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August 05, 2025
 

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JAPANESE POLICE

Reflecting a sharp rise in fraud cases involving offenders posing as police officers, the number of special fraud cases between January and June increased 50% from a year before, with the amount of damage shooting up by 2.6 times.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2025
'Fake police' fraud cases surging in Japan
The amount of money swindled in such cases totaled ¥38.93 billion between January and June.
The number of car accidents in Japan resulting in death or serious injury that were caused by foreign drivers in the first half of 2025 totaled 258, up by 19 from a year earlier and exceeding 250 for the first time since 2008, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 30, 2025
Ratio of serious car accidents caused by foreign drivers hits record 2.1%
A total of 258 of such accidents, which caused death or serious injury, occurred in the first half of 2025, according to National Police Agency data.
The National Police Agency noted in a special section of its fiscal 2025 report that the spread of social media has made it easy for loosely organized crime groups to contact regular citizens and commit crimes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 29, 2025
NPA white paper highlights crimes surrounding social media
In 2024, the number of social media-linked investment and romance fraud cases police detected around the country exceeded 10,000, with victims defrauded of some ¥127.2 billion.
Police officers investigate the area where six passersby were allegedly attacked by a knife-wielding man in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Monday evening.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 29, 2025
Six injured in stabbing spree in Ibaraki Prefecture
The victims, between the ages of 27 and 75, are all conscious and their injuries are not life-threatening, Ibaraki Prefectural Police said.
Saga Prefectural Police officials speak during a news conference held in the city of Imari, Saga Prefecture, early Monday following the arrest of a Vietnamese man a day earlier on suspicion of murder.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 28, 2025
Vietnamese technical intern arrested over Saga murder
The 24-year-old man is suspected to have broken into a Japanese language teacher's house, where he allegedly robbed and killed her.
Investigators examine the area outside a sushi restaurant on Friday where an employee said he had stabbed to death a coworker in Tokyo's Toshima Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2025
Sushi restaurant worker arrested over killing of colleague in Tokyo
Masahito Ishioka has admitted to killing Tomoyuki Iwata, 32, saying that he lost his temper after his relationship with the victim soured, informed sources said.
A screenshot of the National Police Agency's crime victim support portal website, Gyutto Channel
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2025
Police in Japan set up website to support crime victims
The website was created following comments that the previous information on support on the National Police Agency's homepage was difficult to understand.
A Justice Ministry expert panel called for expanding the scope of cases subject to video and audio recordings of suspect interrogations, on Thursday at the ministry.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2025
Panel calls for expanding interrogation recordings
Mandatory recordings of law-enforcement authorities' interrogations were introduced in 2019.
Police officers prepare the venue where Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was scheduled to deliver his first campaign speech for the Upper House election, on July 3 in Kobe.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2025
Police detect 889 threatening posts ahead of Upper House poll
The National Police Agency confirmed the 889 threatening posts through cyber patrol and also thanks to reports from the public between June 16 and Saturday.
The National Police Agency will begin a trial run of wearable cameras starting in late August.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2025
Police in Japan to trial wearable cameras from late August
Officers will clearly indicate when recording is taking place using illuminated lights, stickers or armbands.
A police officer wears a neck cooler in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on July 10.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2025
Tokyo police embrace cooling gear to protect officers from extreme heat

The number of days when temperatures in Tokyo exceed 35 degrees Celsius continues to rise each year, prompting the need to protect police officers.
Followers of doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo chant in religious training before a portrait of guru Shoko Asahara in 1999 at Aum's Adachi Ward office in Tokyo, where extensive facilities are located.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2025
Son of executed Aum Shinrikyo founder identified as Aleph leader
The unnamed 31-year-old son of Chizuo Matsumoto has been “involved in organizational decision-making and is leading Aleph’s operations.”
Members of a former nurse’s legal team hold up a sign reading “Victory against the prefecture” after the Otsu District Court ruled in their favor on Thursday. 
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 18, 2025
Shiga government ordered to compensate ex-assistant nurse acquitted of murder
The plaintiff side argued the police officers who were in charge of investigating the former assistant nurse intentionally led her to make a false confession.
Tokyo police arrested Yuga Matsuoka, an employee at a leasing company, Wednesday on suspicion of attempted arson after he allegedly tried to set fire to a tourist go-kart company’s property.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2025
Tokyo police arrest man for attempted arson at tourist go-kart company
Yuga Matsuoka, the 28-year-old suspect, confessed to the crime, calling the sound from the karts’ engines "noisy" and "stressful.”
The house of the wife of the late Chizuo Matsumoto, the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult's founder, in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, in July
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2025
Tens of millions of yen found at home of Aum Shinrikyo founder's wife
Chizuo Matsumoto was executed in 2018 over a series of incidents involving the cult, including the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway system.
Riot police officers demonstrate their actions during a recruitment event held by Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2025
Tokyo police hold recruitment event to attract applicants
Police officers from about 50 different sections were on hand to talk with participants and answer questions.
The Kanagawa Prefectural Police department suspects that Hideyuki Shirai, 28, killed Asahi Okazaki, a 20-year-old part-time worker, in or near the prefecture around Dec. 20 last year.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2025
Man arrested for alleged murder of ex-girlfriend in Kawasaki
The Kanagawa Prefectural Police department suspects that Hideyuki Shirai, 28, was stalking Asahi Okazaki, 20, and later killed her around Dec. 20 last year.
Osaka Prefectural Police headquarters
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 12, 2025
Osaka police crack down on crime ring over underage prostitution
The group, made up of roughly 70 members, is suspected of recruiting about 130 underage girls for prostitution through social media.
Defense lawyers countered in final arguments that Mai Nishitaka, who was dating Shuhei Iwaki at the time of the killing, had orchestrated the crime and manipulated him and her father into carrying it out.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 11, 2025
Two found guilty of killing man found in suitcase dumped in river near Tokyo
The duo — the father of the victim’s former girlfriend and a man who was dating the woman at the time of the incident — were jailed 13 years and 15 years, respectively.
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2025
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
The stricter measures come in response to a series of high-profile car accidents caused by foreign drivers.
How Pakistan shot down India's cutting-edge fighter using Chinese gear
An Indian Air Force pilot gets out of a Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at an air force station in Ambala, India, September 2020.
China and Russia start joint military drills in Sea of Japan
Russian and Chinese naval officers take part in a ceremony Thursday ahead of the start of joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan, following the arrival of Chinese military vessels in Vladivostok, Russia.
Kamchatka quake may have awakened volcano dormant for 600 years, Russia says
Kamchatka. Krasheninnikov Bay
Italy's fast fashion hub becomes Chinese mafia battlefield
Signs for fast-fashion factories in Prato, Italy, on Friday. Chinese crime groups in the district thrive on the "Prato system" rife with corruption in the fast-fashion sector.
Extreme heat in Japan set to peak this week
People shield their eyes from the sun as they walk through a street on a hot day in Tokyo on July 26.
Fuji Rock's weekend of surprises was one of its best yet
Radwimps lead singer Yojiro Noda threw himself into the rock band’s Green Stage performance ahead of headliner Vampire Weekend.
How Trump is gaslighting on climate change — with Japan’s help
The Bishu Maru LNG tanker, owned by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, next to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas
With a new distillery, Suntory makes a spirited move on gin market
A staff inspects a distillation pot still at Suntory's new Osaka Spirits & Liqueurs Craft Distillery, which will focus on gin production and help Suntory capture a bigger slice of the fast-growing gin market.
Junglia brought dinos back to Okinawa. But will it bring tourists?
At Panorama Dining, one of Junglia’s two proper restaurants that also doubles as the rooftop Inifinity Terrace overlook, guests can pay extra to sit in balcony tables made to look like birds’ nests overlooking the park grounds.
From Osaka to the NHL: Jordan Spence hopes to inspire young Japanese hockey players
Ottawa Senators defenseman Jordan Spence helps lead the Dreamskate Japan hockey camp in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, on July 5.

Podcast

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

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey

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