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August 14, 2026
 

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NPA

The National Police Agency is considering use of a new investigation method that involves remotely analyzing communications via highly confidential apps used by <i>³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨±</i> loosely organized anonymous criminal groups.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ police to monitor ¡®³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨±¡¯ use of confidential messaging apps
The method involves remote-controlling smartphones and other devices of high-ranking ³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨± members to access communication records and other information.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister&#039;s Office on Friday. She has seen the establishment of a new national intelligence bureau as a first step for the country&#039;s intelligence reform.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2026
Kazuya Hara named head of new national intelligence bureau
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has seen the establishment of the bureau as a first step for the country¡¯s intelligence reform.
The Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima will be designated a temporary no-fly zone for drones during the Aug. 6 annual ceremony marking the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2026
Drone flights to be banned for Hiroshima peace ceremony
This is the first time for the National Police Agency to designate such a restriction area under the revised drone regulation law enacted in June.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will chair a national intelligence council slated to be launched as early as this month.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 14, 2026
Prime Minister¡¯s Office to lead intelligence efforts in Japan
A new council will be responsible for examining and deliberating on ¡°important intelligence activities,¡± including those linked to national security and terrorism.
Under a pact signed with Mercari, LY and Rakuten, the National Police Agency will receive and analyze information on credit cards used fraudulently and on accounts of malicious merchants.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2026
Japan police ink pact with e-commerce firms to share information
Under the pact signed with Mercari, LY, and Rakuten, the police will receive and analyze information on credit cards used fraudulently and on accounts of malicious merchants.
Posts facilitating romance scams, other fraud and what are known as?"dark part-time jobs" will be subject to deletion requests by the Internet Hotline Center.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2026
Police in Japan work to crack down on fraud-linked social media posts
Based on reports from the public, the Internet Hotline Center requests that illegal or harmful online content be removed, and it reports such cases to the police.
The National Police Agency said the eyes of the local community are essential in finding people with dementia who have gone missing.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 25, 2026
Reports of missing dementia sufferers in Japan fell in 2025 but remain high
Among those who were found, 139 were using location-tracking devices such as GPS or loss prevention tags for safety purposes.
The driving skills test for older drivers was introduced in 2022 with the aim of preventing accidents by assessing the decline in their physical functions.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2026
Japan to review elderly driving test after higher accident rate
The rate of accidents caused by drivers who took the test was 2.8 times the level recorded for those who were not subject to it, according to a study released Thursday.
In Tokyo and other major Japanese cities, <i>aruki-sumaho</i> ¡ª walking while using a smartphone ¡ª has become a persistent safety concern as commuters navigate crowded stations and sidewalks while focused on their devices.
JAPAN / Society / First person
Jun 21, 2026
Distracted walkers in Japan are a real safety risk. My mother knows firsthand.
Despite years of awareness campaigns, aruki-sumaho ¡ª walking while using a smartphone ¡ª remains widespread and difficult to stop.
The number of mountaineering accidents in Japan reached a total of 3,122 in 2025, up by 176 year on year and the second-highest level on record, according to National Police Agency data.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 18, 2026
Japan saw record 3,623 people encounter mountaineering accidents in 2025
Overall, accidents mainly occurred due to people getting lost, or falling or slipping on slopes, though bear attacks accounted for 27 cases ¡ª tripling from the previous year.
The National Police Agency said it has dispatched a liaison officer to Bangkok in order to strengthen cooperation with police authorities in Southeast Asia and crack down on fraud cases.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2026
Police force deploys liaison officer to Bangkok to coordinate on fraud cases
The dispatch is part of a broader push to crack down on fraud groups operating scam hubs in Southeast Asia.
Self-storage units and rental containers can be used by lone wolf attackers as a place to store gunpowder or as a workshop to make dangerous goods.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2026
Police in Japan seek to cooperate with businesses over lone-wolf attacks
The aim is to collect information that point to signs of individuals making firearms or explosives alone, including unusual smells and noises, to help prevent terrorist attacks.
National Police Agency Commissioner-General Yoshinobu Kusunoki speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 4, 2026
Japan confirms more cases of Saga police DNA misconduct
A report from the National Police Agency said the agency can¡¯t rule out the possibility that investigations were negatively affected in 37 cases.
In 2025, people in their 20s and younger accounted for more than 70% of all cannabis-related police action.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 3, 2026
Cannabis use grows among young people in Japan, especially in Tokyo
Tokyo recorded the highest number of cannabis-related cases among all prefectures in 2025, with 1,139 people processed by the MPD.
A new agreement between the National Police Agency and nine major banks will allow prefectural police to inquire about specific bank accounts thought to be involved in fraud schemes and quickly freeze them.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2026
NPA inks agreement with major Japan banks to hasten special fraud response
The shift from physical mail to digital requests will allow authorities to freeze accounts receiving fraud proceeds more quickly.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi receives a policy recommendation document from Takayuki Kobayashi (center left), head of the Liberal Democratic Party&#039;s Headquarters for Intelligence Strategy, in March at the Prime Minister&#039;s Office.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 14, 2026
Government ramps up push to enhance intelligence capabilities
As a first step, the government plans to establish a national intelligence bureau as early as July.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has set up a special task force to intensify its crackdown on the Kohei-ikka, a Sumiyoshi-kai-affiliated designated crime group suspected of deepening its involvement with <i>³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨±</i> networks, including special fraud linked to illegal job schemes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 23, 2026
Yakuza membership fell to record low in 2025
Authorities attribute the decline to an aging population within the criminal groups, tighter enforcement and a nationwide rollout of anti-gang ordinances.
Hairstyle examples shown follow the relaxation of hair regulations at police academies.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 21, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ police force eases academy rules in bid to attract fresh faces
The move comes amid declining recruitment numbers fueled by the image of police academies being too strict.
A handbook for crime victims prepared by the National Police Agency is intended to reduce the burden placed on them by having to repeatedly explain about their experiences in later dealings with authorities and support organizations.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 9, 2026
Police launch handbook so victims don¡¯t have to repeatedly recount crimes
The introduction of the handbook was included in the fifth basic plan for supporting crime victims and their families, which was adopted at a Cabinet meeting last month.
U.S. service members conduct early morning security rounds at the Cryptologic Operations Center in Misawa, Japan. Japan needs its own central agency to integrate signal and human intelligence, as well as open-source and cyber data, to produce actionable analysis.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 8, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ intelligence overhaul is overdue, not ominous
Â鶹´«Ã½ planned reforms would upgrade the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO) into a national intelligence bureau.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
New ¡®Katsu Curry Index¡¯ aims to show how weak the yen really is
A CoCo Ichibanya curry house in Tokyo.
Mexican man arrested over attempt to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan
Mexican alligator lizards seized by Tokyo Customs from a Mexican man who attempted to smuggle them into Japan on Saturday through Haneda Airport
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company&#039;s warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo&#039;s Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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