Category: Crime

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 20, 2025 Number of comments0
Abuse Assassination of Shinzo Abe Crime Japan Unification Church

Life Sentence Sought for Abe Shooter Yamagami

Public prosecutors on Thursday sought a life sentence for Tetsuya Yamagami, who is charged with fatally shooting former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a homemade gun in the western city of Nara in July 2022.  In the 15th hearing of the lay-judge trial of Yamagami, 45, at Nara District Court, the prosecution said that the shooting was “an extremely grave incident unprecedented in our country’s postwar history” and a “shortsighted and selfish” crime, leaving “no room for leniency.”The defense requested a fixed-term sentence. The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on Jan. 21.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 14, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Film Japan Sex

Journalist Shiori Ito’s Documentary on Sexual Violence Debuts in Japan

“Black Box Diaries,” an Oscar-nominated film directed by Japanese journalist Shiori Ito documenting her experience after suffering sexual violence, was released in Japan on Friday.   It was screened at overseas film festivals in 2024 and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film at this year’s U.S. Academy Awards. Meanwhile, lawyers, including those who helped Ito win a civil lawsuit against the former TV journalist over her sexual abuse case, had criticized the use of hotel security camera images and statements from taxi drivers without permission.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 10, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Cults Disability Japan Unification Church

Unification Church’s Japan Head Resigns

Tomihiro Tanaka, Japan head of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, resigned from the post Tuesday. “We cannot underestimate the fact that we have caused deep pain to some people,” Tanaka told a news conference held at the head office in Tokyo of the controversial religious group’s Japan branch. “I’m sorry.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 5, 2025 Number of comments0
Assassination of Shinzo Abe Crime Cults Disability Japan Unification Church

Abe Shooter Apologizes to Bereaved Family for 1st Time

Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with the 2022 murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, apologized to the bereaved family for the first time at Nara District Court on Thursday. At the 14th court hearing of his lay judge trial, Yamagami, 45, said he was very sorry for what he did. Yamagami also said that killing Abe was “wrong.” He reportedly targeted Abe in light of the former prime minister’s ties with the Unification Church, which he held a grudge against.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 5, 2025 Number of comments0
Assassination of Shinzo Abe Crime Japan Mental Health Podcast

Shinzo Abe Shooting Trial: Defendant Explains Motive, Akie Abe Attends Hearing [Podcast Episode]

The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, accused of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, continued this week at the Nara District Court with detailed testimony about the defendant’s motives and a courtroom appearance by Abe’s widow, Akie. Yamagami, 45, told judges and lay judges that he targeted Abe because he believed the former leader sat “at the center” of ties between politics and the Unification Church, saying his “hatred and hostility” developed gradually and that attacking any other politician would have carried “weak significance.” 

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 4, 2025 1
Assassination of Shinzo Abe Crime Japan

Slain Ex-PM Abe’s Wife Attends Attacker’s Trial for 1st Time

Akie Abe sat behind prosecutors and listened to the 13th court hearing of the lay judge trial at Nara District Court, using a system for victims’ participation in trials. She did not ask questions herself.
   She entered the courtroom at 1 p.m. wearing a black jacket with a blue ribbon badge, which is a symbol of efforts to rescue Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 29, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Japan NHK Politics

Anti-NHK Group Leader Tachibana Indicted for Defamation

The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted Takashi Tachibana, leader of a political group criticizing Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK, for defaming a former Hyogo prefectural assembly member who apparently committed suicide. Tachibana, 58, was arrested Nov. 9 for allegedly disseminating false information about the victim, Hideaki Takeuchi, then 50, who sat on the prefectural assembly’s special investigation committee on a scandal involving Governor Motohiko Saito. It is considered unusual for a trial in Japan to address posthumous libel. Proving defamation after death is difficult, as it requires demonstrating that the information was false. The focus of the trial will likely be whether Tachibana knew the information was false.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 20, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Disability Health Hospitals Japan

University of Tokyo Hospital Doctor Arrested for Alleged Bribery

A 53-year-old doctor at the University of Tokyo Hospital was arrested Wednesday for allegedly taking about 700,000 yen in bribes from a medical equipment maker official in return for using the firm’s devices on a priority basis. Arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department of Tokyo was Takehiro Matsubara, a doctor at the hospital’s Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 17, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Deaf Deaflympics Dementia Japan Podcast

Ex-Policeman Nabbed over Defrauding Person with Dementia, Tokyo Deaflympics Begins [Podcast Episode]

The former officer, Masato Takeuchi, and another suspect arrested over the case, 55-year-old company employee Hiromi Ishichi, are apparently denying the allegations. The Deaflympics officially opened Saturday in Tokyo, marking the first time Japan has hosted the international sporting event for the deaf or hard of hearing.