Tag - japanese-courts

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

JAPANESE COURTS

Maki Takubo, former mayor of Ito in Shizuoka Prefecture, was indicted without arrest on Monday by public prosecutors on suspicion of violations including contravening the local autonomy law through alleged academic fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 31, 2026
Former mayor of Ito indicted after allegedly falsifying academic record
Maki Takubo was elected Ito mayor for the first time in 2025 and claimed to have graduated from Toyo University, but later revealed that she had been expelled.
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting in Tokyo last week. Lower court rulings against a man who attacked him in 2023 are set to be finalized after being upheld by the Supreme Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 31, 2026
Top court upholds 10-year sentence for man who attacked Kishida in 2023
Lower court rulings had sentencing the 27-year-old for attacking the then prime minister with an explosive during an election campaign event the city of Wakayama.
The executive committee of Women in Law Japan poses for a photo at the organization’s 10th anniversary gala.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Mar 30, 2026
Women in Law Japan marks 10 years amid persistent gender gap in the profession
Through events, workshops and mentorship programs, the platform offers opportunities to connect for women in the legal profession in Japan.
Haruo Ikegami (center) smiles in Tokyo on Friday after the Supreme Court overturned a high court ruling that said it was legal for Hokkaido to revoke his gun license.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 28, 2026
Top court backs Hokkaido hunter who lost gun license after shooting bear
This was the first time for the Supreme Court to rule the revocation of a hunting gun license to be illegal.
Asahikawa Mayor Hirosuke Imazu holds a news conference following the settlement on Thursday in Asahikawa, Hokkaido.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 27, 2026
Hokkaido city reaches settlement over death of bullied girl
The family of the victim had sought about ¥115 million in damages, claiming the city failed to respond appropriately.
Tetsuro Kamata, then-deputy superintendent-general of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department, speaks to reporters in August in Yokohama after apologizing to the bereaved family of Shizuo Aishima, who died with wrongful charges standing against him.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 27, 2026
Family of late Ohkawara executive to file suit over judges’ decisions
The family of Shizuo Aishima, who died before charges against him were dropped, is seeking ¥170 million in damages from the state.
The Tokyo District Court building. The court has sentenced the leader of a sex-worker scouting group to four years and six months in prison.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2026
Head of sex-worker scouting group sentenced to over four years in prison
According to the ruling, Kazuma Endo and others conspired to introduce 10 women to sex-related businesses between 2023 and 2024.
Members of parliament and supporters participate in a rally organized by Marriage For All Japan in Tokyo in December.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2026
Japan top court to issue unified ruling on same-sex marriage
The Grand Bench, consisting of the Supreme Court’s 15 justices, is expected to give its ruling as early as next year.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Department's headquarters in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. Daisuke Jinbo, formerly of the department's organized crime division, said during his trial that he leaked highly confidential investigative information out of desperation due to harassment by a senior officer.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2026
Former Tokyo police officer found guilty of leak to sex scout group
In the trial, defendant Daisuke Jinbo, formerly of the organized crime division at the Metropolitan Police Department, said he acted out of desperation due to harassment.
The Tokyo High Court has upheld a lower court ruling sentencing a former MUFG banker to nine years in prison for allegedly stealing assets worth ¥390 million from safe deposit boxes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2026
Tokyo High Court upholds nine-year jail term for ex-MUFG banker
The 47-year-old former banker was sentenced to nine years in prison for allegedly stealing assets worth ¥390 million from safe deposit boxes.
The high court in Osaka Prefecture, near Wakayama Prefecture, dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the Wakayama District Court's December 2024 ruling that had found the defendant not guilty.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 24, 2026
Osaka High Court upholds ex-wife’s acquittal in ‘Don Juan of Kishu’ case
The wealthy businessperson’s wife was indicted in May 2021 on suspicion of murdering him by making him take a lethal dose of a stimulant drug at their home in 2018.
Until now, sole custody was the only option a divorced couple had, in contrast with many Western countries where joint custody is commonplace.
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Mar 24, 2026
What you need to know about Japan’s new joint custody system
For the first time ever, revisions to the family law will allow parents to choose between sole custody or joint custody following a divorce.
With parental authority at stake, abuse victims’ looming fear of the possibility that their ex-spouse could once again be in their lives is real. But the frustration of the current sole custody arrangement for a noncustodial parent is also hard to ignore.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 24, 2026
Fear and fairness: Japan’s joint custody reform sparks debate
From April, Japan will allow joint parental authority. For some, that means more time with their child, but for domestic abuse survivors, there is only fear.
The Osaka High Court
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2026
Court rules KyoAni killer’s withdrawal of death sentence appeal was valid
After the defendant retracted his appeal in January, his lawyers filed with the high court to contest the validity of his decision.
Plaintiffs at a news conference on Tuesday after a ruling on voluntary sterilization was handed down by the Tokyo District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 17, 2026
Tokyo court rules against women’s right to voluntary sterilization
Under Japanese law, sterilization surgery for women can be performed only when specific health risks are present.
A bereaved family member said they thought the Saitama District Court's life sentence ruling on Monday was generous and that they hope the prosecutors "will quickly appeal the ruling."
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 17, 2026
Man convicted of 2022 triple murder in Saitama Prefecture given life in prison
Public prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Jun Saito for murdering three members of a family in Saitama Prefecture on Christmas Day in 2022.
A seven-year prison sentence has been finalized for a 23-year-old U.S. Marine charged with sexually assaulting and injuring a woman in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2026
Seven-year term finalized for U.S. Marine in Okinawa sexual assault case
The defendant, Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, and prosecutors filed their waivers of the right to appeal with the Fukuoka High Court this week.
The Manga One app operated by publisher Shogakukan. The publishing house announced Monday that executives at the company had apologized to a sexual assault victim after reappointing the perpetrator to write for the platform after he was known to have been involved in sexual misconduct.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
Mar 10, 2026
How did publishing giant Shogakukan end up in hot water?
The manga publisher has had to apologize for rehiring an author convicted of sexual assault, who then worked under a pseudonym.
Shogakukan’s manga app, which is under investigation by a third party committee over a sexual assault case by an author of a manga series
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2026
Shogakukan apologizes for rehiring author with sex crime past
According to Shogakukan, a company executive visited the office of the victim’s lawyer on Thursday and apologized to her by phone.
Lawyer Hisashi Ito (right), who was appointed as liquidator of the Unification Church, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 9, 2026
Unification Church appeals dissolution order to top court
The special appeal came after the Tokyo High Court last week upheld the dissolution order issued by the Tokyo District Court.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER