Overview
- In Sapporo, a forensic autopsy found a 6-year-old boy died from neck compression, and police arrested his mother on suspicion of murder.
- Osaka police probing the Izumi mother‑daughter killings seized a knife‑like object thought to be the weapon, and the arrested suspect told investigators he stabbed the daughter with a knife he brought.
- Prosecutors in Sapporo said they would not appeal a high‑court ruling that acquitted a former resident in a 2022 facility arson that killed two people, citing no suitable grounds for a further challenge.
- Fukushima police arrested a 68‑year‑old driver after a microbus crash on the Ban’etsu Expressway that killed a high school boy, and records show he had worked as a municipal microbus driver until March 2025.
- Osaka police arrested two men, including a hotel operator, on suspicion of inflating about 150 hotel stays to obtain roughly ¥2.53 million under a 2021 COVID tourism subsidy program.