Tag - japanese-courts

 
Menu
Search
 
June 30, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

JAPANESE COURTS

The plaintiffs said the three hibakusha had long been excluded from aid due to a government notice stating they would lose their right to receive related state aid if they leave the country, and therefore had been "forced to live with health problems and anxiety."
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2026
Court orders government to pay damages to relatives of hibakusha who left Japan
The hibakusha, originally from what is now South Korea, were exposed to radiation in the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and returned home after the war.
Eiko Kawasaki (center), a plaintiff in a compensation case against North Korea, attends a news conference in Tokyo along with other plaintiffs and lawyers on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 27, 2026
Court holds North Korea liable for ‘paradise on Earth’ program
The Tokyo District Court ruled that four plaintiffs had “most of their lives taken away” by Pyongyang.
The Supreme Court has confirmed a lower court ruling in favor of the state in a damages lawsuit filed by 27 children of hibakusha in Hiroshima.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2026
Top court rejects damages suit by children of Hiroshima hibakusha
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claimed that the exclusion of hibakusha children from the hibakusha support law was unconstitutional.
Former Kadokawa Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa (center) speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday after a court handed him a suspended jail sentence of two years and six months over bribes linked to sponsorship contracts for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2026
Former Kadokawa chairman given suspended jail sentence over Olympic graft scandal
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, 82, was found guilty of bribing a former senior official of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (third from right) bows as she meets with the victims of forced sterilization at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2026
Takaichi meets with victims of forced sterilization
The prime minister said the government’s responsibility is “extremely grave” and added that she wanted to make sure everyone received compensation.
Plaintiffs hold up signs in the city of Fukuoka on Tuesday expressing disappointment over the Fukuoka High Court’s decision to dismiss a petition seeking to halt the operations of reactors at the Genkai nuclear power plant.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2026
High court rejects petition to halt reactors in southwestern Japan
The plaintiffs argued the size of a potential earthquake was underestimated in the calculation of seismic ground motion used for the reactors’ quake-resistant design.
Outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara ahead of the sentencing of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man behind the July 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2026
Shinzo Abe’s assassin gets life sentence
The sentence meted out to Tetsuya Yamagami, who shot the former prime minister in Nara in July 2022, brings an end to the trial for a murder that shocked Japan.
In a draft proposal, the Justice Ministry also called for imposing criminal penalties on the use of disclosed evidence for purposes other than retrial proceedings, though lawyers have in the past been able to provide relief to falsely accused convicts by publicizing new evidence and appealing to the public.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2026
Japan’s retrial system will likely retain prosecutor appeals, draft proposal shows
The draft not banning public prosecutors from filing appeals comes despite strong calls to abolish the practice, which has been criticized for limiting retrial opportunities.
News reporters gather in front of the Nara District Court on Oct. 28, when the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, opened.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 20, 2026
Shinzo Abe’s assassin faces verdict
One of the key points in the trial is how the judges will weigh on Tetsuya Yamagami’s troubled upbringing and motivations for fatally shooting the former prime minister.
According to a court ruling, Tomu Fujinuma transported a high school student from Thailand to Myanmar in January 2025 after the boy was kidnapped from Miyagi Prefecture, and forced him to take part in fraud at a scam hub in Myanmar.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 20, 2026
Man found guilty of sending student to Myanmar for fraud
A judge said that transporting the student, including by ship, to a place from which he could not return by himself was “a malicious act.”
The Osaka District Court dismissed a request on Friday by three death-row inmates seeking to have executions by hanging banned.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2026
Osaka court dismisses request to ban executions by hanging
Three inmates, whose death sentences have been finalized, claimed that executions by hanging violate an international treaty that prohibits cruel punishments.
Police officers and firefighters gather at a site in Tokyo's Suginami Ward where two officials were stabbed on Thursday by a resident subject to a court-ordered eviction.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2026
One official fatally stabbed during forced eviction in Tokyo
The resident suspected of stabbing two officials, one of whom later died, reportedly told police “I didn’t intend to kill them, but I thought it wouldn’t matter if they died.”
Justice Ministry's Legislative Council discusses a review of the retrial request system last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 13, 2026
Retrial requests filed by relatives face difficulties
Cases have been terminated or cut short with no prospects of reapplication because of the aging and death of petitioners.
Japan started a new program on Tuesday to offer basically free legal support for victims and bereaved families in serious crimes whose current assets are ¥3 million or less.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 13, 2026
Legal support for crime victims begins in Japan
The assistance, both in criminal and civil procedures, is provided basically free of charge, and applications can be submitted for incidents that occurred on or after Tuesday.
A parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Self-Defense Forces in Tokyo in November 2024.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2026
Japanese government ordered to pay damages over SDF officer’s suicide
In the lawsuit filed with the Sapporo District Court, the mother of the 19-year-old GSDF member was awarded ¥1.1 million in damages.
Kyoko (center), daughter of Ayako Haraguchi, during a news conference in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2026
Fifth retrial plea filed over 1979 murder in Kagoshima
Lawyers for a 98-year-old woman who served a prison term for the murder of a man in the town of Osaki also submitted new evidence.
The National Police Agency is calling on people who have applied for illicit part-time jobs, such as carrying out robberies and fraud, to consult the police without hesitation.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2026
Japan police provide protection in 544 ‘dark’ job cases
The NPA is calling on people who have applied for illicit part-time jobs, such as carrying out robberies and fraud, to consult the police without hesitation.
The Hamamatsu Nishi Police Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, where actor Ryoko Hirosue was detained after being arrested at a hospital on April 8 following a rear-end collision involving a vehicle she was driving. A summary court last month ordered Hirosue to pay a fine over the collision.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2026
Actor Ryoko Hirosue fined ¥700,000 for negligent driving
Her vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer on April 7 after changing lanes at approximately 185 kph inside a tunnel on the Shin-Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeing to halt a number of nuclear reactors hold up papers reading “unjust ruling” following a court ruling on Thursday in the city of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 26, 2025
Court dismisses plea to shut down nuclear plants in Fukui
The plaintiffs plan to appeal the ruling to a higher court, while Kansai Electric said that the ruling reflects the court’s understanding of its claims.
Under a revised Civil Code, joint parental custody of children and a statutory child support system after divorce will be introduced.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Dec 25, 2025
Japan to start joint parental custody after divorce in April
The new framework represents a major shift in the post-World War II legislative system governing families.
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