{
  "id": 14610538,
  "title": "Loss still haunts close friend and peer as verdict nears in Japan gyoza chain president's killing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/loss-still-haunts-close-friend-and-peer-as-verdict-nears-in-japan",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-15T04:39:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Mainichi",
    "slug": "the-mainichi",
    "url": "https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20261015/p2a/00m/0na/017000c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Kyoto District Court will deliver its verdict on October 16 in the case surrounding the December 2013 murder of Takayuki Ohigashi, the 72-year-old president of Ohsho Food Service Corp., the operator of the nationwide Gyoza no Ohsho restaurant chain. Ohigashi, a forceful leader who spearheaded the company's rapid growth, was shot and killed in the parking lot outside his company's headquarters in Kyoto's Yamashina Ward. A fellow restaurant executive close to Ohigashi, Masahiro Fujio, expressed his ongoing grief over the loss, hoping to still have another discussion with the now-deceased executive about their shared business interests. The case involves Yukio Tanaka, a 59-year-old senior member of the Kudo-kai gang, who has been charged with murder and violating the firearms and swords control law. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence, while the defense maintains Tanaka's innocence. Tanaka is accused of shooting Ohigashi with a handgun, causing his death from blood loss. Despite the lack of direct evidence linking Tanaka to the shooting, prosecutors have presented circumstantial evidence, including a cigarette butt found near the crime scene with a DNA profile matching Tanaka's.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}