Tag - japanese-courts

 
Menu
Search
 
June 30, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

JAPANESE COURTS

Hideko Hakamata attends a parliamentary session on May 27 to observe deliberations on a Criminal Procedure Code revision bill.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 9, 2026
Sister of ex-death row inmate calls for full disclosure of evidence by prosecutors amid retrial system review
A bill under consideration would limit the scope of evidence disclosure and mandate that the defense not be provided with a list of evidence.
A court ruling will be handed down on June 22 for a woman suspected of killing a 17-year-old girl in Hokkaido in 2024.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 9, 2026
Prosecutors seek 27-year sentence for suspect in murder of Hokkaido girl
Public prosecutors have alleged that Riko Uchida and others “applied some physical force” to the high school girl, who was embroiled in a dispute over social media photos.
A former prosecutor using the pseudonym Hikari, who accused her boss of rape, demands an independent panel to be launched during a protest in Tokyo on May 29.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 7, 2026
Prosecutors across Japan to be surveyed for harassment
The supreme office issued related instructions to local prosecutor offices across the country last month and plans to compile a report by the end of fiscal 2026.
The Nagoya District Court sentenced Shota Suito, a former elementary school teacher, to three years and six months in prison in Japan’s first case involving possession of AI-generated child sexual deepfakes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2026
Nagoya court recognizes AI-created explicit images as child pornography
The sentence marked the first case in Japan in which the law has been applied to the possession of AI-generated sexual deepfakes.
The Kyoto District Court in the city of Kyoto heard a complaint Wednesday from a man who says his estranged wife presented someone else's sperm as his and was able to undergo successful fertility treatment using it without his awareness.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 4, 2026
Man sues hospital after wife gives birth using someone else’s sperm
The woman was sentenced in April 2025 for forging the man’s consent form, but the hospital said it gave adequate explanation and that the man’s claims are incorrect.
The Legal Education Support Association was established in January 2023 by lawyer Akihide Kumada and others concerned about the decreasing number of young people wanting to become legal professionals.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 3, 2026
Association champions legal careers through judicial education for students
The Legal Education Support Association was established amid concern about fewer young people wanting to become legal professionals.
Osaka High Court found that the NRA's safety approval for the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the nuclear plant in the town of Oi was reasonable.
JAPAN
May 28, 2026
Osaka High Court backs safety approval for Oi nuclear reactors
The high court found that the NRA’s safety approval for the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the nuclear plant in the town of Oi was reasonable.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions about the criminal procedure law in parliament on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 26, 2026
Takaichi stresses ‘great significance’ of retrial system reform
The government bill prohibits in principle public prosecutors from filing appeals against court decisions to start retrials.
A popular voice actor has sued TikTok’s operator over videos allegedly using an AI-generated imitation of his voice without permission.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 26, 2026
Actor files lawsuit against TikTok operator over AI-generated voice use
The lawsuit, filed with the Tokyo District Court by Kenjiro Tsuda last November, is believed to be the first of its kind in Japan.
The Tokyo District Court on Monday found two former executives of artificial intelligence developer Alt guilty of window dressing in violation of the financial instruments and exchange law.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 26, 2026
Former execs of AI developer Alt found guilty of window dressing
Katsuya Asai, 46, and Takayuki Ariizumi, 53, were given suspended prison sentences, and the Tokyo-based company was fined ¥300 million.
Riko Uchida is standing trial over the death of a 17-year-old high school girl, who fell from a suspension bridge in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, in 2024.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 25, 2026
Woman accused of murder in Hokkaido girl’s fall from bridge pleads not guilty
Another accused of conspiring in the murder is currently serving a 23-year sentence.
Mamoru Hase, the father of a boy murdered in a series of attacks on elementary schoolchildren in 1997, speaks during an interview in Kobe earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 25, 2026
Father still searching for answers 29 years after Kobe child murders
For 70-year-old Mamoru Hase, whose son was one of two elementary schoolchildren killed by a 14-year-old boy in 1997, there is no such thing as closure.
Three defendants are on trial over suspected robbery resulting in death and other offenses in connection with the death of 20-year-old Tomoya Hase.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 25, 2026
Three people plead guilty over fatal 2024 assault of Hokkaido university student
A total of six people have been indicted in the case of suspected robbery resulting in the death of a 20-year-old in Ebetsu, Hokkaido.
A building housing the Tokyo High Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2026
Bus operators found guilty again over 2016 crash in Karuizawa
The ski tour bus crash in the Nagano Prefecture town killed 15 people, mainly university students, and injured 26 others.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2026
Tepco employees recorded civil trials in violation of court rules
On the same day, Shikoku Electric Power and Chugoku Electric Power also admitted to making audio recordings in the courtroom.
The Tokyo headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church, in August 2022
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2026
Unification Church liquidator begins accepting claims
The losses claims will be accepted until May 20 next year, with eligible claimants including followers, former followers of the group and their family members.
Lawyer Hidetoshi Masunaga (left) criticizes the ruling handed down by the Fukuoka High Court in Fukuoka on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2026
Two courts find February’s Lower House election constitutional
The lawyers who filed the lawsuits claimed that the maximum vote-value disparity of 2.10 times in the election failed to meet the equal value of votes under the Constitution.
Tokyo Detention House guidelines dictate that CCTV surveillance can be used when detainees are at risk of suicide or self-harm, or when there is concern they may try to escape.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 20, 2026
Female death row inmate sues Japan government over 24/7 surveillance
A death-row inmate says she’s been surveilled 24/7 for 24 years. Now, she’s suing the Japanese government for a breach of human rights.
A Cabinet meeting on Friday that approved a revised bill on the retrial system
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2026
Cabinet approves revision of controversial retrial system
Critics of Japan’s retrial system have said prosecutors’ right to appeal is prolonging the court procedures needed for those seeking a retrial, with it sometimes taking decades.
Even a slight brush with the law can be enough to cause reputational damage for public figures.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 15, 2026
How Japanese grammar captures the gap between legal outcomes and public judgment
Using “monono” and “ni mo kakawarazu” to explore contradictions between expectations and outcomes in Japanese.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency
New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER