200 kg of cherries worth ¥1 mil stolen in Yamagata Prefecture
Of the 67 cherry trees at the orchard in Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture, only the popular Sato Nishiki variety trees, which number around 50, had been stripped of their fruit, according to prefectural police.
The 74-year-old male owner of the orchard noticed the theft around 5 a.m. Sunday and called the police later that afternoon. He was quoted as saying there had been no sign of disturbance when he last checked the trees around noon Friday.
Yamagata Prefecture is the top producer of cherries in Japan, but last year saw a record-poor harvest due to the extreme heat. The fruit tends to be used for presents and is found in dishes at high-end restaurants.
© KYODO
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
16 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Japan asked again by UN body for info on missing French tourist
GENEVA (Kyodo) -- A U.N. committee has again asked Japan to provide detailed investigative information on a French woman who went missing nearly seven years ago during a trip to a tourist spot north of Tokyo. A letter from the U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances, obtained by Kyodo News, marks the fifth such request made to the Japanese government regarding the disappearance of Tiphaine Veron on July 29, 2018, in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, at the age of 36. The letter, dated June 18, states the French side has still not received sufficient information on the investigation by Japanese authorities, indicating a lack of cooperation. It requests that photographs of the hotel room where Veron stayed, forensic results and testimonies from hotel staff be provided to French authorities by Aug. 18, noting they also have repeatedly asked for information-sharing, most recently last summer. According to Tochigi prefectural police, Veron went missing a day after checking in at her accommodation in Nikko, leaving her luggage and passport in her room. She is about 165 centimeters in height with brown hair. The police are looking into both accidental and criminal potential causes for her disappearance. Veron's brother Damien, 45, is currently in Japan and plans to distribute flyers in Nikko, seeking information on her whereabouts.
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Senior 'Luffy' crime group member gets 20 years over robberies
A Tokyo court on Wednesday sentenced a senior figure in a crime ring that orchestrated robberies across Japan from the Philippines to 20 years in prison, marking the first conviction of a leading member. Tomonobu Kojima, 47, was convicted of assisting in a robbery and other crimes remotely directed by the group, whose members used monikers such as "Luffy," the name of a popular manga character, and recruited perpetrators via social media. The trial at the Tokyo District Court focused on Kojima's role in the group. Although he admitted to the charges at the first hearing in early July, he said his role was merely that of a "handyman." Presiding Judge Masamichi Itatsu ruled that Kojima had a very important role in enabling the crimes, citing that he introduced applicants for lucrative but shady "part-time jobs" multiple times to other senior members, including Yuki Watanabe, 41, at their request to recruit people to carry out the robberies. Itatsu said strict punishment was necessary due to his involvement in "a new type of crime" that not only endangers public safety but also kept producing many perpetrators by discarding them after use. Prosecutors had sought a 23-year sentence, while Kojima's defense counsel had sought 11 years on the basis that his involvement was limited. According to the ruling, Kojima introduced people recruited to carry out robberies to Toshiya Fujita, 41, another senior group member, in cases between October and December of 2022. Kojima in 2019 also conspired with Kiyoto Imamura, 41, who is believed to have used the "Luffy" pseudonym, to pose as a Financial Services Agency official to steal bank cards to illicitly withdraw a total of 15 million yen ($102,000), as well as stealing some 38 million yen in cash, the ruling said. The three other senior group members have been indicted for allegedly giving instructions to their subordinates in eight main robbery cases. Trial dates for the three have yet to be decided. The crime ring is suspected of being involved in more than 50 cases of robbery, theft and other crimes across 14 prefectures. The robberies shocked Japan, where violent crime is rare. All four men were deported from the Philippines in February 2023. They are suspected of issuing instructions for the eight robberies on the encrypted messaging app Telegram while being held at a Manila immigration facility before their deportation. © KYODO
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Man acquitted of 1966 murder case to file damages suit vs Japan gov't
Hideyo Ogawa, the leader of Iwao Hakamata's legal team, speaks at a press conference in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, on July 23, 2025. Iwao Hakamata, who was acquitted in a retrial over a 1966 murder case in Shizuoka Prefecture, plans to file a damages suit against the Japanese government and the prefecture over fabricated evidence by investigative authorities, his legal team said Wednesday. His lawyers said at a press conference they plan to file the suit around the anniversary of the Shizuoka District Court's Sept. 26 acquittal of Hakamata, 89, in the murder of four members of a family. They have not decided the amount of damages they will seek. Hakamata's acquittal was finalized last October, ending his family's decades-long fight to free him from death row. The court found that investigative authorities had fabricated evidence in the case. The court ordered the government to pay him around 217 million yen ($1.5 million) in criminal compensation in March, saying that the fabrication served as the "basis" for determining the amount. The presiding judge said Hakamata spent about 33 of his years in detention under a death sentence, causing him to suffer "extremely severe" mental and physical pain. In a separate suit to be filed on Aug. 18, the legal team plans to seek around 5 million yen in damages for defamation over Prosecutor General Naomi Unemoto's remark that the acquittal ruling was unacceptable, saying the decision "contains numerous problems in its reasoning." © KYODO
