Sports

Tokyo Olympic Karate Medalist Jailed for Assaulting Unconscious Woman

OSAKA, Sep 01 (News On Japan) - The Osaka District Court on September 1st sentenced Kenshi Nishimura, a 29-year-old karateka who competed in the Tokyo Olympics, to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman who was unable to resist due to intoxication.

Nishimura, a former member of Japan’s national karate team, was charged over a 2022 incident in which he assaulted a female acquaintance who was severely intoxicated and unable to defend herself. Prosecutors also accused him of causing her injury. Nishimura denied the charges, claiming the woman was not in a state where she could not resist.

However, the court ruled that the victim "was so affected by alcohol that she could not even sit up, and was in no condition to resist." The judge added, "The act ignored the victim’s dignity and was solely to satisfy sexual desire. The severity of the illegality and responsibility cannot be underestimated."

Nishimura’s legal team plans to appeal the ruling.

He had competed in the karate “kumite” category at the Tokyo Olympics and finished in the top rankings.

Source: YOMIURI

Newly Formed Typhoon No. 17 Could Near Kanto by Weekend

A large new typhoon formed near the Ogasawara Islands on August 12 and could approach Honshu around the end of the Obon holiday period, while the remnants of Typhoon No. 15 continue to bring unstable weather and a risk of heavy rain across a wide area of Japan.

Japanese Woman Trapped in North Korea for 40 Years

Hiroko Saito was 19 years old when she left Japan for North Korea in June 1961 with her Korean husband and their one-year-old daughter, persuaded by assurances that they were heading to a "paradise on earth" and that she could return to Japan after three years. Instead, she would spend four decades in North Korea, enduring chronic hunger, the deaths of her husband and children and a desperate struggle to survive before finally escaping and returning home in 2001.

Typhoon No. 15 Travel Disruption Eases as Most Major Services Resume

Transport disruption caused by Typhoon No. 15 was easing across eastern Japan on the morning of August 12, with most major railway and airline services returning to normal after dozens of flight cancellations and widespread rail disruption during the storm's landfall in Ibaraki Prefecture the previous evening.

H3 Rocket No. 9 Successfully Launches Japan GPS Satellite

Japan's H3 Rocket No. 9 successfully placed the Michibiki No. 7 navigation satellite into its planned orbit after lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:23 a.m. on August 11, marking the country's second consecutive successful H3 launch.

Tokaido Shinkansen Runs First Overnight Service

The Tokaido Shinkansen operated its first overnight service ahead of the Obon holiday period, offering travelers a 15,000 yen trip from the Tokyo area to Kyoto and Shin-Osaka while allowing them to save on hotel costs and arrive earlier than the first regular morning trains.

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