The Osaka District Court has sentenced Takahiro Sugimoto, a 53-year-old company employee, to 20 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a restaurant owner over an unpaid dining bill in April last year. Sugimoto stabbed 24-year restaurant manager Ibuki Takenaka multiple times with a kitchen knife and attempted to murder another man at the scene. The court condemned the attack, stating that Sugimoto repeatedly slashed and stabbed the victim with a highly lethal weapon. During the trial, Sugimoto partially denied having the intent to kill, but the presiding judge dismissed these claims and handed down the two-decade sentence.