Karin Kaneko - The Japan Times

December 25, 2024

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Karin Kaneko

The streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district in 2020. Consultations over matters relating to host clubs have been increasing every year at police stations nationwide, according to the National Police Agency.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Dec 19, 2024

National Police Agency panel calls for stricter rules against host clubs

The expert panel recommends targeting malicious practices, rather than specific establishments, to cover more ground.

A flyer created by the Metropolitan Police Department to warn people about <i>yami baito</i>, or "dark" part-time jobs

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Dec 17, 2024

Japan to let investigators go undercover to crack down on yami baito

Until now, undercover operations have been allowed only for drug- and gun-related criminal investigations.

During the trial of ex-principal Hisayoshi Kitamura, one of his victims testified that she could not consult anyone when she was assaulted as a student because she had been taught to follow the instructions of teachers.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Dec 9, 2024

Ex-principal gets 9 years for raping middle school students in 2010

The crimes came to light after one of the victims reported her assault to the Tokyo education board in 2022.

Prosecutors said Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, had sex with a 12-year-old girl at a karaoke parlor on Aug. 20 after he approached her on the streets, well aware that she was underage.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Dec 5, 2024

Former Nippon Ishin lawmaker pleads guilty to statutory rape

The lawmaker had approached her on the streets of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Aug. 20 and was aware she was underage.

Donna Nelson (fourth from left) with her family members. Nelson was found guilty of smuggling drugs to Japan.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Dec 4, 2024

Australian woman given six-year sentence over Japan drug smuggling

Donna Nelson has said that she was a victim of an online romance scam and that she was not aware she was carrying luggage containing illegal drugs.

Donna Nelson says her life was turned upside down when she learned that the man she was falling for had tricked her into smuggling 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Japan.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Dec 3, 2024

Australian says romance scam tricked her into smuggling drugs into Japan

Donna Nelson says her life was turned upside down when she learned that the man she was falling for had tricked her into smuggling drugs.

A stone pillar at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, on which the word "toilet" was spray-painted in May

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Nov 29, 2024

Chinese man pleads guilty to role in vandalizing Yasukuni Shrine

Jiang Zhuojun said he assisted with the vandalizing to protest against Japan's discharging of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The National Consumer Affairs Center reports a growing number of consultations regarding "digital legacies" — data and online services left behind when people die.

JAPAN / Society

Nov 25, 2024

Are you leaving your loved ones digital legacies or headaches?

The National Consumer Affairs Center is getting an increasing number of consultations regarding data and online services left behind by deceased persons.

The Tokyo District Court has found Nagumi Osada, 27, guilty of sexually abusing seven girls between the ages of 3 and 6.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Nov 14, 2024

Former day care center worker given 14-year term for child sex abuse

The man was found guilty of abusing seven girls between the ages of 3 and 6 at day care centers where he worked and of filming the acts over a period of two years.

A screenshot of a suspicious job listing on Timee went viral on social media platform X. The job listing was later taken down by Timee.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Nov 13, 2024

Alleged 'dark' part-time job listings popping up on reputable sites

Such jobs, which promise unusually high wages for ostensibly simple work, have been linked to a series of home burglaries and other crimes in recent months.

The headquarters of Bungeishunju, Shukan Bunshun's publisher, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Nov 8, 2024

Comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto to withdraw Bungeishunju defamation suit

The lawsuit was filed over a Shukan Bunshun article that detailed sexual assault allegations made by two women.

American voters in Tokyo gather at an election watch party, organized by Democrats Abroad Japan, at a British bar in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa district on Wednesday.

JAPAN

Nov 6, 2024

American voters in Japan reflect divisions in home country

Several Republican voters said they believed Trump’s leadership could address the problems they are most concerned about, such as illegal immigration.

Staff work at a sake brewery in Fukushima Prefecture in October. Sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage made from grains and water, holds deep cultural significance in Japan.

JAPAN / Society

Nov 5, 2024

UNESCO panel recommends sake brewing for intangible cultural heritage list

A UNESCO intergovernmental committee meeting in December is expected to make a final decision on its inclusion in the Representative List.

Ai Kamishige, who lives in Yokohama’s Kohoku Ward, allegedly strangled her 11-year-old son and drowned her 5-year-old daughter in a bathtub.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Oct 31, 2024

Yokohama woman arrested over daughter's drowning and attempted murder of son

The woman allegedly strangled her 11-year-old son and drowned her 5-year-old daughter in a bathtub.

Plaintiffs seeking the right for same-sex couples to marry react Wednesday to the Tokyo High Court's ruling that Japan's ban on such marriages is unconstitutional.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Oct 30, 2024

Tokyo High Court rules same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional

It is the second high-court ruling in Japan to describe the ban on same-sex marriage in those terms.

A team of lawyers head to the Osaka District Court on Tuesday to file a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on behalf of their clients, who are victims of investment scams linked to fake advertisements on the social media platforms.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Oct 29, 2024

Meta faces Japan lawsuits over fake ads linked to investment fraud

Those affected claim that the owner of Facebook and Instagram neglected to remove the ads from its social media platforms, which led to them being scammed.

A police officer stands guard on Oct. 16 near a home in Yokohama where an elderly man was found dead in a robbery-murder case.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Oct 24, 2024

'Dark lists' shed light on how Japan's robbers narrow down targets

Since August, at least seven residents have been robbed across Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures with a similar modus operandi.

Teruo Naka (right) and Hironori Kondoh, both lawyers for a plaintiff stating the nationality law is unconstitutional, speak to reporters on Thursday at the Tokyo District Court.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Oct 17, 2024

Tokyo court upholds dual nationality ban, rejecting teen's citizenship case

The lawsuit centered on whether the parents' decision to acquire British citizenship for the child could be regarded as a decision made by the plaintiff.

NHK President Nobuo Inaba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in September.

CULTURE / Entertainment news

Oct 17, 2024

NHK to resume contracting former Johnny's performers

The broadcaster's president said the decision was based on the agency’s clear efforts to compensate Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse victims.

Raita Fukusaku arrives at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture in August 1994 to be extradited to the United States.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Oct 16, 2024

First Japanese national extradited to U.S. killed by Hawaii cellmate

Raita Fukusaku was found bleeding on the floor of his cell with trauma to the head and neck at the Halawa Correctional Facility in Honolulu.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.

Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?

By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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