Overview
- Presiding Judge Masahiro Teramoto at the Hiroshima High Court’s Matsue branch found the July race reached a constitutional breach threshold over vote disparities, citing a maximum 3.13-to-1 gap, and rejected a bid to void the result.
- The ruling adds to a fragmented judicial record in which other high courts have deemed the same election either constitutional or in a similar 'state of unconstitutionality,' leaving outcomes intact but sharpening focus on potential legal or political remedies.
- Akita prefectural police reported a 79-year-old woman was found dead in a mountain forest with severe facial injuries and are treating it as a likely bear attack after she reportedly went to pick mushrooms.
- In Hokkaido’s Kaminokuni, three brown bears were seen late Nov. 3 destroying a household garbage bin and rifling through trash, with an eyewitness alerting authorities.
- Gifu police arrested an 88-year-old man on suspicion of a hit-and-run that seriously injured a cyclist, and Hakodate police are investigating a reported SNS investment fraud totaling ¥1.7 million, while the Culture Medal was presented at the Imperial Palace to eight recipients including Sadaharu Oh and chemist Susumu Kitagawa.