Japan Korear Cases

Intriguing legal battles and investigations adapted from notorious historical cases in Japan and South Korea.

1. Reiwa 7 (Wa) 17 Business Embezzlement Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025-03-10)
3. Original Case: 令和7(わ)17 業務上横領被告事件
4. VictimsYamada TaroDefendantsSato KenjiPlaintiffsTokyo Metropolitan Police DepartmentInvestigatorsInvestigator TanakaProsecutorsProsecutor SuzukiDefense AttorneysAttorney ItoJudgesJudge WatanabeInstitutionsTokyo District CourtTokyo District Public Prosecutors Office
5. Case Tags: Embezzlement;White-Collar Crime;Japan Judiciary;Financial Fraud

1. Theft Case Reiwa 7 (Wa) 400

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025-03-10)
3. Original Case: 令和7(わ)400 窃盗
4. VictimsTanaka KentaDefendantsSato HiroshiProsecutorsSuzuki KenjiDefense AttorneysYamamoto YukiJudgesIto MasakiInstitutionsTokyo District Public Prosecutors OfficeTokyo District Court
5. Case Tags: Theft;Japan;Criminal Trial;Property Crime

1. Reiwa 5 (Gyo-Ko) 5 Public Assistance Standard Reduction Revocation Appeal Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2023-11-20)
3. Original Case: 令和5(行コ)5 生活保護基準引下処分取消等請求控訴事件
4. DefendantsJapanPlaintiff AttorneysKokubo TetsuoJudgesSadatsuka MakotoInstitutionsTokyo High CourtMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare
5. Case Tags: Administrative Litigation;Constitutional Law;Social Welfare Law;Public Assistance System

1. Damages Claim Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025-03-15)
3. Original Case: 平成29(ワ)1844 損害賠償請求事件
4. VictimsKim Hak-soonDefendantsNippon Steel &ampSumitomo Metal CorporationPlaintiffsKim Hak-soonDefense AttorneysYasuo AsakuraPlaintiff AttorneysKenji NakaiJudgesYoshiharu AoyamaInstitutionsSupreme Court of JapanNagoya District Court
5. Case Tags: Forced Labor Compensation;Japan-South Korea Relations;Supreme Court Precedent;State Immunity Doctrine

1. Reiwa 7 (Wa) 42 Fraud Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025-01-20)
3. Original Case: 令和7(わ)42 詐欺被告事件
4. VictimsSuzuki HanakoTakahashi MinoruWatanabe YokoDefendantsKimura TatsuyaInvestigatorsTokyo Metropolitan Police Department Special Fraud UnitProsecutorsYamamoto KeikoDefense AttorneysNakamura ShotaJudgesTanaka MakotoInstitutionsTokyo District CourtTokyo District Public Prosecutors OfficeTokyo Metropolitan Police Department
5. Case Tags: Fraud;Organized Crime;Financial Crime;Elderly Victimization

1. 令和7(わ)1677 職業安定法違反、所在国外移送誘拐

2. Jurisdiction: 日本 (2025)
3. Institutions東京地方検察庁
4. Case Tags: 職業安定法違反;所在国外移送誘拐;跨国犯罪;日韩关系

1. Case Reiwa 7 (Wa) 21: Harboring a Criminal

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和7(わ)21 犯人隠避被告事件
4. InstitutionsTokyo District Court
5. Case Tags: Harboring a Criminal;Tokyo District Court;Reiwa Era;Obstruction of Justice

1. Japan v. Drug Trafficking and Fraud Defendant (Reiwa 6 (Wa) 31)

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和6(わ)31 麻薬及び向精神薬取締法違反、国際的な協力の下に規制薬物に係る不正行為を助長する行為等の防止を図るための麻薬及び向精神薬取締法等の特例等に関する法律違反(変更後の訴因 国際的な協力の下に規制薬物に係る不正行為を助長する行為等の防止を図るための麻薬及び向精神薬取締法等の特例等に関する法律違反)、詐欺被告事件
4. InstitutionsTokyo District CourtJapan Coast GuardTokyo Customs
5. Case Tags: Drug Trafficking;Organized Crime;Fraud;International Cooperation

1. Reiwa 6 (Wa) 158 et al. Fraud Defendant Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和6(わ)158等 詐欺被告事件
4. InstitutionsJapan Prosecutors Office
5. Case Tags: Fraud;Criminal Law;Financial Crime;Organized Crime

1. Reiwa 7 (Gyo-Ke) No. 2, Action to Invalidate Election Due to Vote Weight Disparity

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025 (filed after the October 2024 general election))
3. Original Case: 令和7(行ケ)2 人口比例選挙請求事件
4. Key Figures: Plaintiffs: Voters from multiple electoral districts (including a group of attorneys specializing in constitutional litigation); Defendant: Japan (represented by the Central Election Management Council)
5. Case Tags: Constitutional Litigation;Vote Weight Disparity;Election Invalidation;Supreme Court Grand Bench

1. Reiwa 6 (Wa) No. 11438 Compensation for Damages Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和6(ワ)11438 損害賠償等請求事件
4. Key Figures: Plaintiff: Kim Seong-ho (pseudonym, a Zainichi Korean resident); Defendant: Sato Taro (a Japanese nationalist activist)
5. Case Tags: Hate Speech;Defamation;Discrimination;Human Rights Violation

1. Japan Bid-Rigging and Aggravated Bribery Case (Reiwa 7 (Wa) 1285)

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和7(わ)1285 入札談合等関与行為の排除及び防止並びに職員による入札等の公正を害すべき行為の処罰に関する法律違反、加重収賄
4. Key Figures: Hiroshi Tanaka (former director of a regional development bureau), Kenji Sato (president of a major construction firm), Yuki Nakamura (intermediary consultant)
5. Case Tags: Bid Rigging;Aggravated Bribery;Public Procurement Crime;Government Ethics Violation

1. Case of Home Invasion and Murder (Reiwa 6 (Wa) No. 346)

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (March 15, 2025)
3. Original Case: 令和6(わ)346 住居侵入、殺人被告事件
4. Key Figures: Defendant: Kenta Tanaka (32-year-old unemployed male); Victim: Yuki Nakamura (28-year-old female office worker)
5. Case Tags: Home Invasion;Murder;Death Penalty;Lay Judge Trial

1. Reiwa 7 (Gyo-Ke) No. 1 Population Ratio Election Lawsuit

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025 (filed shortly after the October 2024 House of Representatives election; Supreme Court judgment delivered in 2025))
3. Original Case: 令和7(行ケ)1 人口比例選挙請求事件
4. Key Figures: Plaintiffs: Group of voters and attorneys led by constitutional scholar Makoto Ito; Defendant: National Government (Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Tokyo Metropolitan Election Administration Commission, etc.)
5. Case Tags: Constitutional Litigation;Election Law;Vote Value Disparity;Supreme Court of Japan

1. Case Reiwa 7 (U) 91: Violation of the Law for Punishment of Profits Obtained by Acts of Mediation by Public Officials, etc.

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和7(う)91 公職にある者等のあっせん行為による利得等の処罰に関する法律違反被告事件
4. Key Figures: Defendant: Taro Yamada (Member of the House of Representatives); Co-conspirators: Kim Min-soo (South Korean shipbuilding executive)
5. Case Tags: Bribery;Influence Peddling;Political Corruption;Foreign Interference

1. Reiwa 5 (Wa) 2 Damages Claim Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和5(ワ)2 損害賠償請求事件
4. Key Figures: Plaintiffs: Korean comfort women survivors and bereaved families (including Kim Bok-dong's estate); Defendant: Government of Japan
5. Case Tags: Comfort Women;State Immunity;Historical Reparations;Japan-Korea Disputes

1. Case Reiwa 6 (wa) 74: Arson of Non-Residential Structures, Forest Law Violation, Housebreaking, and Theft

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和6(わ)74 非現住建造物等放火、森林法違反、邸宅侵入、窃盗被告事件
4. Key Figures: Lee Joon-hyuk (Korean national, defendant)
5. Case Tags: Arson of Uninhabited Structures;Forest Law Violation;Housebreaking (Burglary of an Inhabited Dwelling);Theft

1. Japan 2025 (Ne) 5561 Damages and Compensation Appeal Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和6(ネ)5561 損害賠償等、損害賠償請求控訴事件
4. Key Figures: Plaintiffs: Lee Yong-soo (former comfort woman) and three other South Korean survivors, along with five bereaved family members; Defendant: Government of Japan
5. Case Tags: State Immunity;Comfort Women;Historical Reparations;International Law

1. Reiwa 7 (Wa) 35 Bribery Case

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025-04-17)
3. Original Case: 令和7(わ)35 贈賄被告事件
4. Key Figures: Tanaka Hiroshi (President of Taiyo Construction Co., Ltd.), Sato Kenji (Former Director of the Road Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism)
5. Case Tags: Bribery of Public Officials;Government Procurement Corruption;Bid Rigging;Political Scandal

1. Case Reiwa 7 (Wa) 35 Bribery Defendant Incident

2. Jurisdiction: Japan (2025)
3. Original Case: 令和7(わ)35 収賄被告事件
4. Key Figures: Japanese House of Representatives member Tanaka Hiroshi, South Korean shipbuilding executive Park Jin-woo
5. Case Tags: Bribery;Transnational Corruption;Political Scandal;Japan-Korea Relations