Why This Topic Landed in Japan

On the same day, two decisions not to charge foreign suspects made the news: in Osaka, a Sri Lankan exchange student who had stabbed an acquaintance several times with a knife (attempted murder) was not charged, with district prosecutors citing "the evidentiary picture"; and in Shizuoka, a man in his 70s from South Korea who had lived in Japan illegally for 26 years on his younger brother's passport was also not charged. With the prosecutors' explanations limited to short, formulaic phrases, frustration over the invisible reasoning fused with anxiety about foreign crime and public safety. Still, because prosecutors have not disclosed the detailed grounds, the public information does not support conclusions that "the justice system is broken" or that authorities are "soft on foreigners"—and lumping together separate cases and nationalities is itself off the mark.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Distrust of the standards and accountability behind the rulings — The largest share asked, "If attempted murder isn't charged, what is?" and demanded that prosecutors show what "in light of the evidence" actually means.
  • Calls to make deportation and re-entry bans automatic — Many argued that even without charges, immediate deportation plus a re-entry ban should be the default, framing it partly as cheaper than incarceration.
  • A smaller, contrarian take — A few flipped it around, arguing that Japan's high conviction rate is the other side of a system that leans on coerced confessions.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Shizuoka: no charges for a South Korean man who lived illegally for 26 years on a borrowed passport

A man who smuggled himself in and stayed illegally for 26 years is not charged.

ふじわら ちかこ
ふじわら ちかこ
@ozdesu48
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韓国籍の男性が、２６年間に渡って不法に日本に在留したとして逮捕されましたが、静岡地検は「不起訴処分」としました。 news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/166b7…

news.yahoo.co.jp弟のパスポートで不法入国し短期滞在の資格で26年間在留　70代の韓国人男性を不起訴処分　静岡地検（静岡朝日テレビ） - Yahoo!ニュース　２６年間に渡って不法に日本に在留したとして逮捕された７０代の韓国籍の男性について、静岡地検は不起訴処分としました。 　７０代の韓国籍の男性は１９９３年９月ごろ、弟のパスポートを使って飛行機で日本
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Read 93 replies

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Yeah yeah, no charges, no charges."
  • "Then what on earth does get prosecuted?"
  • "The justice system isn't working."
  • "So did they actually deport him?"
  • "Immigration and the prosecutors are both sieves."
  • "Illegal residency is now legal."
  • "He entered the country illegally... so what status is he even residing on now?"
  • "I'd like them to show the reason they dropped this. He smuggled himself in, right? Spies can just walk in freely too, then."
  • "Get-away-with-it Japan."
  • "Just end the old judiciary and build a new one."

Osaka: no charges for a Sri Lankan student who stabbed a schoolmate

Prosecutors decline to charge an attempted-murder case, citing "the evidentiary picture."

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Attempted murder and still no charges, huh."
  • "Blame both sides equally and deport them both."
  • "What is this about? Is the jail full or something?"
  • "Why is stabbing someone with a knife not charged? Then at least impose a penalty and ban him from re-entry."
  • "Travel to Japan with someone you hate, stab them → no charges → the perfect crime? This'll only get more common."
  • "'In light of the evidence'—what does that even mean? There's evidence he tried to stab someone to death, so what 'evidence' leads to no charges, lol."
  • "Did they just drop it and set him loose, or send him back and ban him from re-entry?"
  • "He stabbed and injured someone, so how is there 'no evidence'?"
  • "Honestly, why do cases like this end in no charges?"
  • "Flip it around—the reason Japanese people's conviction rate is so high is that it leans heavily on coerced confessions."