Overview

• Hyogo police arrested Tanimoto Masashi, 35, in the fatal stabbing of resident Katayama Megumi in a central Kobe apartment and searched his Tokyo company dormitory as they seek a motive and any link to the victim.
• Kobe will deploy 100 additional public security cameras with a ¥65 million supplemental budget to be submitted in September, coordinating placement with prefectural police and building on an existing multiyear expansion.
• A joint task force led by the Metropolitan Police and seven prefectural forces arrested Delpara president Yamamoto Masanori (Lee Changbeom) and six executives on suspicion of promising ¥3,000–¥4,000 for votes in July’s Upper House election.
• Investigators believe instructions were relayed in early July online meetings to have employees vote for candidate Abe Yasuhisa, with about 250 suspected to have complied and roughly 280 people expected to be cited in total.
• Reporting from the probe indicates some payments were to be disguised as overtime wages, though investigators say they have not confirmed that any money was actually disbursed, and ties between the firm and the campaign are under scrutiny, while a descendant plans a BPO complaint over an NHK wartime drama’s portrayal of his grandfather.