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October 08, 2025
 

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THEFT

A former MUFG Bank deputy branch manager was sentenced to nine years in prison on Monday for stealing cash and valuables from customers’ safe-deposit boxes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 6, 2025
Ex-MUFG banker given nine years in prison for safe-deposit box theft
Yukari Yamazaki had been indicted for stealing about ¥390 million worth of property including cash and gold bars.
Investigators believe the man had been repeatedly coerced into drinking by the four suspects, as well as giving them money, leaving him too afraid to resist.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2025
Four people arrested for getting disabled man drunk and stealing his phone
Some of the suspects told investigators that they committed the act because “it was funny to see him so drunk.”
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.
Tokyo police have arrested a 21-year-old security inspector at Haneda Airport after he allegedly stole cash from a passenger during a baggage inspection.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 15, 2025
Haneda Airport security staff arrested over theft
The 21-year-old security inspector allegedly stole cash from a passenger during a baggage inspection.
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."
A former MUFG Bank employee said in a court hearing that she committed thefts to make up for losses she had suffered from foreign exchange margin trading and horse-race betting.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2025
Ex-MUFG Bank employee reveals ¥1.7 billion safe-deposit thefts
A former MUFG Bank employee said during a court hearing on Monday that she stole items worth ¥1.7 billion to ¥1.8 billion, including cash and gold, from around 100 people, in a high-profile safe-deposit theft case.
A pachinko parlor worker and two others were arrested over a case of about ¥28 million in cash being stolen from the safe of the parlor in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 20, 2025
Pachinko parlor employee arrested for alleged role in robbery
The employee's involvement in the case came to light based on the statements of two others who had already been arrested for the robbery.
Police are looking for the whereabouts of cash taken from a pachinko parlor in Fukushima Prefecture where a robbery took place on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 14, 2025
Two men arrested for ¥28 million robbery at Fukushima pachinko parlor
Police believe that a 19-year-old brandished a fake gun to get the money while a 21-year-old drove the getaway car.
Tomonobu Kojima arrives at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in February 2023 after being deported from the Philippines.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 23, 2025
Senior member of 'Luffy' crime ring gets 20 years in prison
Tomonobu Kojima, 47, was the first of the four indicted members of the group, whose members went by the nickname "Luffy," to receive a court ruling.
The National Police Agency has drafted stricter identification rules for secondhand metal dealers in order to prevent the resale of stolen goods.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 26, 2025
NPA to toughen ID rules for metal dealers amid surge in stolen AC units
The National Police Agency drafted amendments that would require metal dealers to verify sellers’ identities and keep transaction records for three years.
The Japanese Bankers Association said Thursday that it has revised its sample agreement to explicitly prohibit the storage of cash in safe-deposit boxes.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025
Japanese banks set to ban storage of cash in safe-deposit boxes
In recent months, incidents came to light in which workers at major lenders allegedly stole client valuables held in such boxes.
Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested two men for allegedly stealing a safe containing roughly ¥100 million ($702,500) from the home of a company president last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 27, 2025
Osaka police arrest two men in ¥100 million home burglary
Investigators believe the suspects may have had advance knowledge of both the cash and the location of a spare key inside the home for the safe they stole.
A stolen Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue in Daejeon, central South Korea, in January
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 11, 2025
Stolen Buddha statue handed over to Japan in South Korea
South Korea's Supreme Court recognized the Japanese temple's ownership of the statue in 2023, rejecting claims that it was stolen by Japanese pirates in the 14th century.
Among the proposals by the Financial Services Agency include removing cash and other items that have a high risk of being used for money laundering from a list of items that can be kept in safe deposit boxes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 28, 2025
Japanese regulators seek stricter rules on safe deposit boxes
The Financial Services Agency is proposing, among others, barring the storage of cash and other items with high risk of being used for money laundering.
According to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative, there were about 30 cases of bonsai theft last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2025
Bonsai thefts sweep Japan as miniature trees grow more popular
About 30 cases of such theft occurred last year, according to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative.
The law will require scrap metal dealers to verify the identity of sellers during transactions.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 11, 2025
Japan moves to curb metal theft with new identity check laws
Metal theft has surged in recent years, driven by rising copper prices.
Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a former deputy manager at Hana Credit Union’s Yokohama branch on suspicion of stealing ¥619 million in cash from the branch's safe deposit boxes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 5, 2025
Hana Credit Union employee arrested on suspicion of safe deposit box theft
The suspect admitted to the allegations, telling police he used the stolen money to pay off debts and gamble.
A former employee of Mizuho Bank's Hiroo branch in Tokyo stole money from the safe deposit boxes of two clients between January 2016 and June 2019, according to the bank.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2025
Mizuho Bank confirms ¥66 million stolen from safe deposit boxes
A former employee stole the money from two clients' safe deposit boxes between January 2016 and June 2019.
Major Japanese banks are tightening controls on the management of safe-deposit boxes after a string of thefts involving bank employees rocked public confidence.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 24, 2025
Japanese banks to rethink security measures for safe-deposit boxes
A string of thefts involving bank employees have intensified scrutiny of a segment already grappling with weak demand and thin margins.
MUFG Bank President Junichi Hanzawa bows in apology in Tokyo on Jan. 17 following alleged massive thefts of customer assets by a former employee.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2025
Ex-MUFG bank worker paid interest to pawnshops to keep gold available to her
The bank worker is suspected of depositing in several pawnshops gold ingots worth several hundred million yen that she had stolen.
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
Japanese immunologist among three Nobel medicine prize winners
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and distinguished professor at Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Osaka Prefecture on Monday.
Spanish tourist injured in latest bear attack
Shirakawago, a U.N. World Heritage site in Gifu Prefecture
Americans and Canadians unite in battling 'eating machine' carp
A Fisheries and Oceans Canada team patrols the Grand River in Dunnville, Ontario, in search of invasive grass carp specimens on Sept. 25.
Trump hails 'wisdom and strength' of Japan's incoming prime minister
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, gives a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Saturday.
OpenAI’s Sora 2 is drowning in Japanese 'AI slop'
OpenAI has rolled out a social app powered by Sora 2, its artificial intelligence video generator, which was quickly flooded with videos featuring iconic Japanese intellectual property.
Trump has his eyes on the prize — but a Nobel win looks unlikely
A protester holds a sign with an image depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the words "Nobel" written on it, as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, demonstrate to demand the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 2.
‘Takaichi trade’ stalls as political reality calls for wait-and-see approach
Tokyo stocks staged a powerful rally on Monday. On Tuesday, they rallied again, then retreated.
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
How a family-run landscaper turned the Osaka Expo green
The team at Ryokukou Garden consists primarily of a single family, including Toshiki Tanisaki (second from right), who led the company's efforts at the Osaka Expo, Chikako Tanisaki (fifth from right), who performs daily maintanence at the expo, and Takeshi Tanisaki (fourth from right), who added a nursery to the family farm more than 50 years ago.

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