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July 06, 2025
 

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LAY JUDGES

Students participate in a mock lay judge trial session with a lawyer serving as a lecturer at Tokyo Metropolitan Mitaka Secondary School in March.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Sep 2, 2024
15 years on, Japan's lay judge system faces low participation
Fifteen years after its launch, Japan's lay judge system continues to grapple with a high refusal rate among candidates.
People who have experienced becoming lay judges take part in a meeting to exchange views at the Tokyo District Court on March 6. Japan's lay judge system marks its 15th year on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2024
Number of lay judges falls as Japan marks system's 15th year
While there were more than 10,000 lay judges in the system's first few years, their numbers have fallen to around 6,000 in recent years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 2, 2019
Past participants in Japan's lay judge system reveal its challenges
"The accused was sitting right there, so close to me, and yet I felt like there was an unbridgeable distance between us."
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2019
Reviewing the lay judge trial system
Resolving issues surrounding lay judges hold the key to sustaining the system.
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2018
Reduce the burden on lay judges
Lay judge trials run too long, and they're getting longer.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
Dec 18, 2015
Japan hangs prisoners days after lawyers' call for death penalty review
The executions of two death row inmates on Friday was a blow to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, which only last week reiterated a call for a moratorium on hangings and for a national debate on the matter.
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2014
Reflecting citizens' views on justice
Japan's Supreme Court decision to reduce the prison terms of a couple convicted of fatally abusing their daughter highlights the difficulty in balancing the need, on one hand, to have ordinary citizens' views reflected in criminal trials through their participation as lay judges and, on the other, to maintain consistency with judicial precedents.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jun 18, 2014
Still dreaming of a Japan with juries — and without U.S. bases
At 84, Chihiro Isa hopes to see two things in his lifetime: the jury system reinstated in Japan and U.S. forces gone from Okinawa.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2014
Improving the lay judge system
As Japan's lay judge system turns 5 years old, the Justice Ministry's Legislative Council is considering excluding citizens from the duty of serving as lay judges when trials are expected to last more than a year.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 22, 2014
Waiting for the death-penalty debate that never comes
The media breathlessly cover murder trials and profile suspects who face the death penalty, but once a sentence is handed down, they fall back.
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2014
Lay judges' moral dilemma
How does Japan's justice minister respond to a petition from 20 citizens who, as lay judges, agonized over the possibility of having to hand down a death sentence? They call for an immediate halt to capital punishment.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2014
Hirata trial highlights evolving court system
In the same courtroom where many of his fellow Aum Shinrikyo cult members were tried years before, Makoto Hirata was convicted and sentenced earlier this month.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2013
Lay judges get a peek at prison life
When lay judges hand down a prison term, many focus on the merits of the case itself and not about the life behind bars that awaits the guilty.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2013
Stressful hearings for lay judges
The case of the woman lay judge in her 60s who suffered a stress disorder after viewing a photo of a horrific crime scene underscores the weak psychological support for lay judges.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 22, 2007
Opening the courts to ordinary citizens
In less than two years, when a new criminal trial system is introduced, citizens will be obliged to serve as "saibanin," or lay judges. The general public in some 80 countries around the world already plays a role in their nations' judicial systems, such as British- and American-style juries and the...
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
U.S. military apologizes over Okinawa sexual assault case
Col. Neil Owens (right), chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Division, bows in apology at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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