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October 24, 2025
 

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JAPANESE POLICE

Hokkaido Prefectural Police on Thursday seize items during a search of locations linked to the now-closed North Safari Sapporo zoo.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2025
Police raid closed Hokkaido zoo for unauthorized land development
As of Oct. 4, 312 animals, including tigers and lions, still remain at the zoo.
Media gathered near the scene where a man barricaded himself with a knife on Wednesday in the city of Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 23, 2025
Man arrested after 14-hour police standoff in Osaka
Toru Suetsugu, 48, allegedly held a woman he was living with at knifepoint after police showed up at his apartment to investigate a theft.
Police investigators enter the head office of Albatross in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 23, 2025
Tokyo police raid resignation assistance firm for violating attorney law
The operator is suspected of introducing clients to lawyers and charging a commission fee even though the company has no legal qualifications to do so.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Oct 22, 2025
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
From the desperate and defeated to the blissful and breezy, readers share their experiences of getting a driver’s license in Japan.
Emergency vehicles arrive at the JR Otsuka Station in Tokyo Monday following a report that a woman had allegedly injured passengers with pepper spray inside a train on the Yamanote Line.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 21, 2025
Woman arrested for pepper spray assault on Yamanote Line
The alleged assault injured two men and resulted in train delays of up to 15 minutes.
Retired yakuza Mako Nishimura sorts fallen leaves during a clean-up activity at the Gifu Gokoku shrine in Gifu Prefecture on Sept. 28.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 21, 2025
Rare female yakuza walks path to redemption in Japan
Heavily inked Mako Nishimura, 58, spends her days helping other retired gangsters reintegrate into society.
Saitama Prefectural Police officers raid the home of murder suspect Toya Kimura in the city of Kumagaya on Saturday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2025
Former care home worker entered Saitama facility with 'intent to kill'
Investigators believe he broke into his former workplace after forming an intent to kill despite holding no grudge against the two residents he allegedly killed.
Suspect Qian Ling (center), who is believed to be the group's leader, following his re-arrest, in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2025
Tokyo police arrest phone scam group leader
The Metropolitan Police Department suspects that the group was behind at least some 500 phone scam cases committed in half a year through January.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2025
Seven key members of major bank account brokerage ring arrested
The organization is believed to be one of the biggest of its kind in Japan, handling over 1,000 accounts annually for the purpose of money laundering
The Tokyo High Court held that, “even taking the woman’s consent into account” for sharing her personal information, the officers breached their duty of care and acted unlawfully.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2025
Tokyo ordered to pay damages to South Asian woman over police response
A park dispute led police officers to provide the woman’s personal details to a man who went on to make abusive social media posts against her.
A man's body was found at around 9 a.m. on Friday near to the site where a bear was hunted in a wooded area of Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2025
Body found after possible bear attack at onsen in Iwate
Iwate Prefectural Police believe that the body is that of a 60-year-old employee of a hot spring.
A bear was shot dead in the city of Sendai under a revised law allowing city authorities to kill bears in urban areas.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2025
Bear shot in city of Sendai under revised law
The bear appeared near a residential area in Kagitori, Taihaku Ward, in the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture,
Tokyo police believe the man made about 20,000 sexually explicit images of 262 women, such as actors and idols, and amassed sales of ¥1.2 million between October last year and September this year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2025
Man held in Japan on suspicion of creating female celeb deepfakes made with AI
It is the first time for police in Japan to crack down on sexual deepfake images of celebrities created using generative artificial intelligence.
Investigators enter the elderly care facility where two female residents were killed in Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2025
Suspect in murders at Saitama facility allegedly snuck in using old passcode
Police suspect Toya Kimura, 22, a former worker at the care facility, used prior knowledge of the building's security system to gain entry.
The Saitama Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Saitama. Police have apprehended a former employee of a care facility in Saitama Prefecture following the deaths of two residents who were discovered bleeding and unconscious on their beds early Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 15, 2025
Former employee of Saitama care home held after deaths of two residents
A staffer at the facility in Tsurugashima called the police after a nurse found the two women in their 80s and 90s bleeding and unconscious on their beds.
A bear seen in security camera footage taken at a supermarket in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, on Tuesday. More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Man killed in apparent bear attack as deaths mount in Japan
The official death toll due to bear attacks has risen to six for the fiscal year starting in April, matching a record high seen in 2023.
Officials from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office's special investigation squad conduct a search of Alt's headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2025
Former executives of AI developer Alt arrested for window-dressing
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission searched locations related to the company in April over the alleged window-dressing
Iwao Hakamata's legal team and others head to the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2025
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata files damages suit against government
Hakamata, 89, sought some ¥600 million in damages, a record amount against the government in a suit over a retrial case.
The National Police Agency held its first expert panel meeting on Tuesday on countering illegal drone flights amid rising concerns over their potential use in terrorism and other threats.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2025
Police launch talks on stricter drone rules in Japan
The panel plans to compile a report by the end of the year on expanding the list of no-fly zones and penalties, with a view to revising the drone control law.
Rice that was about to be illegally imported, seized at the container inspection center of the Osaka Customs Nanko Branch Office on Aug. 8 in Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 7, 2025
Osaka couple arrested for attempting to import rice illegally
The suspects are alleged to have tried to import some 45 tons of rice from Vietnam, claiming it as mung beans.
For three key Cabinet posts, Takaichi turns to an eclectic trio
Shinjiro Koizumi — son of a former prime minister and rival to the current one — was appointed defense chief after falling short in his bid for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency earlier this month.
Rare female yakuza walks path to redemption in Japan
Retired yakuza Mako Nishimura sorts fallen leaves during a clean-up activity at the Gifu Gokoku shrine in Gifu Prefecture on Sept. 28.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
New ‘immigration minister’ post signals Takaichi Cabinet’s priorities
Kimi Onoda, economic security minister and minister for harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan's first female PM promised more women in her Cabinet. She picked two.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi poses with members of the newly formed Cabinet on Tuesday night.
AI-optimized cybercrime increasingly targeting Japan
A recent cyberattack on brewer Asahi Group Holdings resulted in the company suspending shipments.
K-pop idol Chanyeol does J-pop his own way on ‘Hibi’
South Korean singer Chanyeol made his Japanese-language solo debut with the EP “Hibi,” which features six tracks inspired by his love of Japanese music.
In pictures: The day Japan’s glass ceiling finally cracked
Takaichi, surrounded by LDP influencers
London exhibition perhaps sumo's most successful trip abroad
With the recent sumo jaunt to London being essentially a goodwill exercise, <i>rikishi</i> were far more outgoing and relaxed than normal.
Nakatsu keeps its cool as gentrification looms
Shunsuke Takahashi, owner of the cafe Hood by Vargas, says the Osaka neighborhood of Nakatsu feels brighter and calmer with the influx of new businesses.

Podcast

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

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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