A 21-year-old woman who had realized her dream of working at a Pokémon Center was fatally stabbed by her former boyfriend inside a busy store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district on March 26th, in a case that has drawn renewed attention to the dangers of stalking-related violence.
A hunter who had his firearm license revoked over a controversial shooting during a brown bear culling operation won a reversal in Japan's Supreme Court on March 27th, bringing an end to a seven-year legal battle and clearing the way for him to resume hunting.
A 23-year-old Ground Self-Defense Force member stationed at the Ebino camp was arrested on suspicion of intruding into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo after allegedly scaling a wall from a neighboring building, with investigators suspecting the act was premeditated following the purchase of a knife the day before.
A deer believed to have wandered from Nara Park into Osaka was finally captured on March 26th after several days of roaming city streets, bringing an end to a widely followed incident that had raised concerns over public safety and animal welfare.
A massive steel pipe that suddenly emerged from underground in Osaka’s Umeda district was finally cut and removed on March 24th, bringing the two-week-long incident closer to resolution and paving the way for traffic restrictions to be lifted as early as March 25th.
Two men were arrested and indicted after allegedly racking up nearly 950,000 yen in unpaid food and drink charges at a girls bar in Suita, Osaka, while each had only a small amount of cash in their possession.
A 56-year-old man was arrested for allegedly slashing train seat covers on a JR line in Osaka on March 19th, with police suspecting links to around 300 similar incidents reported over the past four years.
The Osaka High Court has upheld the acquittal of a former wife accused of murder in connection with the death of a wealthy man known as the "Kishu Don Juan," dismissing the prosecution’s appeal and reaffirming the lower court’s ruling.