Police have rearrested a 30-year-old senior member of an organization affiliated with the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi on suspicion of directing a loosely organized criminal group that stole smartphones and other goods worth about 4.15 million yen from stores in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures.
High-end bonsai are being stolen from gardens across Japan in a growing series of thefts, with some trees later appearing on social media overseas and industry officials saying more than 100 cases are now reported each year.
Three people have been arrested in Kyoto on suspicion of operating an unlicensed underground banking service for Chinese clients, with police believing the group handled transactions worth about 600 million yen in total.
Two 14-year-old junior high school students in Aichi Prefecture have been arrested on suspicion of obstructing traffic while performing dangerous bicycle stunts linked to group rides known on social media as Nagoya Ride.
Seven Myanmar nationals working at an agricultural corporation in Hokkaido under Japan's Specified Skilled Worker status have accused their employer of repeated violence, intimidation and financial penalties, with some workers saying they were also called by numbers instead of their names and threatened with having their residence status revoked.
Police are investigating whether a dispute between a 70-year-old man and the female owner of a cake shop in Motosu, Gifu Prefecture, was connected to a murder and arson case that left three people dead and two others injured during a middle school reunion.