News On Japan

Ghosn defends himself in video

Apr 10, 2019 (NHK) - The ousted Chairman of Nissan says what's happening around him is a conspiracy. Carlos Ghosn's lawyers released a video of him addressing the public for the first time. It was filmed before his latest arrest last week.

As he has in the past, he repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and didn't get into details of the charges.

Ghosn said in the roughly eight-minute video, "I'm innocent of all the charges that have been brought against me. And I'm also innocent of all the accusations that came around these charges that are all biased, taken out of context, twisted in a way to paint a personage of greed, and a personage of dictatorship."

He defends his management and says the allegations against him are a result of conspiracy and backstabbing.

Ghosn says that stemmed from fear that Nissan's autonomy would be threatened by its alliance with French carmaker Renault.

Ghosn also said, "We're talking about people who really played dirty game into what's happening. But hopefully the truth will happen and the facts will happen. "

Ghosn's lawyers say, with his consent, they edited out his mention of specific names.

He also accuses the executives of poorly managing the company and not having a vision for the future.

Ghosn stresses his love for the company and Japan and finishes by saying his biggest hope is to have a fair trial so he can be "vindicated."

Ghosn's lawyer Junichiro Hironaka criticized authorities for arresting his client for a fourth time. Last year he was detained and spent more than 100 days in jail before being granted bail.

Hironaka said, "If someone is released on bail and re-arrested, his mental and physical state suffers tremendously. The re-arrest was aimed at putting illegitimate pressure on Mr. Ghosn to crush him."

Hironaka said Ghosn's release on bail meant there was no concern of him fleeing or destroying evidence.

He said his team will appeal to Japan's Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Ghosn has been indicted for misappropriating corporate funds and underreporting his compensation. His latest arrest could lead to further charges.

Source: Kyodo

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Japan’s World Cup campaign ended in the cruelest possible fashion on June 29, as Gabriel Martinelli scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 2-1 victory over the Samurai Blue in their knockout match in Houston. Japan had led in the first half and were still level at 1-1 in the final moments, but Martinelli’s late strike sent Brazil into the Round of 16 and eliminated Japan from the tournament.

Strong earthquakes have continued to shake parts of Japan in recent weeks, with 11 temblors measuring lower 5 or above on the Japanese seismic intensity scale recorded across the country since April 2026.

A Kintetsu Railway train derailed inside Kyoto Station on the morning of June 29, forcing partial suspensions on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for the rest of the day and causing long delays that hit commuters, students and tourists.

A section of stone wall at Hikone Castle, one of Japan’s few surviving original Edo-period castles and a National Treasure whose main keep remains intact more than 400 years after its construction, collapsed after heavy rain caused by Typhoons No. 7 and No. 8, Hikone city officials said.

Japan advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Sweden on June 25, finishing second in Group F and setting up a Round of 32 clash with Brazil in Houston.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

Prosecutors sought life imprisonment for Yukio Tanaka, a senior member of a gang affiliated with the Kudo-kai crime syndicate, as his trial over the 2013 fatal shooting of Osho Food Service president Takayuki Ohigashi concluded at the Kyoto District Court, with a verdict scheduled to be handed down on October 16.

Shinjuku Ward, the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have jointly established a Kabukicho measures council to strengthen efforts to prevent young people known as "Toyoko Kids" from being drawn into crime in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district.

A 23-year-old Chinese man has been arrested and sent to prosecutors on suspicion of dangerous driving resulting in injury after allegedly crashing a Porsche into two vehicles at an intersection in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward on June 9, leaving three people with minor injuries.

The number of people with dementia or suspected dementia who were reported missing to police totaled 17,345 in 2025, down by nearly 800 from the previous year but still at a high level, according to a National Police Agency summary.

Removal work has finally begun on a massive hose that washed ashore on the coast of Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, six months ago, but crews are already facing difficulties because the structure is filled with a large volume of water.

A 50-year-old woman has been arrested in Kobe on suspicion of abandoning the dismembered body of her former husband in a large freezer at a condominium unit, where she allegedly continued paying rent for more than 14 years while hiding his death.

A 50-year-old member of an organization affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate has been arrested in Yamaguchi Prefecture after nearly nine years on the run over the 2017 fatal shooting of a bodyguard for the leader of a rival group in Kobe.

An Iranian national has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to smuggle more than 40 kilograms of stimulants from the United Arab Emirates into Japan in March, after customs officers found the drugs hidden in the bottom section of a machine used in the process of making naan bread.