Japanese Death Row Inmate Dies of Old Age

Kazuhiko Matsumoto, a 70-year-old man on death row for killing two men in the Philippines for insurance money, has died of natural causes.

During the Pacific War, members of the Ainu community, Japan's Indigenous people, were drafted and sent to the front lines alongside ethnic Japanese under the government's assimilation policy.

A senior member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, a designated organized crime syndicate, has been arrested in connection with the theft of over 170 Rolex watches in Osaka, and is suspected of having selected where the stolen goods would be sold.

The Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture has begun preparations for its next shikinen sengu, the ceremonial reconstruction of its shrine buildings and transfer of deities held once every 20 years. The process officially commenced on May 2nd with the Yamaguchi Festival, the first in a series of sacred rites.

A chamberlain assigned to the Emperor's household has been dismissed by the Imperial Household Agency after it was discovered the aide had embezzled 3.6 million yen, or roughly 25,000 dollars, from an account used to cover the Imperial Family’s living expenses.

A man operating a bar in Shibuya, Tokyo, was arrested on April 29th for allegedly providing unlicensed entertainment services involving women in swimsuits bathing in front of customers.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after driving into seven elementary school children near an Osaka school as they were walking home.

Flowers believed to be illegal poppies -- a variety used as a raw material for opium -- were found at Uminonakamichi Seaside Park in Fukuoka City, where cultivation is prohibited by law, and were incinerated by the management center on April 30th during the ongoing 'Flower Picnic' event.