Sotatsu Yanase leaves the Oshima Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025
Boyfriend of missing woman arrested after bones found on beach
The victim was identified as Shizuka Takase, a 37-year-old restaurant worker from Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture.
A building in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, that houses the Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025
U.S. Marine not indicted in sexual assault case in Okinawa
After comprehensive consideration, the prosecutor's office determined that it is difficult to build a case against the marine.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, walks outside the federal court in Santa Ana, California, on June 4.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025
57 months in prison sought for Ohtani's ex-interpreter
"This kind of betrayal and greed calls for a significant term of imprisonment," prosecutors argued.
On Hiroshima Prefecture's Okunoshima island where more than 1,000 rabbits roam freely, 77 carcasses of the animal have been discovered since late November.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025
On Japan's 'rabbit island,' bunnies are mysteriously dying one by one
Police have arrested a man for kicking a rabbit, which later died, as a probe continues over the deaths of more than 70 bunnies on Okunoshima island in Hiroshima Prefecture.
The bus stop in Suzhou, China, where a bus used by a Japanese school came under attack from a man, since identified as Zhou Jiasheng, in June last year
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025
China sentences man to death over Japanese school bus attack
A Chinese court deemed the death penalty as appropriate in view of the "extremely heinous" nature of the crime, which resulted in the death of a bus attendant.
The crime scene where three people were attacked near JR Nagano Station on Wednesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025
Search for suspect underway after fatal stabbing at Nagano Station
One person died in the attack, which happened around 8 p.m. Wednesday, while two others sustained injuries.
National Police Agency Commissioner-General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki speaks during a news conference on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025
Japan police agency sets rules for fake IDs in undercover yami baito probes
Investigations involving the use of fake IDs will target crimes such as robbery, special fraud, investment fraud and romance fraud.

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick