Category: Crime

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 3, 2025 2
Crime Disability Japan

Family Seeks Recognition of Baby, Made Severely Disabled in Utero, as Victim in Ichinomiya Fatal Accident

The family of a pregnant woman killed in a May traffic accident is urging prosecutors to recognize her newborn daughter, left severely disabled, as a victim. Sayaka Togitani, 31, was struck by a car and gave birth by cesarean section before dying. Her baby, Hinami, requires a ventilator. The driver, Naoko Kono, 50, was indicted for negligent driving resulting in death, but not in relation to the baby. Over 112,000 signatures have been submitted supporting the family’s request.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 29, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Japan

Japan Still Grappling with Problem of Groping

Voices have been raised in Japan demanding countermeasures for molestation, which shows no sign of disappearing. 
   In June, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department arrested a man in his 30s on the spot on suspicion of groping a female high school student on a Tokyo Metro train running in the capital’s Koto Ward. The man had groped the student two or three times a week for some 10 months since August 2024. The number of molestation cases detected by the MPD reached 606 between January and June. Trains accounted for 70 pct of the crime scenes, while 30 pct of the victims were 10 to 19 years old.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 18, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Japan Nursing Care

Shiga Govt Ordered to Compensate Ex-Assistant Nurse Acquitted of Murder

A district court in western Japan on Thursday ordered the Shiga prefectural government to pay about 31 million yen in damages to a former assistant nurse acquitted of murdering a patient. Sosuke Ikeda, presiding judge at Otsu District Court, said in the ruling that the investigation of Mika Nishiyama, 45, by officers of the Shiga prefectural police department went beyond socially acceptable levels. Meanwhile, the court rejected Nishiyama’s claim for damages from the Japanese government, saying that her indictment by public prosecutors was reasonable to a certain degree. The plaintiff side plans to appeal against the ruling.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 17, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Health Japan Medical

Japan Government Says Its Taking Strict Fentanyl Countermeasures

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tuesday that Japan is taking thorough measures against fentanyl, noting that Japanese customs have not uncovered any attempts to smuggle the synthetic opioid through the country in the past six years. Health minister Takamaro Fukuoka and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato also mentioned fentanyl in separate press conferences on the day. The ministers’ remarks followed media reports that a Chinese organization is suspected of being involved in fentanyl-related exports from Japan to the United States.



by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 2, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Japan Mental Health Podcast

Woman Handed Suspended Term over Attack at University Campus, Judge Attributes Attack to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder [Podcast Episode]

A Japanese court on Friday sentenced a woman to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for injuring eight students in a hammer attack at a university campus in suburban Tokyo. The court found Yoo Ju Hyun, a 23-year-old South Korean, guilty of injuring the students on Jan. 10 at Hosei University’s Tama Campus in Machida. The presiding judge put her actions down to a mental disorder she was suffering.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 28, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Disability Japan Mental Health

Woman handed suspended term over hammer attack at Japan univ. campus

A Japanese court on Friday sentenced a woman to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for injuring eight students in a hammer attack at a university campus in suburban Tokyo. The court found Yoo Ju Hyun, a 23-year-old South Korean, guilty of injuring the students on Jan. 10 at Hosei University’s Tama Campus in Machida. The presiding judge put her actions down to a mental disorder she was suffering.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 27, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Disability Japan Mental Health Podcast

“I’m going to take my disabled brother and wife with me”: Three die in possible murder-suicide in Chiba Prefecture [Podcast Episode]

Early on the morning of June 24th, a man in his 70s was found dead on the grounds of an apartment complex in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, and two other people, a man and a woman in their 70s, were found dead in the room where the man is believed to have lived. Investigators said a note was found saying “I’m going to take my disabled brother and my beloved wife with me,” and police are investigating the possibility that the man attempted a murder-suicide.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 25, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Disability Japan

“I’m going to take my disabled brother and wife with me”: Three die in possible murder-suicide in Chiba Prefecture

Early on the morning of June 24th, a man in his 70s was found dead on the grounds of an apartment complex in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, and two other people, a man and a woman in their 70s, were found dead in the room where the man is believed to have lived. Investigators said a note was found saying “I’m going to take my disabled brother and my beloved wife with me,” and police are investigating the possibility that the man attempted a murder-suicide.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 19, 2025 Number of comments0
Blind Crime Disability Japan Podcast Relationships

Japan’s Disability Dating App Scammers: Man with Visual Impairment Speaks Out [Podcast Episode] 

In the wake of three employees being arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for luring a man they met through a matching app to a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, forcing him to pay 1.1 million yen in cash and other charges in a scam; a man in his 20s who was a victim of the “rip-off” scam by the recently arrested group spoke to NHK. The man has a level two visual impairment and usually uses a white cane when walking outside.