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Chinese tourist slashed with knife on Kyoto street after argument

Chinese tourist slashed with knife on Kyoto street after argument

Kyodo News14 hours ago

KYODO NEWS - 15 minutes ago - 14:33 | All, Japan
A Chinese tourist was slashed by a knife-wielding person on a street in Kyoto on Friday evening after the two men had an argument, local police said.
The assailant, who was previously unknown to the 37-year-old tourist, remains at large after the attack, which occurred in the city's Shimogyo Ward at around 8:25 p.m.
The Chinese man, who was visiting one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan as part of a group tour, was taken to hospital with a non-life-threatening cut running from his right clavicle to flank.
Related coverage:
2 Japanese murdered in China's Dalian, Chinese suspect detained
15-yr-old boy arrested over murder of elderly woman near Tokyo
2 injured in knife attack at Tokyo subway station, suspect arrested

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Accidents by Foreign Drivers Spur License Conversion Review; Tourists from Some Nations May Be Unable to Drive in Japan
Accidents by Foreign Drivers Spur License Conversion Review; Tourists from Some Nations May Be Unable to Drive in Japan

Yomiuri Shimbun

time4 hours ago

  • Yomiuri Shimbun

Accidents by Foreign Drivers Spur License Conversion Review; Tourists from Some Nations May Be Unable to Drive in Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun Basic traffic rules in Japan are presented in multiple languages in Traffic Safety Textbook, a book produced by the Saitama prefectural police. A series of reckless accidents caused by foreign drivers has prompted the National Police Agency to speed up its review of the requirements for converting foreign driver's licenses to Japanese ones. With an increasing number of foreign nationals driving for work or tourism, there is a growing need to inform them more effectively about traffic rules and ensure stricter adherence. Manabu Sakai, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, on May 26 spoke on a plan to expedite changes to the foreign license conversion system, saying, 'Stronger measures are necessary to ensure that [foreign drivers] fully understand traffic rules.' High-profile accidents involving foreign drivers who obtained their licenses through the conversion system gained prominence last month. There was a hit-and-run incident involving elementary school students on May 14 in Misato, Saitama Prefecture. A Chinese national working as a demolition worker was arrested on May 19 on suspicion of having consumed alcohol shortly before the accident. Police also arrested an unemployed Peruvian national suspected of causing a multicar accident after they allegedly drove more than 14 kilometers in the wrong direction on the Shin-Meishin Expressway in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, on May 18. The foreign license conversion system, introduced in 1933, was initially designed to help Japanese nationals smoothly obtain Japanese driver's licenses upon returning from abroad. However, since 1990, the number of foreign nationals using the system has surpassed that of Japanese nationals. Last year, foreign nationals accounted for 94% of all foreign license conversions, totaling 69,283 individuals. By country of origin, those from Vietnam led the way with 16,810 license conversions, followed by those from China with 15,458 — about a 40% increase from the previous year. This increase is believed to be due in part to the topic of 'Japan's driver's licenses are easy to obtain' gaining traction on social media. There are three main ways for foreign nationals to drive in Japan: first, by using an International Driving Permit issued by a signatory country to the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic; second, by driving with a foreign driver's license from one of six designated countries and regions, including Germany and Taiwan, along with an official Japanese translation of that license; and third, by converting an existing foreign driver's license to a Japanese one. The foreign license conversion process is generally a two-stage examination, consisting of a written knowledge test and a practical skills test. In 2023, the combined pass rate was 91%. The written exam for converting a foreign driver's license has been criticized for being 'too easy' compared to the standard Japanese driver's license test. Additionally, foreign tourists with passports have been permitted to obtain licenses using hotel stay certificates as a proof of address. Traffic accidents caused by foreign nationals has risen noticeably, with 7,286 incidents recorded last year — 342 more the previous year — including 54 fatalities. The share of such accidents has also consistently climbed, reaching 2.7% of all reported accidents last year. This trend has fueled growing concerns regarding the foreign license conversion system within the Diet since the start of this year. In a push for reforming the system, the NPA is set to restrict permissible address verification documents to copies of residence certificates and will bar foreign tourists from utilizing the foreign license conversion system. This measure will effectively prevent tourists from countries like China and Vietnam, which are not signatories to the Geneva Convention, from driving in Japan. For foreign residents in Japan, the NPA plans to increase the number of knowledge-based questions during the license conversion process and strengthen the practical test. It also intends to reinforce traffic safety education for drivers after they obtain their licenses, according to the NPA. Amid ongoing labor shortages, foreign drivers are a valuable resource in the nation. Last year, the government added the automobile transportation business as a new status of residence under the Specified Skilled Worker program. Given that a Japanese driver's license is required to qualify for this status, the number of foreign nationals utilizing the foreign license conversion system is expected to increase further. More effort needed to inform foreign drivers about traffic rules Traffic accidents involving foreign drivers are on the increase in Japan, and the issue is coming under the spotlight. Nevertheless, there are few places where foreign drivers can learn Japanese traffic rules in foreign languages. Moreover, the country has failed to install enough foreigner-friendly traffic signs and to thoroughly inform the drivers about proper Japanese driving etiquette. Measures need to be taken urgently across the country. According to the Japan Federation of Authorized Drivers School Associations in Tokyo, driving lessons in foreign languages were available at only 121 institutions, less than 10% of its 1,261 member schools, as of 2020. 'If instructors and students cannot understand each other, it could lead to dangerous situations during the lessons,' said an official of a driving school that refuses anyone who cannot speak Japanese. On the other hand, some schools offer lessons in foreign languages. Smart Driver School Shiojiri in Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, accepts about 150 foreign students a year, including Brazilians and Peruvians. The school uses a translation app in its lessons. At Tokorozawa Driving School in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, foreign residents from India, Nepal, the Philippines and other countries receive their lessons in English. In the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2021, police across the country took steps to make traffic signs that were easy for foreigners to understand, such as by writing 'Stop' alongside its Japanese equivalent, 'Tomare,' on stop signs. However, in Hokkaido, where many foreign tourists travel around in rent-a-cars, only 7% of stop signs had both the Japanese and English words as of the end of March. 'We will replace them gradually, partly because we have a limited budget, starting from places that many foreigners visit,' said a Hokkaido police officer. In an effort to promote awareness of traffic rules among foreign residents, the Saitama prefectural police released its Traffic Safety Textbook. The book teaches basic traffic rules, such as those obligating drivers to report traffic accidents to police and banning driving under the influence of alcohol, in nine languages, including Vietnamese, Chinese and Persian. 'The level of consideration toward pedestrians, what constitutes speeding, and right-of-way rules vary from country to country,' said Prof. Kenji Doi, an expert on transportation planning at the University of Osaka. 'In Asian countries, including Japan, informing foreign drivers about traffic rules is not done as much as in European Union countries.'

The best Japanese mystery novels of all time
The best Japanese mystery novels of all time

Metropolis Japan

time10 hours ago

  • Metropolis Japan

The best Japanese mystery novels of all time

When it comes to mystery fiction, Japan is one of the world's references that fans of the genre keep coming back to. From locked-room mysteries and whodunnits to decades-long murder tales and psychological thrillers, Japanese crime literature presents a vast range of subgenres that suit all tastes. Here's a compilation of indispensable novels to read this year. Crime fiction is a particularly beloved genre by many, and for a good reason. After a rollercoaster of breathtaking twists and turns, they provide us with closure — the villain gets caught and justice is served. Sadly, in real life, we can't always expect that. As harsh and cold as the world may seem, many of us can relate to having escaped from our realities a few (or many) times and found comfort in a detective story or TV series. A few must-reads in this category are Seicho Matsumoto's 'Inspector Imanishi Investigates' and Seishi Yokomizo's 'The Honjin Murders,' two early modern classics of the Japanese mystery genre. A dead body is found under the rails of a train in the early hours of a cold 1960s Tokyo morning. Possessing no documents and with a face so brutally damaged that the police find it impossible to identify the victim, the assigned detective to the case, Inspector Imanishi, is left with only two clues to follow: the distinctive accent of a young man who was last seen with the victim and the word 'kameda.' After months of following wrong leads and not a single solid suspect, the case is closed, unresolved. Imanishi, dissatisfied, cannot take the case out of his mind, but then a series of strange but coinciding events lead him back to square one. Credited with popularizing the mystery genre in Japan, 'Inspector Imanishi Investigates' is one of Seicho Matsumoto's most famous novels and a classic Japanese detective story. Inspector Imanishi isn't your typical eccentric, gifted detective with impressive deductive skills, but a laid-back, quiet bonsai lover who enjoys spending his free time writing haiku and folding paper cranes. With the perfect combination of a down-to-earth detective and a seemingly unsolvable crime, 'Inspector Imanishi Investigates' is the best company for a stormy, indoor summer afternoon. A spine-chilling scream cuts through the peaceful winter night after a long day of wedding festivities at the village of Okamura. Eerie music follows and soon after, the bride and the groom are found dead in their bed; their bedroom locked from the inside. A bloody katana sword, now thrust into the fresh snow outside, is the only clue left by the murderer, who escaped without leaving a trace. How was this impossible crime committed? If you are the kind of reader who enjoys reading between the lines of a story and recalling the particulars of the crime, you may already be able to guess what I am about to write next . Another classic but only translated in 2019, Seishi Yokomizo's massively popular 'The Honjin Murders' won the first Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1948 and was later turned into a movie in 1976, under the title of Death at an Old Mansion . 'The Honjin Murders' is a prime example of honkaku , a literary genre of Japanese detective fiction that emerged in the 1920s that focuses on 'fair play' — no unexpected twists or villains show up right at the end of the plot, but all necessary clues are laid out to the reader, giving them an equal chance to solve the riddle as the detective. Thus, a most thrilling journey is crafted, where the entertainment stems from pure logical reasoning. Think you got a Sherlock Holmes knack for crime puzzles? Then have a try at Yokomizo's clever mystery riddle. Famous for his crime sagas, including the highly acclaimed 'The Devotion of Suspect X,' Keigo Higashino is one of Japan's current masters of mystery storytelling, having won several major Japanese awards and with nearly twenty of his books being turned into films and TV series. He also served as the 13th President of Mystery Writers of Japan, which awards the Mystery Writers of Japan Award to writers every year. Reading Higashino is mandatory for fans of modern Japanese crime literature. When Yasuko Hanaoka's abusive ex-husband appears at her door to extort money, the situation quickly takes a dark turn, and he ends up strangled by Yasuko and her daughter. After witnessing the incident from the apartment next door, math teacher Ishigami decides to help his neighbors in covering up the murder. Assigned to the case is detective Kusanagi, who grows increasingly suspicious of the mother and daughter despite not identifying any holes in their alibi, so he goes to seek help from his physicist friend Dr. Yukawa who often assists in police cases. What follows is a competition between two geniuses trying to outsmart the other. With the murder and the culprit already laid out from the beginning, 'The Devotion of Suspect X' focuses on the how and the why, leaving readers immersed in a competition of the highest stakes and two questions to be answered: Can there be such a thing as an unsolvable puzzle and how far would someone go to create one? One of the most popular modern Japanese thrillers to date, Higashino's 'The Devotion of Suspect X' is drowning in awards, which include the coveted 134th Naoki Prize and the sixth Honkaku Mystery Award, one of the most prestigious awards for mystery novels in Japan. The novel's enticing plot is remarkably translated to English by Alexander O. Smith, having been nominated for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. In Osaka, 1972, a man was found murdered at an abandoned building. Detective Sasagaki, assigned to the case, soon finds himself out of leads when two of the main suspects are found dead and no more clues are discovered. Two kids, however, catch his attention throughout the investigation: the gloomy son of the victim Ryo, and the alluring daughter of the main suspect Yukiho. In a tangled web of characters and events, follow detective Sasagaki in this epic 20-year riddle as he relentlessly attempts to piece together strange misfortunes, sudden twists and unexpected connections. Equally thrilling as 'The Devotion of Suspect X,' Higashino's earlier bestseller 'Journey Under the Midnight Sun' is one of the best examples of the author's sleight of hand. With an episodic plot, a long list of minor characters, and references to major historical events of 1970s Japan, 'The Devotion of Suspect X' might be challenging at first for the inexperienced reader. However, the complexity of the epic allows a deep dive into the psyche of the era and the hearts of the characters. A crime told from multiple points of view is a familiar feature of the mystery genre in Japan with one of the earliest examples being Ryunosuke Akutagawa's 'In a Grove,' which inspired Akira Kurosawa's renowned 1950 film, Rashomon. However, it's not every day that you come across authors who can skillfully bring fresh air to this writing style without making it seem forced. Riku Onda's 'The Aosawa Murders' and Kanae Minato's 'Penance' are two such examples, consisting of a series of vignettes (or short stories) that, working like puzzle pieces, gradually reveal clues about the culprit and their motive. 1970s Japan. A freak mass murder takes place in a remote town on a stormy day. 17 people were found dead at a birthday party, including elderly and children. The police are puzzled — how will they catch the murderer if the only present witness and survivor of the massacre is a blind, sickly girl? A few different individuals are suspected at first, but soon all suspicion lies on a single person. You see, it's a very simple story. If there are ten people in a house and nine die, who is the culprit? However, proving their guilt is a lot harder than it seems since people's memories are faulty and their perspectives are biased. As much as you try to make the pieces fall perfectly in place, Onda takes you on a swirl of events and findings that contradict each other, but will leave you glued to the book until the end. In this dark, tantalizing journey that challenges the norms of the mystery genre, Onda gives voice to all of those involved in the crime and dives deep into their psyche, exploring their innermost fears and darkest secrets. Don't like a crime novel with an ambiguous ending? Then this book isn't for you. One afternoon, five girls were playing volleyball at the school's grounds when they were approached by a stranger, who tricked them into leaving one of their friends by herself with him. Hours later, she's found dead. To the frustration of the policemen and the despair of the victim's mother, the remaining girls cannot remember the perpetrator's face. Filled with rage and profound sorrow, the mother curses her daughter's surviving friends, vowing that they will pay for their classmate's death if the murderer is not caught before the statute of limitations is up. Written by the critically acclaimed author of 'Confessions' and queen of iyamisu (Japanese for 'eww' mystery novels), the popular mystery-turned-TV-series 'Penance' is equally shocking and gut-churning. Pulling you into a disturbing account of murder, vengeance, obsession and manipulation, Minato adds a new twist to the story as each girl, now adults, retell their journey in atoning for the girl's murder. In a series of contradicting and intersecting stories, each presented in a different format, Minato shows her skill and versatility in weaving a tale of murder that will leave you holding your breath until the end. Originally published June 17, 2021, updated on June 7, 2025.

Chinese Tourist Injured in Kyoto Following Knife Attack by Stranger; Perpetrator on the Run
Chinese Tourist Injured in Kyoto Following Knife Attack by Stranger; Perpetrator on the Run

Yomiuri Shimbun

time12 hours ago

  • Yomiuri Shimbun

Chinese Tourist Injured in Kyoto Following Knife Attack by Stranger; Perpetrator on the Run

KYOTO — A Chinese tourist was injured on Friday after being slashed by a passerby on a sidewalk in central Kyoto with what appeared to be a knife, according to police. The 37-year-old tourist was taken to a hospital after having his upper body from his right collarbone to right torso slashed by the attacker at around 8 p.m. His injuries were not life-threatening, according to the police. The attacker then fled the scene, according to the police. The two were strangers to each other, and the police believe that the attacker committed the crime following an apparent conflict with the tourist. The police were looking for the attacker — a slender man about 1.75 meters tall — on suspicion of attempted murder.

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