unscripted radio remarks
At Tokyo District Court, Presiding Judge Kenta Adachi stated that the irregular remarks interfered with NHK's international broadcasting operations and harmed its credibility.
Fuji TV is suing its former president, Koichi Minato, and former executive vice president, Toru Ota, for ¥5 billion ($34 million) over their mishandling of a “sexual violence” scandal involving former TV personality Masahiro Nakai.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 28, 2025
Fuji TV seeks ¥5 billion in lawsuit against former execs over Nakai scandal
The broadcaster claims its former president, Koichi Minato, and former executive vice president, Toru Ota, failed to respond appropriately to the scandal.
Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai nuclear power plant is seen from the shoreline in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2025
Court backs restart of nuclear reactors in Kagoshima Prefecture
Plaintiffs had questioned the rationality of a volcanic assessment guide used for safety screening.
Nikkei and the Asahi Shimbun have sued Perplexity AI over alleged copyright infringement.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2025
Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun sue Perplexity AI over alleged copyright violations
The newspapers are seeking an injunction and ¥2.2 billion each in damages from Perplexity, they said in a joint statement. The suit was filed at the Tokyo District Court.
Senior police and prosecutor officials bow Monday in Yokohama before the grave of Shizuo Aishima, a former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki, who died in detention while being wrongfully indicted.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2025
Authorities apologize to family of former Ohkawara Kakohki adviser
Shizuo Aishima was found to have stomach cancer during his detention and later died while being wrongfully indicted in a case involving the machinery-maker.
Japanese team detects gradual seafloor caving near Nankai Trough
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at the Prime Minister's Office on Sept. 1 during an anti-disaster drill simulating an earthquake in the Nankai Trough.
Osaka Expo visitors exceed breakeven point
The Osaka Expo in Osaka on Sept. 13. The daily number of visitors to the expo has topped 200,000 since mid-September as its Oct. 13 closing approaches.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Japan private-sector pay hits record in 2024
The average salary for men was ¥5.87 million, up 3.2%, and that of women was ¥3.33 million, up 5.5%, both marking record highs.
Japan revises 30-year probability rate of Nankai Trough megaquake
A newspaper headline in Japanese about a possible Nankai Trough earthquake. In a report issued Friday, the government's Earthquake Research Committee widened the probability range for a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake occurring off the country's Pacific coast within the next 30 years from "around 80%" to 60% to 94.5% or higher.
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.
Can Japan crack the China code in table tennis?
Tomokazu Harimoto waits for China's Wang Chuqin to serve during the men's singles final at the WTT Champions Yokohama 2025 tournament on Aug. 11.
Auberge Eaufeu brings French flair to a quiet village in Ishikawa
Located in the village of Kanagaso in Ishikawa Prefecture, Auberge Eaufeu is housed in a former elementary school that has been converted into a French-style inn.
Taiwan showcases chipmaking prowess as a private exhibitor at Osaka Expo
Visitors wait in line to enter the Tech World pavilion at the Osaka Expo on Thursday.
Tokyo retains Michelin crown with 160 starred restaurants for 2026
Tokyo's current crop of three-Michelin-starred establishments includes six Japanese restaurants, five specializing in French cuisine and one that does Chinese cuisine.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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