Overview

• Former nursing assistant Mika Nishiyama appealed the Otsu District Court’s dismissal of her ¥55 million compensation claim to the Osaka High Court, arguing that prosecutors and police conducted unlawful investigations in the 2003 respirator case.
• Prosecutors waived their right to appeal Shoji Maekawa’s retrial acquittal in the 1987 Fukui junior high school murder case, making his release after 38 years of imprisonment final.
• Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike for the ninth consecutive year declined to send a memorial letter for 1923 Kanto earthquake massacre victims, while Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will invoke late survivor Sunao Tsuboi’s “Never give up” slogan in the city’s 2025 Peace Declaration.
• The Fukui Coast Guard is investigating the deaths of two veteran ama divers in their 70s and 80s found unconscious during abalone harvesting off Sakai City; the Japan Meteorological Agency continues assessing potential tsunami impacts following a major eruption at Indonesia’s Lewotobi volcano.
• The Kagawa Prefectural Products Promotion Organization dismissed a male employee for embezzling approximately ¥48 million over 13 years and plans to seek restitution from his legal guardian.