Japanese prosecutors have indicted a U.S. Marine on suspicion of murdering a woman on Okinawa, a court spokesman told AFP on Monday, in a case that prompted public outrage. The alleged killing of the 39-year-old Japanese woman caused Japan’s premier to slam the “heinous crime” and reignited controversy over the heavy U.S. military presence on […]
Japan launched an ambitious $350 million mission to Mars on Monday to study the red planet’s two moons in unprecedented detail, dropping a small rover on the largest — Phobos — before the mothership touches down to robotically collect soil samples for return to Earth. The primary goal of the Martian Moons Exploration mission, or […]
Officials are reviewing the off-base code of conduct for U.S. troops in Japan following the killing of an Okinawan woman, allegedly by a U.S. Marine, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday. Crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-runs and drunk driving by U.S. military personnel have long triggered protests on the southern Japanese island, which […]
A woman’s murder allegedly committed by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa has triggered public outrage, prompted Japan’s premier to slam a “heinous crime” and rekindled controversy over the heavy military presence on the southern island. Here are five things to know about the latest case and Okinawa’s thorny relations with the U.S. military bases. What […]
A U.S. Marine stationed in Japan’s southern island of Okinawa was arrested following the death of a Japanese woman, local police said on Sunday. Japan lodged a strong protest with the U.S. and demanded maximum cooperation with the investigation. A local police spokesman told the AFP that the suspect, a 20-year-old man, allegedly “killed the […]
Tokyo police arrested two American women for allegedly smuggling $1 million worth of cannabis into the country, with one suspect claiming she was motivated by a free trip to Japan, an official and media reports said Friday. The pair, both 25, arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda airport from New York last Saturday with two suitcases in […]
Japan’s justice ministry said Friday it will cancel a collaboration with a controversial Netflix dating show featuring ex-juvenile delinquents, following backlash against what some called the glorification of crimes. Earlier this month, the ministry launched an unusual partnership with the streaming giant’s “Badly in Love,” releasing a poster starring its Season 2 cast members, including […]
A man who killed five people by setting fire to a pachinko parlor in 2009 was hanged Friday in Japan’s first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s government as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment. Sunao Takami set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka […]
Three lions at a Tokyo zoo have died from suspected heatstroke and others are under treatment, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday, with the big cats struggling with high humidity. Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40 degrees Celsius in recent weeks, qualifying for the […]
The death toll has grown to at least 34 people in southwestern Japan after a powerful earthquake on Tuesday, according to the prefectural government of Kumamoto, on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, where the quake struck. The disaster destroyed homes, triggered an explosion at a mall and caused a factory chimney to collapse. Two days […]