Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma has avoided criminal charges in Japan following a road traffic collision in Tokyo on 8 July that left a female cyclist hospitalised.
The 29-year-old reportedly drove through a red light at a junction in the capital's Itabashi Ward, striking a woman on a bicycle and knocking her to the ground.
Tokyo prosecutors confirmed on Friday that the Japan international would not face indictment over the incident, which had initially been investigated as a case of negligent driving resulting in injury.
The decision brings to a close a case that had cast a shadow over the Premier League player's summer.
The victim, a 48-year-old woman, sustained injuries to her hands and required medical treatment that kept her away from work for a fortnight.
Public prosecutors had weighed whether to charge the 31-cap international with causing injury through dangerous driving.
However, they ultimately concluded that both Mitoma and the cyclist had disregarded traffic signals at the junction, a factor that proved decisive in their ruling.
Prosecutors stated they had reached their decision "considering that both parties were running a red light, and the content of other related evidence."
Japanese media also pointed to the intersection's complicated layout and recently revised traffic regulations as contributing factors behind the outcome.
Mitoma, a native of Kanagawa Prefecture, graduated from the University of Tsukuba before joining Kawasaki Frontale in 2020. Brighton secured his signature from the Japanese club in 2021, and he has since become a familiar figure on the south coast.
The winger has turned out 135 times for the Seagulls, finding the net on 27 occasions.
A left hamstring injury sustained towards the close of last season ruled him out of Japan's 2026 World Cup campaign, and he has spent the summer in rehabilitation rather than representing his country on football's grandest stage.
His representatives issued a statement in the aftermath of the collision, expressing remorse on the player's behalf. "We sincerely apologise for the great inconvenience and concern caused to the injured party, and all involved due to the accident," they said.
The statement added that Mitoma "takes this accident very seriously, and is responding with condolences and apologies to those affected."
His advisors confirmed that the cyclist had been diagnosed with bruising, whilst Mitoma himself emerged physically unscathed.
They pledged to "fully cooperate with the investigation" and committed to reinforcing safe driving practices and compliance training to ensure no repeat of the incident.
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