Crime
Kawasaki school holds service for victims of 2019 stabbing spree
A memorial service was held Saturday at a private elementary school in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, to mark three years since two people were killed and 18 others injured by a knife-wielding man as they waited at a bus stop. Caritas Elementary School held a mass for the victims, while local… Read
2 children, mother die in suspected murder-suicide at home
A 36-year-old woman, her seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son have died in what police believe was a murder-suicide in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, police said Saturday. According to police, the woman’s 41-year-old husband found the bodies after he returned home from work at around 7:20 p.m. on Friday, Kyodo News reported.… Read
Japanese Red Army founder Shigenobu freed after 20 years in prison
Fusako Shigenobu, the 76-year-old female founder of the once-feared Japanese Red Army, walked free from prison Saturday after completing a 20-year sentence for a 1974 embassy siege. Shigenobu was one of the world's most notorious women during the 1970s and 1980s, when her radical leftist group carried out armed attacks… Read
Woman arrested for beating 8-year-old daughter with belt
Police in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, have arrested a 36-year-old woman on suspicion of abusing her 8-year-old daughter by hitting her with a belt. According to police, the suspect, who is a Brazilian national, beat her daughter on the back and neck several times at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday at… Read
Ex-minister convicted for receiving bribe from egg producer
Former Japanese farm minister Takamori Yoshikawa was sentenced Thursday to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for receiving bribes from an egg production company while in office. The Tokyo District Court ruled that Yoshikawa received a total of 5 million yen from the then head… Read
Man arrested over abduction of minor he met online
Police in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, have arrested a 21-year-old man on suspicion of kidnapping a teenage girl whom he met online and then took to his residence. According to police, Kisei Osawa, a construction industry worker, got to know the girl, who lives in Niigata City, on a social network… Read
Accused groper dies after jumping out of train station office window
A 61-year-old man accused of groping a teenage girl on a train died after he jumped out of a Yokohama train station office where he was being detained. According to police, the incident occurred at around 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday at Kanazawabunko Station on the Keikyu line. TV Tokyo reported… Read
Married couple convicted for forcing single mother into prostitution
The Tokyo District Court has convicted a married couple for violating the Anti-Prostitution Law after they forced a single mother into prostituting herself on at least 600 occasions. The court convicted Yukino Takehara, 33, and her husband Yuki, 29, and sentenced them to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for… Read
Newborn girl found abandoned in Chiba parking lot
A newborn girl was found abandoned in a parking lot in Chiba city, police said. According to police, an elementary student at home in Inage Ward heard the infant’s cries at around 4:25 p.m. Monday, Kyodo News reported. He went outside to see where the cries were coming from and… Read
Japanese plastics firm charged over alleged bribes to Vietnam officials
A Tokyo-based plastic products manufacturer, its former president and two others have been charged with allegedly paying bribes to Vietnamese government officials totaling about 23.6 million yen to avoid large sums of additional taxes and fines. In addition to charging Tenma Corp, Tokyo prosecutors indicted Kaneto Fujino, the company's 69-year-old… Read
