r/japan

After a U.S. Marine was arrested in Okinawa in connection with Anna Yagi’s murder, social media users began spreading rumors about the victim’s sexual history

Anna Yagi was 39 when she was found dead in a hotel in Naha in the early hours of October 3. Okinawa police say she died from pressure to her neck; her backpack and wallet were missing, and surveillance footage showed the man who had entered the hotel with her leaving alone with what appeared to be her belongings. The next day, police arrested Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old US Marine stationed at Futenma, on suspicion of robbery-murder. Ballard has denied the allegations.

Online, attention moved quickly to Yagi herself. Within days, social media users were circulating an Instagram account they claimed belonged to her, along with screenshots that appeared to show her with younger foreign men. Police have not authenticated the account or most of the claims now attached to it. 

There are, of course, no circumstances in which a woman’s sexual history makes this kind of violence inevitable.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prudential Life Insurance Co. said Thursday a third-party probe by lawyers found that more than 100 former and current salespeople had engaged in fraudulent or inappropriate transactions with customers worth 5.2 billion yen ($32.9 million) over more than three decades.

Hiromitsu Tokumaru, president of the Japanese subsidiary of Prudential Financial Inc., and two other executives will voluntarily return 30 percent of their monthly remuneration for three months to take responsibility for the misconduct.

Tokumaru apologized at a press conference in Tokyo, acknowledging that the misconduct reflected "structural problems within the company."

The investigation report said that the company's sales staff "downplayed the customer-centric perspective."

The insurer said it had taken disciplinary action, including dismissals, against 157 current and former sales employees involved in the financial misconduct dating back to at least the 1990s.

To prevent similar misconduct, the insurer said it plans to introduce guaranteed minimum pay for sales staff from 2027.

Prudential Life Insurance has voluntarily suspended sales of new policies since February to review its governance and sales practices.

Tokumaru said staff whose sales practices were found to be free of problems would be allowed to resume selling new policies.

The president also indicated he has no intention of stepping down from his post anytime soon, saying his responsibility was to "ensure measures to prevent a recurrence are fully implemented."

The Financial Services Agency is considering ordering the insurer to suspend some operations, including a three-month halt to sales of new policies.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Fast Retailing Co., the operator of the Uniqlo clothing chain, appears on course to overtake Sweden's H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB as the world's second-largest apparel manufacturer and retailer after posting another year of robust global sales.

Fast Retailing's sales during the just-ended business year through August came to 3.96 trillion yen ($25 billion), up 16.6 percent from the previous year, while net profit surged 25.3 percent to a record 542.52 billion yen.

H&M, the current No. 2, has yet to release its full-year earnings results through November. But the Swedish apparel company, which reported sales of 228.29 billion krona ($22.8 billion) in fiscal 2025, has reported sales below year-ago levels through the third quarter of the current year. Inditex SA, the operator of the Zara clothing brand, ranks first.

"Achieving 10 trillion yen in sales, which we have set as a major milestone, is now within our sights," said Tadashi Yanai, the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

"Now that we have reached the starting line in the global market, we are taking on a major challenge aimed for the next growth," he added, reiterating the company's commitment to becoming the world's leading brand.

For the business year through next August, the company is aiming for another record-high net profit of 560 billion yen, up 3.2 percent.

Operating profit, which totaled 743.13 billion yen in the year to August, is projected to grow 11.7 percent to 830 billion yen on sales of 4.45 trillion yen, up 12.3 percent.

Fast Retailing offers a variety of products through Uniqlo, including "HeatTech" warm innerwear and the quick-drying "Airism" line. The company, which is also known for its GU brand, is headquartered in the western Japanese prefecture of Yamaguchi.

The annual number of customers at Uniqlo increased by about 10 percent from the previous year to more than 600 million in the 12 months to August, largely driven by its overseas operations.

Operating profit from Uniqlo's overseas operations surged 44.9 percent to 448.1 billion yen as sales rose across all regions, supported by stronger sales of year-round products, an expanding customer base and new flagship stores.

Domestic operations, meanwhile, saw a 6.6 percent increase in operating profit to 196.6 billion yen, supported by strong sales of products reflecting current fashion trends and meeting customers' functional needs.

Sales from Uniqlo's overseas operations gained 26.2 percent to 2.41 trillion yen, while those from domestic operations stood at 1.08 trillion yen, up 5.7 percent.

By region, sales in Europe and North America jumped 38.7 percent to 512.6 billion yen and 34.6 percent to 364.9 billion yen, respectively.

Greater China saw an 11.3 percent increase in sales to 724.0 billion yen, while total sales in South Korea, Southeast Asia, India and Australia grew 30.7 percent to 809.4 billion yen.

However, Fast Retailing's overall sales came in slightly below the 3.97 trillion yen forecast announced in July, as warmer-than-usual weather in Europe from June to August dampened demand for fall and winter products, the company said.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A total of 53 companies in Japan have been targeted by an internationally active ransomware group known as Qilin, National Police Agency officials said Thursday.

Qilin, believed to be behind a 2025 cyberattack on Japanese beverage maker Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., has drawn renewed attention in Japan after investigative authorities recently handed over to Germany a detained Russian national suspected of being a key member of the group. The man has since been arrested by German authorities.

The cybercrime group began operating around October 2022 and has attacked some 4,000 companies worldwide, with its activities in Japan confirmed since April 2023, according to the agency.

The 53 Japanese victims span manufacturing, services, construction, hospitals and schools, but their names have not been disclosed.

In ransomware attacks, hackers block access to data and demand payment to restore it.

German authorities had requested that Japanese investigators detain and hand over the 28-year-old Russian man transferred to Germany, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The man, who was on a trip to Japan, had been placed in a detention facility after he was found at a hotel in Osaka in May. He was handed over to German authorities earlier this month.

The man allegedly extorted crypto assets from a German logistics firm in 2024, according to the source.

Meanwhile, following a series of reports of data leaks caused by unauthorized access, the Japanese government decided to urge businesses to address system vulnerabilities and prevent the misuse of leaked information, cybersecurity minister Toshiharu Furukawa said.

Recent cases include a data breach at Japan's "Times Car" car-sharing service that exposed information from about 6.6 million accounts, including images of 1.6 million driver's licenses, as well as cyberattacks against Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and the operator of the Yakiniku King barbecue restaurant chain.

Major convenience store operator Lawson Inc. became the latest company to announce a data breach Thursday, saying personal information, including email addresses and phone numbers, had been leaked from its "Lawson ID" account system, affecting around 2.16 million IDs.

Karaoke venue operator Daiichikosho Co. said 8.72 million customer and employee records may have been compromised after a computer used by an employee of a subcontractor was found to be infected with malware earlier this month. Passwords were not among the potentially compromised data, it said.