National Jul 12, 2019
The prime minister confirmed the “severe prejudice and discrimination” they endured as relatives of Hansen’s disease patients.
National / Crime & Legal Jul 12, 2019
Guilty ruling finalized for Chiba mother complicit in fatal abuse of 10-year-old daughter
A Chiba court said Friday a guilty verdict for a woman who was complicit in her husband's fatal assaults on their 10-year-old daughter has been finalized. Nagisa Kurihara, 32, did not appeal the ruling by Wednesday's deadline. The Chiba District Court sentenced her in late ...
National / Crime & Legal Dec 19, 2018
Ex-head of bankrupt kimono firm gets 30 months in prison for fraud
The former head of a now-bankrupt kimono rental firm was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday for swindling banks of funds to keep his business running until its abrupt closure before Coming of Age Day earlier this year. Yoichiro Shinozaki, 56, the former president ...
Asia Pacific Nov 13, 2018
Hong Kong democracy activists to face trial over roles in 2014 rallies as Beijing tightens grip
Three leading Hong Kong democracy campaigners go on trial next week over their involvement in massive rallies calling for political reform, as room for opposition in the semiautonomous city shrinks under an assertive China. The justice department has prosecuted leading activists from the 2014 protests, ...
National / Crime & Legal Oct 10, 2018
German tourist admits to knife attack on Japanese man in Nagasaki while drunk
A German tourist indicted for attempted murder admitted Wednesday to stabbing a Japanese man in a random attack on a street in Nagasaki last year during his first court hearing. But lawyers for Tobias Gross, 25, told the Nagasaki District Court that they will contest ...
National / Crime & Legal Sep 14, 2018
Former TV director gets suspended term for helping commentator take his own life
A former director of a TV program featuring conservative commentator Susumu Nishibe was given a suspended jail term on Friday for helping the 78-year-old kill himself in January. The Tokyo District Court sentenced Tetsugaku Kubota, a 45-year-old former employee of a Tokyo Metropolitan Television Broadcasting ...
National / Crime & Legal Sep 14, 2018
Pacific War damages appeal by Okinawa residents rejected by Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by families of local residents affected by the Battle of Okinawa against lower court rulings that did not hold the state responsible for war damages. The decision was made Tuesday. It was the first lawsuit filed by local citizens ...
World / Crime & Legal Aug 6, 2018
Paul Manafort's 'right-hand man' Rick Gates to testify in fraud trial
The most critical moment in the financial fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will likely arrive this week with the testimony of his "right-hand man" — the person defense attorneys blame for any crimes. Rick Gates, who also served in a senior ...
National / Crime & Legal Aug 6, 2018
Killer of two buried alive at Saga soil treatment plant in 2014 gets life sentence
The Saga District Court on Monday sentenced a 69-year-old man to life in prison for murdering a man and a woman by burying them alive in the city of Saga in 2014. In the trial, prosecutors demanded that Teruyoshi Oho be given the death penalty ...
National / Crime & Legal Jun 4, 2018
Man pleads innocent to 2017 murder of Vietnamese girl near Tokyo
The former head of a parents association at a school in Chiba Prefecture pleads innocent to murdering a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl who attended the school.
National / Crime & Legal Apr 18, 2018
24-year prison term sought for ex-NHK reporter accused of serial rapes
Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a 24-year prison term for a former reporter with public broadcaster NHK, who was accused of raping three women in their 20s. Prosecutors said at the Yamagata District Court that Yasutaka Tsurumoto, 29, has not shown repentance for committing "vicious" crimes, ...
National / Crime & Legal Mar 14, 2018
Okinawa again loses suit aimed at halting U.S. Futenma base relocation
The Naha District Court on Tuesday rejected Okinawa's latest effort to stop the central government's ongoing construction work to relocate a U.S. military base within the island prefecture. The court ruled the lawsuit filed by the Okinawa Prefectural Government is not subject to a trial, ...