Overview

• Three residents sued Kofu City on July 10 over the 2020 suicide of staff member Atsushi Mukoyama, alleging Mayor Yuichi Higuchi failed to cap work hours and demanding he personally cover about ¥71.8 million in damages.
• In Fukuoka on July 11, Junko Fukuzaki told the court she removed her daughter’s ventilator and admitted to the killing, with a lay-judge panel verdict set for July 18.
• Saitama police arrested 34-year-old Ryo Watanabe on July 11 for posting a death threat against a Senate candidate online, seizing his smartphone and computer in an election-law probe.
• Mie Prefectural Police disclosed on July 11 that a Matsusaka City man in his 60s was defrauded of ¥71.2 million in an April–May cryptocurrency scam initiated via social media.
• Oita police said they logged 408 new tips in the week after distributing 20,000 wanted flyers for a 2022 Beppu hit-and-run suspect, raising total leads to 10,597 as of July 9.