The Yomiuri Shimbun
Forty-eight academics at 43 universities possess bogus diplomas they were awarded by overseas organizations claiming to be universities, an Education, Science and Technology Ministry investigation has revealed.
The ministry has asked the universities to take a consistently firm line on the fraudulent qualifications, saying it is detracting from the status of universities.
The investigation carried out from July to September covered all of the nation's public and private universities.
According to the ministry, the organizations, known as "degree mills," have not conducted any educational activities yet have sold fake diplomas for hundreds of thousands of yen. The organizations were found in Australia, Britain, China and the United States, though the governments in each countries have not recognized them as universities.
(Dec. 29, 2007)
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Giants announce signing of Ramirez
Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 17:36 EST
TOKYO — The Yomiuri Giants said Saturday they have signed a two-year, 1 billion yen contract with former Yakult Swallows outfielder Alex Ramirez.
The 33-year-old Ramirez, who was released from the Swallows at the end of the season after talks on a new deal collapsed, will don the No. 5 jersey. The Venezuela native joined Yakult in 2001 and claimed the home run (40) and RBI titles (124) in 2003. This season, Ramirez set a league record with 204 hits and led the league with 122 RBIs.
Kyodo
TOKYO — The Yomiuri Giants said Saturday they have signed a two-year, 1 billion yen contract with former Yakult Swallows outfielder Alex Ramirez.
The 33-year-old Ramirez, who was released from the Swallows at the end of the season after talks on a new deal collapsed, will don the No. 5 jersey. The Venezuela native joined Yakult in 2001 and claimed the home run (40) and RBI titles (124) in 2003. This season, Ramirez set a league record with 204 hits and led the league with 122 RBIs.
Kyodo
爆発物を作った男に懲役５年求刑 東京
ＴＡＴＰ（トリアセトントリパーオキサイド）と呼ばれる爆発物を自宅で製造したなどとして、爆発物取締罰則違反の罪に問われた無職、寺沢善博被告（３８）の論告求刑公判が２５日、東京地裁（半田靖史裁判長）で開かれ、検察側は「極めて危険な犯行」として、懲役５年を求刑した。判決は来年１月２８日。検察側は論告で、寺沢被告がＴＡＴＰを製造した目的を、西武新宿線車内で爆発させるためだったと指摘した。
December 26, 2007
Sankeiweb
December 26, 2007
Sankeiweb
Police officer charged for molesting woman at detention facility
CHIBA -- Public prosecutors filed charges against a Chiba prefectural police officer on Wednesday for molesting a 22-year-old woman who was being held at a detention facility.
The 26-year-old officer, Kenji Nakamura, stands accused of cruelty as a special public officer. The prefectural police inspection office sacked Nakamura the same day.
According to the charges, Nakamura hugged the woman and fondled her breasts and private parts in a detention facility on two occasions at about 12:15 a.m. on Feb. 8, and 1:15 p.m. on March 15.
The prefectural police inspection office said the officer, who worked at Urayasu Police Station in Chiba Prefecture, was suspected of carrying out similar behavior dozens of times, but due to a lack of evidence, only two incidents were used to form a case against him.
警官免職：拘置女性へのわいせつで起訴 千葉
千葉県警警察官による拘置中の女性（２２）へのわいせつ行為事件で、千葉地検は２６日、県警浦安署巡査長、中村憲司容疑者（２６）を特別公務員暴行陵虐罪で起訴した。県警監察官室は同日、中村被告を懲戒免職にした。
起訴状によると、中村被告は２月８日午前０時１５分ごろと３月１５日午後１時１５分ごろ、留置場内で女性を抱きしめ、胸や下半身を触るなどした。監察官室によると、このほかにも２月上旬から３月下旬にかけ、数十回にわたり同様の行為を繰り返していたとみられるが、十分な証拠が得られた２件についてのみの立件となった。
一方、監督責任を怠ったとして、監察官室は当時の警務課長（５７）を戒告処分にしたほか、同じく浦安署長（５１）▽警務課看守係長（５２）▽同看守係長（３４）を本部長訓戒とした。【山本太一】
December 26, 2007
Mainichi
The 26-year-old officer, Kenji Nakamura, stands accused of cruelty as a special public officer. The prefectural police inspection office sacked Nakamura the same day.
According to the charges, Nakamura hugged the woman and fondled her breasts and private parts in a detention facility on two occasions at about 12:15 a.m. on Feb. 8, and 1:15 p.m. on March 15.
The prefectural police inspection office said the officer, who worked at Urayasu Police Station in Chiba Prefecture, was suspected of carrying out similar behavior dozens of times, but due to a lack of evidence, only two incidents were used to form a case against him.
警官免職：拘置女性へのわいせつで起訴 千葉
千葉県警警察官による拘置中の女性（２２）へのわいせつ行為事件で、千葉地検は２６日、県警浦安署巡査長、中村憲司容疑者（２６）を特別公務員暴行陵虐罪で起訴した。県警監察官室は同日、中村被告を懲戒免職にした。
起訴状によると、中村被告は２月８日午前０時１５分ごろと３月１５日午後１時１５分ごろ、留置場内で女性を抱きしめ、胸や下半身を触るなどした。監察官室によると、このほかにも２月上旬から３月下旬にかけ、数十回にわたり同様の行為を繰り返していたとみられるが、十分な証拠が得られた２件についてのみの立件となった。
一方、監督責任を怠ったとして、監察官室は当時の警務課長（５７）を戒告処分にしたほか、同じく浦安署長（５１）▽警務課看守係長（５２）▽同看守係長（３４）を本部長訓戒とした。【山本太一】
December 26, 2007
Mainichi
30-hospital denial fatal to woman
Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007
Ambulance crew spent two hours finding care for 89-year-old
Compiled from AP, Kyodo
An 89-year-old woman in Osaka Prefecture died after an ambulance crew spent two hours trying 30 hospitals before later finding one that would accept her for treatment, officials said Friday.
The woman's family called an ambulance early Tuesday morning after she started vomiting and suffering diarrhea the previous evening, said Hideto Matsumoto, a fire official in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture.
The ambulance crew and local fire department contacted 30 hospitals before one finally said it could admit her, Matsumoto said — about two hours after her family had called for an ambulance, he said.
The woman's heart had already stopped when she was taken to Osaka Minami Medical Center in the city of Kawachinagano. She was resuscitated at the hospital but died Wednesday, according to hospital official Hiroshi Tone, who refused to disclose the woman's name or cause of death, citing privacy reasons.
Matsumoto said the other hospitals, including those in the cities of Osaka and Sakai, rejected the woman, saying their hospitals were full or their doctors were not immediately available to treat her.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said it is extremely rare for a patient to be denied emergency treatment by as many as 30 hospitals.
However, similar cases have taken place in Hyogo and Fukushima prefectures. Last year, a pregnant woman in Nara Prefecture died after being refused admission by about 20 hospitals that said they were full.
The latest case underscores Japan's health-care woes, in part created by a shortage of doctors in the country's rapidly aging society. Critics say long working hours and a government policy change several years ago to keep the number of doctors down are to blame.
"Behind the recurrence of such problems in various parts of Japan is the chronic shortage of doctors, as well as the fact that regional networks among medical institutions are not functioning," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe told a news conference Friday.
Japan Times
Ambulance crew spent two hours finding care for 89-year-old
Compiled from AP, Kyodo
An 89-year-old woman in Osaka Prefecture died after an ambulance crew spent two hours trying 30 hospitals before later finding one that would accept her for treatment, officials said Friday.
The woman's family called an ambulance early Tuesday morning after she started vomiting and suffering diarrhea the previous evening, said Hideto Matsumoto, a fire official in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture.
The ambulance crew and local fire department contacted 30 hospitals before one finally said it could admit her, Matsumoto said — about two hours after her family had called for an ambulance, he said.
The woman's heart had already stopped when she was taken to Osaka Minami Medical Center in the city of Kawachinagano. She was resuscitated at the hospital but died Wednesday, according to hospital official Hiroshi Tone, who refused to disclose the woman's name or cause of death, citing privacy reasons.
Matsumoto said the other hospitals, including those in the cities of Osaka and Sakai, rejected the woman, saying their hospitals were full or their doctors were not immediately available to treat her.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said it is extremely rare for a patient to be denied emergency treatment by as many as 30 hospitals.
However, similar cases have taken place in Hyogo and Fukushima prefectures. Last year, a pregnant woman in Nara Prefecture died after being refused admission by about 20 hospitals that said they were full.
The latest case underscores Japan's health-care woes, in part created by a shortage of doctors in the country's rapidly aging society. Critics say long working hours and a government policy change several years ago to keep the number of doctors down are to blame.
"Behind the recurrence of such problems in various parts of Japan is the chronic shortage of doctors, as well as the fact that regional networks among medical institutions are not functioning," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe told a news conference Friday.
Japan Times
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Cop accidentally fires revolver at Saitama police station
SOKA, Saitama -- A police officer accidentally fired a revolver in a weapons storage room at a police station here, blasting a hole in a maintenance stand, law enforcers said.
Police said the 49-year-old senior officer accidentally fired the bullet into the wooden cleaning stand in the weapons storage room at Soka Police Station at about 8:50 a.m. on Wednesday. There were about five other people in the room at the time, but no one was injured.
Police said that the 49-year-old officer had been loading bullets into a revolver before going on duty at a police box. Holding the gun in his right hand, he reportedly went to open his holster with his left hand, but accidentally pulled the trigger instead.
"We will work to prevent a reoccurrence by thoroughly implementing correct handling procedures for handguns," said a police station official commenting on the accident.
拳銃暴発：埼玉・草加署内で警官誤って引き金
２６日午前８時５０分ごろ、埼玉県草加市花栗３の県警草加署拳銃格納室で、同署地域課の男性巡査長（４９）が回転式拳銃（３８口径）を暴発させ、銃弾１発が木製の拳銃手入れ台を貫通した。室内には巡査長ら５～６人がいたがけがはなかった。
同署によると、巡査長は交番勤務に就く前に格納室内で拳銃に弾を装てん。右手に拳銃を持ったまま、左手でホルスターのふたを開けようとして、誤って引き金を引いてしまったという。岡田昭文署長は「拳銃の適正な取り扱いを再度徹底させ、再発防止に努める」とコメントした。【小泉大士】
December 26, 2007
Police said the 49-year-old senior officer accidentally fired the bullet into the wooden cleaning stand in the weapons storage room at Soka Police Station at about 8:50 a.m. on Wednesday. There were about five other people in the room at the time, but no one was injured.
Police said that the 49-year-old officer had been loading bullets into a revolver before going on duty at a police box. Holding the gun in his right hand, he reportedly went to open his holster with his left hand, but accidentally pulled the trigger instead.
"We will work to prevent a reoccurrence by thoroughly implementing correct handling procedures for handguns," said a police station official commenting on the accident.
拳銃暴発：埼玉・草加署内で警官誤って引き金
２６日午前８時５０分ごろ、埼玉県草加市花栗３の県警草加署拳銃格納室で、同署地域課の男性巡査長（４９）が回転式拳銃（３８口径）を暴発させ、銃弾１発が木製の拳銃手入れ台を貫通した。室内には巡査長ら５～６人がいたがけがはなかった。
同署によると、巡査長は交番勤務に就く前に格納室内で拳銃に弾を装てん。右手に拳銃を持ったまま、左手でホルスターのふたを開けようとして、誤って引き金を引いてしまったという。岡田昭文署長は「拳銃の適正な取り扱いを再度徹底させ、再発防止に努める」とコメントした。【小泉大士】
December 26, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Traffic cop's negligence causes crash in Nagano
CHIKUMA, Nagano -- A police car collided with another car at an intersection here while patrolling the area as part of the annual year-end safety campaign, investigators said.
The officer admitted that he was careless. "I was thinking about the patrol route," he was quoted as telling his bosses.
"A police officer, who is supposed to play a leading role in preventing accidents, caused one himself during the year-end safety campaign. We're sorry," a police official said.
At around midnight on Monday, the car driven by Sergeant Hiroo Shima, 52, collided with a small car driven by a 29-year-old woman at an intersection along Route 403 in the Inariyama district of Chikuma, local police said. Both the sergeant and the woman suffered slight injuries in the accident.
パトカー事故：年末警戒中に乗用車と衝突、女性重傷 長野
２４日午前０時ごろ、長野県千曲市稲荷山の国道４０３号交差点で、同県警千曲署生活安全課の志摩洋雄巡査部長（５２）運転のパトカーと、同市八幡の女性会社員（２９）運転の軽乗用車が出合い頭で衝突。女性は右手骨折などの重傷、志摩巡査部長も右肩打撲などの軽傷を負った。
同署の調べでは、パトカーは年末特別警戒パトロール中。赤色の点滅信号で一時停止せずに交差点へ進入した。パトカーは赤色回転灯を点灯していた。乗用車側は黄色の点滅信号だった。志摩巡査部長は「次の警戒場所やその道順について考え事をしていた」などと話したという。同署の手塚博邦副署長は「年末安全運動期間中であり、事故防止を率先しなければいけない警察官が事故を起こし、大変申し訳ありません。再発防止を署員に徹底したい」と話している。【池乗有衣】
December 24, 2007
Mainichi
The officer admitted that he was careless. "I was thinking about the patrol route," he was quoted as telling his bosses.
"A police officer, who is supposed to play a leading role in preventing accidents, caused one himself during the year-end safety campaign. We're sorry," a police official said.
At around midnight on Monday, the car driven by Sergeant Hiroo Shima, 52, collided with a small car driven by a 29-year-old woman at an intersection along Route 403 in the Inariyama district of Chikuma, local police said. Both the sergeant and the woman suffered slight injuries in the accident.
パトカー事故：年末警戒中に乗用車と衝突、女性重傷 長野
２４日午前０時ごろ、長野県千曲市稲荷山の国道４０３号交差点で、同県警千曲署生活安全課の志摩洋雄巡査部長（５２）運転のパトカーと、同市八幡の女性会社員（２９）運転の軽乗用車が出合い頭で衝突。女性は右手骨折などの重傷、志摩巡査部長も右肩打撲などの軽傷を負った。
同署の調べでは、パトカーは年末特別警戒パトロール中。赤色の点滅信号で一時停止せずに交差点へ進入した。パトカーは赤色回転灯を点灯していた。乗用車側は黄色の点滅信号だった。志摩巡査部長は「次の警戒場所やその道順について考え事をしていた」などと話したという。同署の手塚博邦副署長は「年末安全運動期間中であり、事故防止を率先しなければいけない警察官が事故を起こし、大変申し訳ありません。再発防止を署員に徹底したい」と話している。【池乗有衣】
December 24, 2007
Mainichi
Tokyo cop in coma after being pushed in front of oncoming train at Ochanomizu
An off-duty police officer was left in a coma after two drunken men pushed him off a Tokyo railway station platform onto the tracks, where he was hit by an arriving train, police said.
The two men -- Li Zhi, 41, and Jin Quan, 31 -- stand accused of attempted murder.
"I got furious after he told us off for talking loudly on a train. I just shook off his hand, and had no intention of pushing him onto the tracks," one of them was quoted as telling investigators.
At around 11:25 p.m. on Saturday, Li and Jin allegedly pushed the 49-year-old assistant police inspector from a platform at JR Ochanomizu Station in Chiyoda-ku onto the tracks, local police say. The officer was knocked unconscious after being hit by an oncoming train.
The two had got into an argument with the officer on a train, and got off the train at Ochanomizu Station.
殺人未遂：警官ホームに突き落とされ重体 ＪＲ御茶ノ水駅
２２日午後１１時２５分ごろ、東京都千代田区神田駿河台２のＪＲ御茶ノ水駅で「ホームから男性が転落し電車にひかれた」と警視庁に１１０番があった。調べによると、はねられたのは警視庁通信指令本部の警部補の男性（４９）。病院に運ばれたが、頭の骨などを折っており意識不明の重体という。神田署は男性をホームから突き落としたとして２人の中国人を殺人未遂容疑で逮捕した。
神田署によると、逮捕されたのは調布市調布ケ丘３、会社役員、李志（４１）と国分寺市富士本１、会社員、金権（３１）の両容疑者。２人は電車が御茶ノ水駅のホームに到着する直前の同１１時２０分ごろ、ホームから男性を突き落とした疑い。調べでは２人は電車内で男性と言い争いになったため御茶ノ水駅で一緒に下車し、数分間ほどホーム上でもみ合いになっていた。
男性は勤務を終えて帰宅途中だったとみられる。２人は同じ会社の同僚でかなり酒を飲んでおり、「電車内でしゃべっていたら男性に注意されてかっとなった。ホームでは手を振り払っただけで突き落とすつもりはなかった」などと供述している。【川上晃弘】
December 23, 2007
Mainichi
The two men -- Li Zhi, 41, and Jin Quan, 31 -- stand accused of attempted murder.
"I got furious after he told us off for talking loudly on a train. I just shook off his hand, and had no intention of pushing him onto the tracks," one of them was quoted as telling investigators.
At around 11:25 p.m. on Saturday, Li and Jin allegedly pushed the 49-year-old assistant police inspector from a platform at JR Ochanomizu Station in Chiyoda-ku onto the tracks, local police say. The officer was knocked unconscious after being hit by an oncoming train.
The two had got into an argument with the officer on a train, and got off the train at Ochanomizu Station.
殺人未遂：警官ホームに突き落とされ重体 ＪＲ御茶ノ水駅
２２日午後１１時２５分ごろ、東京都千代田区神田駿河台２のＪＲ御茶ノ水駅で「ホームから男性が転落し電車にひかれた」と警視庁に１１０番があった。調べによると、はねられたのは警視庁通信指令本部の警部補の男性（４９）。病院に運ばれたが、頭の骨などを折っており意識不明の重体という。神田署は男性をホームから突き落としたとして２人の中国人を殺人未遂容疑で逮捕した。
神田署によると、逮捕されたのは調布市調布ケ丘３、会社役員、李志（４１）と国分寺市富士本１、会社員、金権（３１）の両容疑者。２人は電車が御茶ノ水駅のホームに到着する直前の同１１時２０分ごろ、ホームから男性を突き落とした疑い。調べでは２人は電車内で男性と言い争いになったため御茶ノ水駅で一緒に下車し、数分間ほどホーム上でもみ合いになっていた。
男性は勤務を終えて帰宅途中だったとみられる。２人は同じ会社の同僚でかなり酒を飲んでおり、「電車内でしゃべっていたら男性に注意されてかっとなった。ホームでは手を振り払っただけで突き落とすつもりはなかった」などと供述している。【川上晃弘】
December 23, 2007
Mainichi
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Professional concerns preceded cop's suicide in police box
A Tokyo police officer who shot himself dead while at work had told his family that he was concerned about being re-assigned to a police box after a long absence, investigators said.
"I'm worried about working in a police box for the first time in years," Sergeant Yasumasa Onishi, 32, was quoted as telling his family.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is investigating whether there was a causal relationship between his concerns about working at the police box and his suicide.
Onishi was promoted to sergeant and transferred to Marunouchi Police Station on Dec. 13. He began working at the police box in front of JR Tokyo Station in Chiyoda-ku on Tuesday, the day before he committed suicide.
警官拳銃自殺：「交番勤務に不安」と家族にもらす 東京
東京都千代田区の警視庁丸の内署東京駅前交番で１９日朝、拳銃自殺した丸の内署地域課の大西泰正巡査部長（３２）＝足立区西新井７＝が「交番勤務は久しぶりで不安だ」と家族に話していたことが分かった。丸の内署は自殺との関連を調べている。
警視庁によると、大西巡査部長は交通機動隊の白バイ隊員だったが、昇任に伴い１３日付で丸の内署に異動、１８日夕から約３年ぶりとなる交番勤務に就いていた。私生活上の大きなトラブルは見当たらず、遺書も見つかっていないという。
December 20, 2007
Mainichi
"I'm worried about working in a police box for the first time in years," Sergeant Yasumasa Onishi, 32, was quoted as telling his family.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is investigating whether there was a causal relationship between his concerns about working at the police box and his suicide.
Onishi was promoted to sergeant and transferred to Marunouchi Police Station on Dec. 13. He began working at the police box in front of JR Tokyo Station in Chiyoda-ku on Tuesday, the day before he committed suicide.
警官拳銃自殺：「交番勤務に不安」と家族にもらす 東京
東京都千代田区の警視庁丸の内署東京駅前交番で１９日朝、拳銃自殺した丸の内署地域課の大西泰正巡査部長（３２）＝足立区西新井７＝が「交番勤務は久しぶりで不安だ」と家族に話していたことが分かった。丸の内署は自殺との関連を調べている。
警視庁によると、大西巡査部長は交通機動隊の白バイ隊員だったが、昇任に伴い１３日付で丸の内署に異動、１８日夕から約３年ぶりとなる交番勤務に就いていた。私生活上の大きなトラブルは見当たらず、遺書も見つかっていないという。
December 20, 2007
Mainichi
Police officer removed from post following probe into manipulative sales
YOKOHAMA -- Kanagawa Prefectural Police on Thursday removed a security division head from his post over alleged involvement in manipulative spiritual sales methods, officials said.
Prefectural police also searched several locations including a "healing salon" that 51-year-old police superintendent Sumio Yoshida regularly visited and the superintendent's own office.
Investigators said that on April 15 and 19, 2004, the 44-year-old woman who headed the healing salon in Tokyo's Minato-ku conspired with several employees and told a man living in Yokohama that the area where his company was located was used to cut people's heads off during the period of civil wars in the 16th century. On May 19, the man was allegedly swindled out of 4.9 million yen as a fee to dispel spirits.
Police suspect the man was prompted to buy charms as well, and was swindled out of a total of about 20 million yen.
Yoshida who regularly visited the healing salon was an acquaintance of the salon's president. He was a nominee on the contract that was formed when the salon was set up, and served as a joint guarantor.
Large sums of money were reportedly deposited into the superintendent's bank account from the group that managed the salon. Several police officers also reportedly deposited money into his account. Prefectural police said they planned to thoroughly question nine officers, including Yoshida.
霊感商法：強制捜査に着手…神奈川県警、詐欺容疑で
神奈川県警警備課長の吉田澄雄警視（５１）がヒーリングサロンを装って法外な値段でお札やお守りを売りつける霊感商法に関与している疑いが強まり、県警は２０日、吉田警視を警備部付に異動させるとともに、詐欺容疑で関係先の家宅捜索に着手した。東京都港区のヒーリングサロン「びびっととうきょう青山サロン」やサロンを運営する山梨県甲斐市の「神世界」本部、県警本部の警備課長室など十数カ所を調べる。
捜索の容疑は、青山サロン社長の女（４４）は０４年４月１５、１９日、サロンの従業員数人と共謀し、横浜市内の男性会社役員（当時４１歳）に「あなたの会社は戦国時代は首切り場だった。処刑された人の霊が成仏できずに地縛霊としてさまよっている。運気を下げ業務等に影響している」などとうそをつき、同年５月１９日、除霊代として現金４９０万円をだまし取った疑い。
県警によると、男性は水や「ライセンス」というお守りも勧められ、総額約２０００万円をだまし取られた。サロンは駅前で女性に「ヒーリングはいかがですか」などと声をかけていたという。
吉田警視は女社長の知人で、０３年ごろ、サロン開設時の契約書の名義人や連帯保証人に名を連ねた。元同僚の県警横須賀署警備担当次長の稙田紀郎警視（４７）も連帯保証人だった。吉田警視の口座には神世界側から多額の現金が定期的に入金されていたほか、数人の警察官からも現金が振り込まれていた。
サロンには吉田警視が警察学校の教官だった時の教え子である警察官ら５人が出入りし、吉田警視が勧誘した可能性もある。県警は吉田警視ら計９人の現職警察官から詳しく事情を聴く。【堀智行、野口由紀、鈴木一生】
December 20, 2007
Mainichi
Prefectural police also searched several locations including a "healing salon" that 51-year-old police superintendent Sumio Yoshida regularly visited and the superintendent's own office.
Investigators said that on April 15 and 19, 2004, the 44-year-old woman who headed the healing salon in Tokyo's Minato-ku conspired with several employees and told a man living in Yokohama that the area where his company was located was used to cut people's heads off during the period of civil wars in the 16th century. On May 19, the man was allegedly swindled out of 4.9 million yen as a fee to dispel spirits.
Police suspect the man was prompted to buy charms as well, and was swindled out of a total of about 20 million yen.
Yoshida who regularly visited the healing salon was an acquaintance of the salon's president. He was a nominee on the contract that was formed when the salon was set up, and served as a joint guarantor.
Large sums of money were reportedly deposited into the superintendent's bank account from the group that managed the salon. Several police officers also reportedly deposited money into his account. Prefectural police said they planned to thoroughly question nine officers, including Yoshida.
霊感商法：強制捜査に着手…神奈川県警、詐欺容疑で
神奈川県警警備課長の吉田澄雄警視（５１）がヒーリングサロンを装って法外な値段でお札やお守りを売りつける霊感商法に関与している疑いが強まり、県警は２０日、吉田警視を警備部付に異動させるとともに、詐欺容疑で関係先の家宅捜索に着手した。東京都港区のヒーリングサロン「びびっととうきょう青山サロン」やサロンを運営する山梨県甲斐市の「神世界」本部、県警本部の警備課長室など十数カ所を調べる。
捜索の容疑は、青山サロン社長の女（４４）は０４年４月１５、１９日、サロンの従業員数人と共謀し、横浜市内の男性会社役員（当時４１歳）に「あなたの会社は戦国時代は首切り場だった。処刑された人の霊が成仏できずに地縛霊としてさまよっている。運気を下げ業務等に影響している」などとうそをつき、同年５月１９日、除霊代として現金４９０万円をだまし取った疑い。
県警によると、男性は水や「ライセンス」というお守りも勧められ、総額約２０００万円をだまし取られた。サロンは駅前で女性に「ヒーリングはいかがですか」などと声をかけていたという。
吉田警視は女社長の知人で、０３年ごろ、サロン開設時の契約書の名義人や連帯保証人に名を連ねた。元同僚の県警横須賀署警備担当次長の稙田紀郎警視（４７）も連帯保証人だった。吉田警視の口座には神世界側から多額の現金が定期的に入金されていたほか、数人の警察官からも現金が振り込まれていた。
サロンには吉田警視が警察学校の教官だった時の教え子である警察官ら５人が出入りし、吉田警視が勧誘した可能性もある。県警は吉田警視ら計９人の現職警察官から詳しく事情を聴く。【堀智行、野口由紀、鈴木一生】
December 20, 2007
Mainichi
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Cop dies after shooting self in head in police box
A Tokyo police officer died Wednesday after shooting himself in the head in an apparent suicide, police said.
At around 9 a.m., the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) received an emergency call from a passer-by reporting that a police officer was lying on the floor of a police box in front of JR Tokyo Station in Chiyoda-ku, bleeding from the head.
The unconscious officer was rushed to a hospital where he later died.
He has been identified as Yasumasa Onishi, 32, a sergeant with Marunouchi Police Station who was transferred to the police box on Thursday last week.
Onishi was holding a gun when he was found collapsed, leading MPD investigators to suspect that he shot himself in the head in a bid to commit suicide.
１９日午前９時５分ごろ、東京都千代田区丸の内１の警視庁丸の内署東京駅前交番内で、交番に勤務する丸の内署地域課の大西泰正巡査部長（３２）＝足立区西新井７＝が頭から血を流して倒れていると通行人から１１０番があった。大西巡査部長は病院に運ばれたが約３時間後に死亡した。右手に拳銃を握っており、丸の内署は大西巡査部長が頭を撃って自殺を図ったとみて調べている。
調べでは、大西巡査部長は貸与された拳銃で右側頭部を１発撃ち、交番入り口に面した１階の見張り所（事務室）内に倒れていた。病院搬送前は意識があったという。１８日午後４時半から同僚２人と交番勤務に就いていた。発砲時は同僚のうち１人が事務室の奥の休憩室で仮眠していたが、もう１人は不在で、事務室には大西巡査部長しかいなかった。
拳銃には銃弾５発を装てん可能で、４発が残っていた。発射された１発は、事務室内に落ちていた。通りに面した窓の内側の枠に銃弾が当たったような跡があり、跳ね返って室内に落ちたとみられる。窓枠からそれていれば、外部に飛び出した可能性もあった。
大西巡査部長は１３日付で丸の内署に配属されたばかりで、１８日が交番勤務の初日だった。丸の内署に着任後は変わった様子はなかったという。遺書は見つかっていない。
現場はＪＲ東京駅丸の内北口前。北口改札から大型商業ビルやオフィスビルの集中する地区へ抜ける場所で、終日人通りが絶えないという。
現場付近にいた通行人らによると、午前９時ごろ「パーン」という音が１回聞こえ、交番内の机付近に大西巡査部長が倒れていた。近くには帽子がころがり、壁には大量の血痕が付いていた。同僚の警察官が大西巡査部長に覆いかぶさるようにして呼びかけていたという。
発砲後、交番の出入り口に青いシートがかけられ、鑑識作業を行う警視庁の捜査員らや集まった約４０人の報道陣で騒然とした。不安げな表情でＪＲ職員に尋ねるスーツ姿の会社員もいた。
買い物に来ていた主婦（３８）は「こんな場所で拳銃を使った騒ぎが起きるなんて……。仕事のために持っていたのだから佐世保の（散弾銃乱射）事件とは違うのだろうが、こんなに身近で起きると不安に思う」と話した。
丸の内署の浦忠雄署長は「拳銃を使用して自殺を図ったことは誠に残念。再発防止に努めたい」とのコメントを出した。
◇警官の拳銃自殺 今年全国で５件、８月には女性射殺
警察庁によると、交番などに勤務する警察官が拳銃を使用して自殺したケースは今年は全国で今回も含め、５件発生している。８月には警視庁立川署の巡査長が、勤務中に知人女性宅で女性を射殺したうえで、自殺した。０６年は６件、０５年は４件、０４年は２件、０３年は６件起きている。
警察庁幹部は「職務遂行のために貸与されている拳銃をほかの目的に使用することはあってはならないこと」と話す。警視庁は立川事件以降、再発防止のために組織的に警察官の心情把握に努める対策をとっていただけに、警視庁幹部も今回の自殺未遂事件に衝撃を受けている。
December 19, 2007
Mainichi
At around 9 a.m., the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) received an emergency call from a passer-by reporting that a police officer was lying on the floor of a police box in front of JR Tokyo Station in Chiyoda-ku, bleeding from the head.
The unconscious officer was rushed to a hospital where he later died.
He has been identified as Yasumasa Onishi, 32, a sergeant with Marunouchi Police Station who was transferred to the police box on Thursday last week.
Onishi was holding a gun when he was found collapsed, leading MPD investigators to suspect that he shot himself in the head in a bid to commit suicide.
１９日午前９時５分ごろ、東京都千代田区丸の内１の警視庁丸の内署東京駅前交番内で、交番に勤務する丸の内署地域課の大西泰正巡査部長（３２）＝足立区西新井７＝が頭から血を流して倒れていると通行人から１１０番があった。大西巡査部長は病院に運ばれたが約３時間後に死亡した。右手に拳銃を握っており、丸の内署は大西巡査部長が頭を撃って自殺を図ったとみて調べている。
調べでは、大西巡査部長は貸与された拳銃で右側頭部を１発撃ち、交番入り口に面した１階の見張り所（事務室）内に倒れていた。病院搬送前は意識があったという。１８日午後４時半から同僚２人と交番勤務に就いていた。発砲時は同僚のうち１人が事務室の奥の休憩室で仮眠していたが、もう１人は不在で、事務室には大西巡査部長しかいなかった。
拳銃には銃弾５発を装てん可能で、４発が残っていた。発射された１発は、事務室内に落ちていた。通りに面した窓の内側の枠に銃弾が当たったような跡があり、跳ね返って室内に落ちたとみられる。窓枠からそれていれば、外部に飛び出した可能性もあった。
大西巡査部長は１３日付で丸の内署に配属されたばかりで、１８日が交番勤務の初日だった。丸の内署に着任後は変わった様子はなかったという。遺書は見つかっていない。
現場はＪＲ東京駅丸の内北口前。北口改札から大型商業ビルやオフィスビルの集中する地区へ抜ける場所で、終日人通りが絶えないという。
現場付近にいた通行人らによると、午前９時ごろ「パーン」という音が１回聞こえ、交番内の机付近に大西巡査部長が倒れていた。近くには帽子がころがり、壁には大量の血痕が付いていた。同僚の警察官が大西巡査部長に覆いかぶさるようにして呼びかけていたという。
発砲後、交番の出入り口に青いシートがかけられ、鑑識作業を行う警視庁の捜査員らや集まった約４０人の報道陣で騒然とした。不安げな表情でＪＲ職員に尋ねるスーツ姿の会社員もいた。
買い物に来ていた主婦（３８）は「こんな場所で拳銃を使った騒ぎが起きるなんて……。仕事のために持っていたのだから佐世保の（散弾銃乱射）事件とは違うのだろうが、こんなに身近で起きると不安に思う」と話した。
丸の内署の浦忠雄署長は「拳銃を使用して自殺を図ったことは誠に残念。再発防止に努めたい」とのコメントを出した。
◇警官の拳銃自殺 今年全国で５件、８月には女性射殺
警察庁によると、交番などに勤務する警察官が拳銃を使用して自殺したケースは今年は全国で今回も含め、５件発生している。８月には警視庁立川署の巡査長が、勤務中に知人女性宅で女性を射殺したうえで、自殺した。０６年は６件、０５年は４件、０４年は２件、０３年は６件起きている。
警察庁幹部は「職務遂行のために貸与されている拳銃をほかの目的に使用することはあってはならないこと」と話す。警視庁は立川事件以降、再発防止のために組織的に警察官の心情把握に努める対策をとっていただけに、警視庁幹部も今回の自殺未遂事件に衝撃を受けている。
December 19, 2007
Mainichi
Cop commits suicide in police box
MASHIKO, Tochigi - A police officer committed suicide Thursday by shooting himself with his service revolver in the police box where he worked here, police said.
The 23-year-old officer was found in the sleeping quarters of the police box, collapsed in a pool of blood pouring out from his abdomen, with his gun and a suicide note nearby.
Police said the officer's service revolver still contained four bullets. The officer had worked his regular shift while the sergeant stationed at the same police box was working at the Mooka Police Station in Mashiko at the time. The 59-year-old sergeant found the collapsed officer.
December 13, 2007
Mainichi
拳銃自殺？：交番で２３歳の男性巡査…遺書も 栃木・益子
１３日午前６時５分ごろ、栃木県益子町益子の県警真岡署益子交番２階の仮眠室で、交番勤務の同署地域課の男性巡査（２３）が腹から血を流してあおむけに倒れているのを、同僚の男性巡査部長（５９）が発見した。畳の上に拳銃が落ちており、枕元に「拳銃で自殺したことごめんなさい」と書かれたメモがあった。同署は拳銃自殺を図ったとみている。
調べでは、拳銃は巡査に貸与した回転式（５発入り）で、弾倉には弾丸計４発が残っていた。撃ったのは１発だった。巡査と巡査部長の２人は、１２日午前９時から勤務し、同日午後１０時から１３日午前２時までの仮眠時間を終え、２人で警らに出る予定だった。巡査が「腹の調子が悪い」と申し出たため、巡査部長は１人では警らができないため、午前３時２５分ごろ、真岡署で当直を応援するため交番を出たという。
弾はへその右上約５センチの場所に撃ち込まれていた。遺書とみられるメモは、Ａ４判の半分の大きさのメモ用紙にボールペンで縦書きされていた。【山下俊輔、戸上文恵】
▽手塚港・真岡署次長 警察官が拳銃を不適切に使用し、自殺したことは誠に遺憾。再発防止に努めたい。
The 23-year-old officer was found in the sleeping quarters of the police box, collapsed in a pool of blood pouring out from his abdomen, with his gun and a suicide note nearby.
Police said the officer's service revolver still contained four bullets. The officer had worked his regular shift while the sergeant stationed at the same police box was working at the Mooka Police Station in Mashiko at the time. The 59-year-old sergeant found the collapsed officer.
December 13, 2007
Mainichi
拳銃自殺？：交番で２３歳の男性巡査…遺書も 栃木・益子
１３日午前６時５分ごろ、栃木県益子町益子の県警真岡署益子交番２階の仮眠室で、交番勤務の同署地域課の男性巡査（２３）が腹から血を流してあおむけに倒れているのを、同僚の男性巡査部長（５９）が発見した。畳の上に拳銃が落ちており、枕元に「拳銃で自殺したことごめんなさい」と書かれたメモがあった。同署は拳銃自殺を図ったとみている。
調べでは、拳銃は巡査に貸与した回転式（５発入り）で、弾倉には弾丸計４発が残っていた。撃ったのは１発だった。巡査と巡査部長の２人は、１２日午前９時から勤務し、同日午後１０時から１３日午前２時までの仮眠時間を終え、２人で警らに出る予定だった。巡査が「腹の調子が悪い」と申し出たため、巡査部長は１人では警らができないため、午前３時２５分ごろ、真岡署で当直を応援するため交番を出たという。
弾はへその右上約５センチの場所に撃ち込まれていた。遺書とみられるメモは、Ａ４判の半分の大きさのメモ用紙にボールペンで縦書きされていた。【山下俊輔、戸上文恵】
▽手塚港・真岡署次長 警察官が拳銃を不適切に使用し、自殺したことは誠に遺憾。再発防止に努めたい。
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Police officer arrested for molesting woman at detention facility
URAYASU, Chiba -- A police officer has been arrested for molesting a woman who was being held at a police station's detention facility, officials said.
Kenji Nakamura, 26, a senior officer at Urayasu Police Station, stands accused of cruelty as a special public officer. He admitted to the allegations, local police said.
"I did it because I was in love with her," Nakamura was quoted as telling investigators during questioning.
The incident comes after Chiba Prefectural Police sent an investigation report to prosecutors on Oct. 26, accusing a 33-year-old officer of fondling the breasts of a woman who visited his police box in Matsudo.
Nakamura fondled the breasts and private parts of a 22-year-old woman detained at the police station's detention facility where he worked as a guard in mid-March this year, investigators said.
Nakamura continued to contact the woman after she was released shortly after the incident.
The incident came to light after the woman reported the abuse to the National Public Safety Commission in early November this year.
警官不祥事：留置場の女性へのわいせつ行為で逮捕…千葉
留置場に拘置中の女性にわいせつ行為をしたとして、千葉県警刑事総務課は６日、同県浦安市高洲、浦安署巡査長、中村憲司容疑者（２６）を特別公務員暴行陵虐容疑で逮捕した。「好意を持っていたのでやった」と容疑を認めているという。
調べでは、中村容疑者は警務課留置係だった３月１５日ごろ、浦安署の留置場に拘置されていた県内の無職女性（２２）の下半身や胸を触るなどした疑い。女性は直後に釈放されたが、中村容疑者は連絡をとり続けていたという。１１月５日に女性が国家公安委員会に被害を訴える投書をして発覚した。
千葉県警は、交番に相談に来た女性の胸を触るなどしたとして、松戸署の巡査（３３）を１０月２６日に同容疑で書類送検したばかりだった。
刑事総務課の前田弘司課長代理は「事件を捜査する立場なので何もコメントできない」と話した。【山本太一、斎藤有香】
Originally printed in Japanese on December 7, 2007
Kenji Nakamura, 26, a senior officer at Urayasu Police Station, stands accused of cruelty as a special public officer. He admitted to the allegations, local police said.
"I did it because I was in love with her," Nakamura was quoted as telling investigators during questioning.
The incident comes after Chiba Prefectural Police sent an investigation report to prosecutors on Oct. 26, accusing a 33-year-old officer of fondling the breasts of a woman who visited his police box in Matsudo.
Nakamura fondled the breasts and private parts of a 22-year-old woman detained at the police station's detention facility where he worked as a guard in mid-March this year, investigators said.
Nakamura continued to contact the woman after she was released shortly after the incident.
The incident came to light after the woman reported the abuse to the National Public Safety Commission in early November this year.
警官不祥事：留置場の女性へのわいせつ行為で逮捕…千葉
留置場に拘置中の女性にわいせつ行為をしたとして、千葉県警刑事総務課は６日、同県浦安市高洲、浦安署巡査長、中村憲司容疑者（２６）を特別公務員暴行陵虐容疑で逮捕した。「好意を持っていたのでやった」と容疑を認めているという。
調べでは、中村容疑者は警務課留置係だった３月１５日ごろ、浦安署の留置場に拘置されていた県内の無職女性（２２）の下半身や胸を触るなどした疑い。女性は直後に釈放されたが、中村容疑者は連絡をとり続けていたという。１１月５日に女性が国家公安委員会に被害を訴える投書をして発覚した。
千葉県警は、交番に相談に来た女性の胸を触るなどしたとして、松戸署の巡査（３３）を１０月２６日に同容疑で書類送検したばかりだった。
刑事総務課の前田弘司課長代理は「事件を捜査する立場なので何もコメントできない」と話した。【山本太一、斎藤有香】
Originally printed in Japanese on December 7, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Burglar with cop fetish caught breaking into police box
NAGOYA -- A man with a penchant for police paraphernalia has been arrested for creeping into a police box, police said.
Yukio Toho, 36, unemployed of Nagoya, was arrested for trespassing.
He admits to the allegations.
"I was interested in the doorknobs," he told the police.
A raid on Toho's home following his arrest unearthed a huge array of police paraphernalia including police notebooks, handcuffs, holsters, batons and filing cabinets, which investigators suspect may all be stolen. Police said the notebook and handcuffs had been stolen from a police box on Nov. 19.
Police said Toho climbed over a fence and trespassed in a police box yard in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, on Dec. 5.
Tuesday December 11, 2007
Yukio Toho, 36, unemployed of Nagoya, was arrested for trespassing.
He admits to the allegations.
"I was interested in the doorknobs," he told the police.
A raid on Toho's home following his arrest unearthed a huge array of police paraphernalia including police notebooks, handcuffs, holsters, batons and filing cabinets, which investigators suspect may all be stolen. Police said the notebook and handcuffs had been stolen from a police box on Nov. 19.
Police said Toho climbed over a fence and trespassed in a police box yard in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, on Dec. 5.
Tuesday December 11, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Crime down nationwide
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan is safer now than it was in 2002, when crime hit a record high, according to a study.
The Japan Urban Security Research Institute calculated municipal crime figures by looking at the number of crimes per 1,000 people in 2006. It then drew up a colored map featuring seven different crime levels, with red indicating a high crime rate and green indicating a low crime rate.
Compared with a map based on figures for 2002, the map for 2006 has significantly fewer areas colored red, indicating fewer municipalities with a high crime rate.
The drop in crime apparently is a result of a series of security measures taken since 2002.
According to the National Police Agency, about 2.05 million crimes were reported across the country last year--a 28 percent decline from 2002, when 2.85 million cases were reported.
To discern the risk of becoming a victim of crimes such as theft and robbery, the Urban Security Research Institute calculated municipal crime rates based on daytime population figures and the number of crimes.
According to the study, crime declined in most municipalities.
The 2002 map shows many red areas in metropolitan areas, but the 2006 map features fewer red-colored places. In 2006, fewer than 10 percent of municipalities had crime rates exceeding 28.9 per 1,000 people.
Even though the trend in which urban areas have high crime rates and rural areas have low rates continued, rates in both areas dropped by about one-third.
Tokyo Metropolitan University Prof. Masahide Maeda, who participated in the study, said: "Security has improved almost equally across the nation, regardless of area, because police and local governments have been bolstering security measures since 2002. That's the major reason."
The NPA in 2002 instructed the Metropolitan Police Department and prefectural police forces to crack down on street crime, such as mugging and bicycle theft. The police started informing residents of crimes, while many residents began voluntary neighborhood patrols. As of June, there were 35,000 volunteer crime-prevention groups.
As a result, over the past four years bicycle thefts and thefts from cars have fallen by about 40 percent from nearly 1 million. Serious crime, such as murder and robbery, also dropped by 16 percent.
In Tokyo, the number of crimes reported for the year surpassed 300,000 for the first time in 2002. The MPD drew up a plan to restore public security to bring the number of cases down to the 1992 level within three years. The MPD more or less accomplished this goal by 2005.
The research institute plans to compile a report by the end of March and distribute it to local governments.
(Dec. 5, 2007)
Japan is safer now than it was in 2002, when crime hit a record high, according to a study.
The Japan Urban Security Research Institute calculated municipal crime figures by looking at the number of crimes per 1,000 people in 2006. It then drew up a colored map featuring seven different crime levels, with red indicating a high crime rate and green indicating a low crime rate.
Compared with a map based on figures for 2002, the map for 2006 has significantly fewer areas colored red, indicating fewer municipalities with a high crime rate.
The drop in crime apparently is a result of a series of security measures taken since 2002.
According to the National Police Agency, about 2.05 million crimes were reported across the country last year--a 28 percent decline from 2002, when 2.85 million cases were reported.
To discern the risk of becoming a victim of crimes such as theft and robbery, the Urban Security Research Institute calculated municipal crime rates based on daytime population figures and the number of crimes.
According to the study, crime declined in most municipalities.
The 2002 map shows many red areas in metropolitan areas, but the 2006 map features fewer red-colored places. In 2006, fewer than 10 percent of municipalities had crime rates exceeding 28.9 per 1,000 people.
Even though the trend in which urban areas have high crime rates and rural areas have low rates continued, rates in both areas dropped by about one-third.
Tokyo Metropolitan University Prof. Masahide Maeda, who participated in the study, said: "Security has improved almost equally across the nation, regardless of area, because police and local governments have been bolstering security measures since 2002. That's the major reason."
The NPA in 2002 instructed the Metropolitan Police Department and prefectural police forces to crack down on street crime, such as mugging and bicycle theft. The police started informing residents of crimes, while many residents began voluntary neighborhood patrols. As of June, there were 35,000 volunteer crime-prevention groups.
As a result, over the past four years bicycle thefts and thefts from cars have fallen by about 40 percent from nearly 1 million. Serious crime, such as murder and robbery, also dropped by 16 percent.
In Tokyo, the number of crimes reported for the year surpassed 300,000 for the first time in 2002. The MPD drew up a plan to restore public security to bring the number of cases down to the 1992 level within three years. The MPD more or less accomplished this goal by 2005.
The research institute plans to compile a report by the end of March and distribute it to local governments.
(Dec. 5, 2007)
Sunday, December 2, 2007
3rd time unlucky for Tokyo robber
The Yomiuri Shimbun
A 48-year-old man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of stealing about 50,000 yen from a convenience store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, that he had held up twice previously, according to the police.
Norihisa Namba, of Koto Ward, allegedly entered the Irifune branch of the Shinsen-gumi convenience store chain and threatened the 38-year-old male part-time clerk at the counter with a knife before grabbing 50,000 yen in cash, at about 4 a.m. Saturday, the police said.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department who had been staking out the store, which was robbed on Oct. 6 and Nov. 5, entered the store, disarmed Namba and arrested him.
Namba told investigators that Saturday's robbery was the third time he had targeted the store and admitted stealing a total of about 785,000 yen in at least five robberies, including the three.
(Dec. 2, 2007)
A 48-year-old man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of stealing about 50,000 yen from a convenience store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, that he had held up twice previously, according to the police.
Norihisa Namba, of Koto Ward, allegedly entered the Irifune branch of the Shinsen-gumi convenience store chain and threatened the 38-year-old male part-time clerk at the counter with a knife before grabbing 50,000 yen in cash, at about 4 a.m. Saturday, the police said.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department who had been staking out the store, which was robbed on Oct. 6 and Nov. 5, entered the store, disarmed Namba and arrested him.
Namba told investigators that Saturday's robbery was the third time he had targeted the store and admitted stealing a total of about 785,000 yen in at least five robberies, including the three.
(Dec. 2, 2007)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Police investigator faces charges for peeping into woman's apartment
WAKKANAI, Hokkaido -- A police investigator faces charges for peeping into a woman's apartment in August while he was suspended from duty, police sources said.
Local police are set to send an investigation report to prosecutors, accusing the 31-year-old senior officer of violating the Minor Offense Law. He admitted to the allegations during questioning.
The investigator peeped into a young woman's apartment in Wakkanai through a window blind late on the night of Aug. 21, according to the sources.
The officer fled the scene in his car parked nearby after a man who was staying at the victim's apartment noticed his actions and warned him. However, police tracked him down from the license plate number of his vehicle that the man remembered.
The officer was suspended from duty on July 6 for leaking confidential investigation information on about 330 individuals onto the Internet through the file-exchange software Winny.
のぞき見：情報流出の巡査長、停職中に女性の部屋を 稚内
私有パソコンから捜査情報をインターネット上に流出させ、停職６カ月の処分を受けた北海道警稚内署刑事課の男性巡査長（３１）が停職期間中の８月、稚内市内で女性の部屋をのぞき見していたことが分かった。道警は２８日にも巡査長を軽犯罪法違反（のぞき見）容疑で稚内区検に書類送検する。
関係者によると、巡査長は８月２１日深夜、稚内市内のアパート１階に住む若い女性の部屋を窓のブラインドの隙間からのぞいたとされる。女性と面識はなく、「散歩中に話し声が聞こえたので近づいた」などと話し、のぞき見したことを認めているという。
女性宅にいた男性が気付くと、巡査長は近くに止めてあった車で逃げたが、男性が車のナンバーを同署に通報した。
巡査長は４月、ファイル交換ソフト「ウィニー」を通じ、約３３０人分の捜査情報をネット上に流出させ、７月６日付で停職処分を受けた。
Mainichi
November 28, 2007
Local police are set to send an investigation report to prosecutors, accusing the 31-year-old senior officer of violating the Minor Offense Law. He admitted to the allegations during questioning.
The investigator peeped into a young woman's apartment in Wakkanai through a window blind late on the night of Aug. 21, according to the sources.
The officer fled the scene in his car parked nearby after a man who was staying at the victim's apartment noticed his actions and warned him. However, police tracked him down from the license plate number of his vehicle that the man remembered.
The officer was suspended from duty on July 6 for leaking confidential investigation information on about 330 individuals onto the Internet through the file-exchange software Winny.
のぞき見：情報流出の巡査長、停職中に女性の部屋を 稚内
私有パソコンから捜査情報をインターネット上に流出させ、停職６カ月の処分を受けた北海道警稚内署刑事課の男性巡査長（３１）が停職期間中の８月、稚内市内で女性の部屋をのぞき見していたことが分かった。道警は２８日にも巡査長を軽犯罪法違反（のぞき見）容疑で稚内区検に書類送検する。
関係者によると、巡査長は８月２１日深夜、稚内市内のアパート１階に住む若い女性の部屋を窓のブラインドの隙間からのぞいたとされる。女性と面識はなく、「散歩中に話し声が聞こえたので近づいた」などと話し、のぞき見したことを認めているという。
女性宅にいた男性が気付くと、巡査長は近くに止めてあった車で逃げたが、男性が車のナンバーを同署に通報した。
巡査長は４月、ファイル交換ソフト「ウィニー」を通じ、約３３０人分の捜査情報をネット上に流出させ、７月６日付で停職処分を受けた。
Mainichi
November 28, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Police giving discretionary contracts
The Yomiuri Shimbun
OSAKA--Traffic safety associations in 30 prefectures were awarded discretionary contracts to oversee parking meter and ticket machine operations by police headquarters this fiscal year, even though a revision of a related regulation in January opened up the bidding to private firms and other bodies, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Some of the associations' employees are retired police officers.
Parking meters and parking ticket machines have been introduced in 40 prefectures. While 10 prefectural police headquarters invited public bids for the management of the machines, only one prefecture awarded the contract to a private firm.
Discretionary contracts awarded to the traffic safety associations in the 30 prefectures were worth 5 billion yen, a figure that represents 98 percent of the overall value of the contracts.
According to the National Police Agency, Road Traffic Law regulations allowed the commissioning of management works to public corporations established "to contribute to traffic safety" until fiscal 2006. Prefectural police awarded discretionary contracts for the works to local traffic safety associations until that point.
However, the three-year plan for deregulation and opening up of public business to the private sector, which was adopted at a Cabinet meeting in March 2006, concluded there was no appropriate reason to limit such management works to public corporations.
As a result, the regulation was revised to allow the private sector to bid for such management contracts.
According to documents obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun from the relevant prefectural police headquarters based on the Freedom of Information Act, 40 prefectural police headquarters commissioned management works worth a total of 5.1 billion yen to outside bodies in fiscal 2007.
However, the Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka and 26 other prefectural police headquarters did not invite bids for the works, and instead awarded discretionary contracts to traffic safety associations.
In the case of the 11 prefectural police forces that disclosed the expected maximum price of the contract, the actual contract prices reached an average of 99.8 percent of the expected maximum contract prices.
Only 10 prefectural police headquarters, which own the relatively small number of parking meters and ticket machines, invited bids.
In three of the 10 prefectures, a traffic safety association and private firms participated in the bid for the works. Oita Prefecture's traffic safety association won the contract at 9.9 million yen, about half of the last fiscal year's contract price.
In Wakayama Prefecture, the prefecture's association did not want to bid, so the one private security firm that took part in the bidding won the contract--the sole example of a private firm winning a management contract.
In six of the 10 prefectures, only traffic safety associations participated in the bids. The prefectural police headquarters in Nara only permitted bodies that had registered management of parking ticket machines as one of their business activities with the prefectural government to participate in the bid, technically limiting the bid's participants to the prefecture's traffic safety association. The contract was awarded to the association at the ceiling price.
===
'Transparency a must'
The MPD commissioned the management work of parking meters to the Tokyo Traffic Safety Association at its discretion for 3.31 billion yen.
An MPD officer who oversees the enforcement of parking regulations said, "We can't allow an inappropriate body to get involved in the [parking regulation] business, even if we're told to open up the bidding to the private sector."
About 710, or 60 percent, of the Tokyo association's employees are former police officers, including a former MPD traffic department chief who now serves as its executive director.
Parking meters are provided for about 15,000 parking spaces, and there are ticket machines for about 3,250 parking spaces in Tokyo.
The association's employees collect parking fees and check the machines.
The MPD officer indicated the MPD might again award a discretionary contract to the association next fiscal year, saying: "We contend there aren't many bodies that are capable of dealing with a great number of ticket machines. It might be a good idea to divide the area into smaller zones and allow different bodies to handle the various zones. It may take some time before we can determine the best way to award contracts for the works."
Prof. Sakae Kitazawa of Tohoku University of Community Service and Science said: "Ministries and other public offices often attempt to award discretionary contracts for public works to bodies that are related to the offices, by putting too much emphasis on the public and somewhat unusual nature of the tasks. But I don't believe the management of parking meters requires special abilities. The police should invite open bids to ensure their contracts are transparent.
(Nov. 25, 2007)
OSAKA--Traffic safety associations in 30 prefectures were awarded discretionary contracts to oversee parking meter and ticket machine operations by police headquarters this fiscal year, even though a revision of a related regulation in January opened up the bidding to private firms and other bodies, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Some of the associations' employees are retired police officers.
Parking meters and parking ticket machines have been introduced in 40 prefectures. While 10 prefectural police headquarters invited public bids for the management of the machines, only one prefecture awarded the contract to a private firm.
Discretionary contracts awarded to the traffic safety associations in the 30 prefectures were worth 5 billion yen, a figure that represents 98 percent of the overall value of the contracts.
According to the National Police Agency, Road Traffic Law regulations allowed the commissioning of management works to public corporations established "to contribute to traffic safety" until fiscal 2006. Prefectural police awarded discretionary contracts for the works to local traffic safety associations until that point.
However, the three-year plan for deregulation and opening up of public business to the private sector, which was adopted at a Cabinet meeting in March 2006, concluded there was no appropriate reason to limit such management works to public corporations.
As a result, the regulation was revised to allow the private sector to bid for such management contracts.
According to documents obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun from the relevant prefectural police headquarters based on the Freedom of Information Act, 40 prefectural police headquarters commissioned management works worth a total of 5.1 billion yen to outside bodies in fiscal 2007.
However, the Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka and 26 other prefectural police headquarters did not invite bids for the works, and instead awarded discretionary contracts to traffic safety associations.
In the case of the 11 prefectural police forces that disclosed the expected maximum price of the contract, the actual contract prices reached an average of 99.8 percent of the expected maximum contract prices.
Only 10 prefectural police headquarters, which own the relatively small number of parking meters and ticket machines, invited bids.
In three of the 10 prefectures, a traffic safety association and private firms participated in the bid for the works. Oita Prefecture's traffic safety association won the contract at 9.9 million yen, about half of the last fiscal year's contract price.
In Wakayama Prefecture, the prefecture's association did not want to bid, so the one private security firm that took part in the bidding won the contract--the sole example of a private firm winning a management contract.
In six of the 10 prefectures, only traffic safety associations participated in the bids. The prefectural police headquarters in Nara only permitted bodies that had registered management of parking ticket machines as one of their business activities with the prefectural government to participate in the bid, technically limiting the bid's participants to the prefecture's traffic safety association. The contract was awarded to the association at the ceiling price.
===
'Transparency a must'
The MPD commissioned the management work of parking meters to the Tokyo Traffic Safety Association at its discretion for 3.31 billion yen.
An MPD officer who oversees the enforcement of parking regulations said, "We can't allow an inappropriate body to get involved in the [parking regulation] business, even if we're told to open up the bidding to the private sector."
About 710, or 60 percent, of the Tokyo association's employees are former police officers, including a former MPD traffic department chief who now serves as its executive director.
Parking meters are provided for about 15,000 parking spaces, and there are ticket machines for about 3,250 parking spaces in Tokyo.
The association's employees collect parking fees and check the machines.
The MPD officer indicated the MPD might again award a discretionary contract to the association next fiscal year, saying: "We contend there aren't many bodies that are capable of dealing with a great number of ticket machines. It might be a good idea to divide the area into smaller zones and allow different bodies to handle the various zones. It may take some time before we can determine the best way to award contracts for the works."
Prof. Sakae Kitazawa of Tohoku University of Community Service and Science said: "Ministries and other public offices often attempt to award discretionary contracts for public works to bodies that are related to the offices, by putting too much emphasis on the public and somewhat unusual nature of the tasks. But I don't believe the management of parking meters requires special abilities. The police should invite open bids to ensure their contracts are transparent.
(Nov. 25, 2007)
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Iwate cops silent for years over sex cases involving force members
MORIOKA -- Sex cases involving members of the Iwate Prefectural Police force were keep secret from the public for up to two years, the Mainichi has learned.
The cases involved an assistant inspector who groped a female colleague's breasts last year, and another police force desk worker reported to prosecutors for taking footage of women using a hidden camera in 2005.
Police internal affairs officials said that on the night of March 8, 2006, following a party, the assistant inspector in his 40s fondled the breasts of a female colleague. Other members of the force reported the incident, but no criminal case was launched because the victim refused to press charges.
On May 19 last year, the assistant inspector was given a reprimand and was transferred away in the spring of this year.
In 2005, documents accusing a force administrative official with using a hidden camera were sent to prosecutors.
Iwate Prefectural Police did not go public with either case.
岩手県警：男性警部補がセクハラ戒告…公表せず ０６年
岩手県警の男性警部補が０６年、同僚女性へのセクハラで戒告処分となり、男性事務職員も０５年に盗撮で書類送検されていたことが分かった。いずれの不祥事も当時、岩手県警は公表しなかった。
県警監察課によると、４０代の男性警部補は０６年３月８日、盛岡市の飲食店での宴会終了後、同僚女性の胸を触れるなどした。同僚らの指摘で発覚したが、女性から被害届が出されず、刑事事件にしなかったという。同年５月１９日に戒告処分を受け今春、定期異動した。
４０代の事務職員は０５年１１月３日、盛岡市のレンタルビデオ店で女性のスカートの中をカメラ付き携帯電話で撮影。県迷惑防止条例違反容疑で盛岡区検に書類送検され、盛岡簡裁で罰金１０万円の略式命令を受けた。同年１１月３０日に６カ月の減給処分となり依願退職した。
県警の高橋俊一監察課次長は▽被害者らのプライバシーに配慮した▽逮捕されていない▽職務上の不祥事ではなく私的な場－－として、「基準に沿って発表しなかった」と述べた。【山口圭一】
Mainichi
November 22, 2007
The cases involved an assistant inspector who groped a female colleague's breasts last year, and another police force desk worker reported to prosecutors for taking footage of women using a hidden camera in 2005.
Police internal affairs officials said that on the night of March 8, 2006, following a party, the assistant inspector in his 40s fondled the breasts of a female colleague. Other members of the force reported the incident, but no criminal case was launched because the victim refused to press charges.
On May 19 last year, the assistant inspector was given a reprimand and was transferred away in the spring of this year.
In 2005, documents accusing a force administrative official with using a hidden camera were sent to prosecutors.
Iwate Prefectural Police did not go public with either case.
岩手県警：男性警部補がセクハラ戒告…公表せず ０６年
岩手県警の男性警部補が０６年、同僚女性へのセクハラで戒告処分となり、男性事務職員も０５年に盗撮で書類送検されていたことが分かった。いずれの不祥事も当時、岩手県警は公表しなかった。
県警監察課によると、４０代の男性警部補は０６年３月８日、盛岡市の飲食店での宴会終了後、同僚女性の胸を触れるなどした。同僚らの指摘で発覚したが、女性から被害届が出されず、刑事事件にしなかったという。同年５月１９日に戒告処分を受け今春、定期異動した。
４０代の事務職員は０５年１１月３日、盛岡市のレンタルビデオ店で女性のスカートの中をカメラ付き携帯電話で撮影。県迷惑防止条例違反容疑で盛岡区検に書類送検され、盛岡簡裁で罰金１０万円の略式命令を受けた。同年１１月３０日に６カ月の減給処分となり依願退職した。
県警の高橋俊一監察課次長は▽被害者らのプライバシーに配慮した▽逮捕されていない▽職務上の不祥事ではなく私的な場－－として、「基準に沿って発表しなかった」と述べた。【山口圭一】
Mainichi
November 22, 2007
Ex-cop jailed for 'trampling on women's human rights' in sex cases
OSAKA -- Former Osaka Prefectural Police officer Hidetoshi Sakamoto has been jailed for 3 years for taking nude photos of a schoolgirl and woman and threatening them with violence and exposure, a court here ruled.
Sakamoto, 26, the former law enforcer, was found guilty by the Osaka District Court of indecent assault and attempted blackmail.
"They were extremely malicious crimes that trampled on the human rights of the women involved," Presiding Judge Takahiro Mikami said as he handed down the ruling.
Court records showed that in January the former Sumiyoshi Police Station officer threatened a junior high schoolgirl with a paper cutter at a hotel where he stripped her, tied her up and took photos of her.
Then, in April, Sakamoto took nude photos of a woman in her 20s who he had met through a matchmaking site and demanded she pay him 500,000 yen or he would make the pictures public.
Mainichi November 22, 2007
恐喝未遂：元巡査に懲役３年 大阪地裁
出会い系サイトで知り合った女性の裸の写真を撮影し金を脅し取ろうとしたとして、恐喝未遂と強制わいせつの罪に問われた元大阪府警住吉署地域課巡査、坂本秀俊被告（２６）に対し、大阪地裁は２１日、懲役３年（求刑・懲役５年）を言い渡した。三上孝浩裁判官は「犯行は女性の人権を踏みにじるもので極めて悪質」と述べた。
判決によると、坂本被告は今年１月、ホテルで当時中学３年の少女にカッターナイフを突きつけ、裸にしてロープで縛って写真を撮るなどした。４月には２０代女性の裸の写真を撮影して「ばらまかれたくなければ５０万円を用意しろ」などと脅した。【川辺康広】
Sakamoto, 26, the former law enforcer, was found guilty by the Osaka District Court of indecent assault and attempted blackmail.
"They were extremely malicious crimes that trampled on the human rights of the women involved," Presiding Judge Takahiro Mikami said as he handed down the ruling.
Court records showed that in January the former Sumiyoshi Police Station officer threatened a junior high schoolgirl with a paper cutter at a hotel where he stripped her, tied her up and took photos of her.
Then, in April, Sakamoto took nude photos of a woman in her 20s who he had met through a matchmaking site and demanded she pay him 500,000 yen or he would make the pictures public.
Mainichi November 22, 2007
恐喝未遂：元巡査に懲役３年 大阪地裁
出会い系サイトで知り合った女性の裸の写真を撮影し金を脅し取ろうとしたとして、恐喝未遂と強制わいせつの罪に問われた元大阪府警住吉署地域課巡査、坂本秀俊被告（２６）に対し、大阪地裁は２１日、懲役３年（求刑・懲役５年）を言い渡した。三上孝浩裁判官は「犯行は女性の人権を踏みにじるもので極めて悪質」と述べた。
判決によると、坂本被告は今年１月、ホテルで当時中学３年の少女にカッターナイフを突きつけ、裸にしてロープで縛って写真を撮るなどした。４月には２０代女性の裸の写真を撮影して「ばらまかれたくなければ５０万円を用意しろ」などと脅した。【川辺康広】
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Cop busted for possessing stimulants admits drug addiction
SAPPORO -- A police sergeant arrested for possessing stimulants has admitted that he is addicted to the drug, police said.
Hideyoshi Sasaki, 35, a sergeant at a police box in front of JR Sapporo Station, stands accused of violating the Stimulants Control Law.
"I began to use stimulants two years ago because I was exhausted from caring for an ailing family member. I became addicted to the drug. I'm sorry," he was quoted as telling investigators. "I last used stimulants on Monday."
He was arrested after he turned himself in to a police station late Tuesday night, possessing a syringe and stimulants and accompanied by his mother and other relatives.
Sasaki allegedly bought the illegal drug after obtaining a dealer's contact number on the Internet.
覚せい剤：札幌中央署の巡査部長逮捕 親族付き添い自首
札幌中央署は２０日、札幌市北区新琴似１１の３、同署地域課巡査部長で札幌駅前交番に勤務する佐々木英嘉（ひでよし）容疑者（３５）を覚せい剤取締法違反（所持）の疑いで逮捕した。佐々木容疑者が同日夜、母親など親族に付き添われ、覚せい剤と注射器を持って自首した。佐々木容疑者は使用や入手経路について自供しており、道警は裏付け捜査を進める。
調べでは、佐々木容疑者はビニール袋入りの覚せい剤５袋を所持した疑い。「２年ぐらい前から病気の家族の介護疲れで使用するようになった。覚せい剤に依存し、こうなってしまい申し訳ない」と話しているという。
インターネットで覚せい剤の売買情報を入手、携帯電話で連絡を取るなどして購入していたらしい。自首時に持参した覚せい剤は１１月初旬に購入し、「最後に使用したのは１９日。注射器で使用した」と供述しているという。腕には複数の注射痕があった。家族が佐々木容疑者の様子がおかしいと問いただした際、覚せい剤使用を打ち明けた。
佐々木容疑者は９７年４月に道警に採用された後、札幌東署地域課や生活安全課などで勤務し、今年４月に札幌中央署へ異動した。体調を崩して９月１２日から入院し、１０月３１日に退院した後は２０日まで自宅療養していた。
道警では０２年７月に生活特別捜査班長だった警部が同法違反（使用）容疑で逮捕されている。
谷口茂樹・監察官室長は「警察官にあるまじき行為で遺憾。今後、厳正に処分する」とコメントを出した。
Mainichi
November 21, 2007
Hideyoshi Sasaki, 35, a sergeant at a police box in front of JR Sapporo Station, stands accused of violating the Stimulants Control Law.
"I began to use stimulants two years ago because I was exhausted from caring for an ailing family member. I became addicted to the drug. I'm sorry," he was quoted as telling investigators. "I last used stimulants on Monday."
He was arrested after he turned himself in to a police station late Tuesday night, possessing a syringe and stimulants and accompanied by his mother and other relatives.
Sasaki allegedly bought the illegal drug after obtaining a dealer's contact number on the Internet.
覚せい剤：札幌中央署の巡査部長逮捕 親族付き添い自首
札幌中央署は２０日、札幌市北区新琴似１１の３、同署地域課巡査部長で札幌駅前交番に勤務する佐々木英嘉（ひでよし）容疑者（３５）を覚せい剤取締法違反（所持）の疑いで逮捕した。佐々木容疑者が同日夜、母親など親族に付き添われ、覚せい剤と注射器を持って自首した。佐々木容疑者は使用や入手経路について自供しており、道警は裏付け捜査を進める。
調べでは、佐々木容疑者はビニール袋入りの覚せい剤５袋を所持した疑い。「２年ぐらい前から病気の家族の介護疲れで使用するようになった。覚せい剤に依存し、こうなってしまい申し訳ない」と話しているという。
インターネットで覚せい剤の売買情報を入手、携帯電話で連絡を取るなどして購入していたらしい。自首時に持参した覚せい剤は１１月初旬に購入し、「最後に使用したのは１９日。注射器で使用した」と供述しているという。腕には複数の注射痕があった。家族が佐々木容疑者の様子がおかしいと問いただした際、覚せい剤使用を打ち明けた。
佐々木容疑者は９７年４月に道警に採用された後、札幌東署地域課や生活安全課などで勤務し、今年４月に札幌中央署へ異動した。体調を崩して９月１２日から入院し、１０月３１日に退院した後は２０日まで自宅療養していた。
道警では０２年７月に生活特別捜査班長だった警部が同法違反（使用）容疑で逮捕されている。
谷口茂樹・監察官室長は「警察官にあるまじき行為で遺憾。今後、厳正に処分する」とコメントを出した。
Mainichi
November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
'Love letters' reduce recidivism among teens
The Yomiuri Shimbun
"Love letters" sent by police to delinquent teenagers have proved successful in opening up their minds and encouraging them not to reoffend.
Since April last year, letters have been sent to about 100 boys and girls arrested for criminal offenses or held in police custody in areas under the jurisdiction of Morioka Higashi Police Station of the Iwate prefectural police.
Named "Ai no Reta," they are written by four female police officers who belong to the station's Community Safety Section. The number of letters written over the period has topped 130.
In the process of exchanging letters with the teenagers, the section has received letters from some of the boys saying, "I'm so happy when I read the letters, I feel close to tears."
The recidivism rate so far this year in the areas under the jurisdiction of the police station has dropped to one-third of the corresponding period last year.
With the central part of Morioka under its jurisdiction, the police station had seen a high recidivism rate of juvenile delinquency before the "letter campaign" was launched.
To ensure recipients of the letters do not feel wary about the letters, the name of the sender is not written on the envelopes. The end of each letter itself is signed "From all those at Morioka Higashi Police Station."
One girl who was held in custody in the summer of last year after repeatedly running away from home sent a reply to a female police officer with whom she exchanged letters over a period of about one year, saying, "I really regret how stupid I used to be."
When the female officer sent a letter to the girl for the first time on her birthday in October last year, she sent back a reply full of complaints about school and the people around her. "I've no energy" and "I've no intention whatsoever of trying to understand the feelings of my mother" were among the comments she wrote. Among all the harsh language used by the girl, the officer sensed her loneliness and continued to send letters to the girl.
The officer has continued corresponding with the girl, who went on to express her difficulties in adjusting to a new environment after moving out of the prefecture. The officer told the girl, "It's OK to cry when you feel sad or things seem hard." As their correspondence continued, the girl started to use gentler language and some polite language. She eventually acknowledged that she did actually want to live with her mother after all.
The recidivism rate by boys in areas under the jurisdiction of Morioka Higashi Police Station dropped to 7 percent in the January-October period this year, down drastically from 21 percent recorded in the same period last year. The 7 percent figure is far below the national average of 30 percent for last year.
The female police officer who exchanged letters with the girl said: "I also felt lonely at school, but I was able to overcome the feeling because of the support of the people around me. It's good if we can accept and understand their loneliness even a little."
(Nov. 20, 2007)
"Love letters" sent by police to delinquent teenagers have proved successful in opening up their minds and encouraging them not to reoffend.
Since April last year, letters have been sent to about 100 boys and girls arrested for criminal offenses or held in police custody in areas under the jurisdiction of Morioka Higashi Police Station of the Iwate prefectural police.
Named "Ai no Reta," they are written by four female police officers who belong to the station's Community Safety Section. The number of letters written over the period has topped 130.
In the process of exchanging letters with the teenagers, the section has received letters from some of the boys saying, "I'm so happy when I read the letters, I feel close to tears."
The recidivism rate so far this year in the areas under the jurisdiction of the police station has dropped to one-third of the corresponding period last year.
With the central part of Morioka under its jurisdiction, the police station had seen a high recidivism rate of juvenile delinquency before the "letter campaign" was launched.
To ensure recipients of the letters do not feel wary about the letters, the name of the sender is not written on the envelopes. The end of each letter itself is signed "From all those at Morioka Higashi Police Station."
One girl who was held in custody in the summer of last year after repeatedly running away from home sent a reply to a female police officer with whom she exchanged letters over a period of about one year, saying, "I really regret how stupid I used to be."
When the female officer sent a letter to the girl for the first time on her birthday in October last year, she sent back a reply full of complaints about school and the people around her. "I've no energy" and "I've no intention whatsoever of trying to understand the feelings of my mother" were among the comments she wrote. Among all the harsh language used by the girl, the officer sensed her loneliness and continued to send letters to the girl.
The officer has continued corresponding with the girl, who went on to express her difficulties in adjusting to a new environment after moving out of the prefecture. The officer told the girl, "It's OK to cry when you feel sad or things seem hard." As their correspondence continued, the girl started to use gentler language and some polite language. She eventually acknowledged that she did actually want to live with her mother after all.
The recidivism rate by boys in areas under the jurisdiction of Morioka Higashi Police Station dropped to 7 percent in the January-October period this year, down drastically from 21 percent recorded in the same period last year. The 7 percent figure is far below the national average of 30 percent for last year.
The female police officer who exchanged letters with the girl said: "I also felt lonely at school, but I was able to overcome the feeling because of the support of the people around me. It's good if we can accept and understand their loneliness even a little."
(Nov. 20, 2007)
Monday, November 19, 2007
Police investigator arrested for crashing car while driving drunk
SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi -- A police investigator has been arrested for causing a car crash on a national highway here while driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.
Yukio Yasuda, 51, a sergeant at Shimonoseki Police Station's second criminal investigation division, stands accused of violating the Road Traffic Law. He admitted to the allegations during questioning.
"I drank four or five glasses of shochu (a kind of distilled liquor) before driving. I'm terribly sorry," Yasuda was quoted as telling his bosses.
Yamaguchi Prefectural Police were apologetic about the incident. "It's indeed regrettable. We'll take strict punitive measures against him after getting to the bottom of the incident," said Sadao Ishida, a senior official with the force's inspection office.
At around 9:55 p.m. on Sunday, Yasuda crashed his car into a vehicle that was stopped at a red traffic light along Route 9 in Shimonoseki, local police said. A breath test found that he was under the influence of alcohol. The 41-year-old woman who was driving the car that was crashed by Yasuda's vehicle was not injured.
Yukio Yasuda, 51, a sergeant at Shimonoseki Police Station's second criminal investigation division, stands accused of violating the Road Traffic Law. He admitted to the allegations during questioning.
"I drank four or five glasses of shochu (a kind of distilled liquor) before driving. I'm terribly sorry," Yasuda was quoted as telling his bosses.
Yamaguchi Prefectural Police were apologetic about the incident. "It's indeed regrettable. We'll take strict punitive measures against him after getting to the bottom of the incident," said Sadao Ishida, a senior official with the force's inspection office.
At around 9:55 p.m. on Sunday, Yasuda crashed his car into a vehicle that was stopped at a red traffic light along Route 9 in Shimonoseki, local police said. A breath test found that he was under the influence of alcohol. The 41-year-old woman who was driving the car that was crashed by Yasuda's vehicle was not injured.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Nara cop posts investigative information on Mixi
The Yomiuri Shimbun
A Nara prefectural police officer posted information about police investigations, including an announcement of a forthcoming crackdown on a group of motorcycle gangs, on a message board of Internet social networking site Mixi, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The officer, in his 20s, reportedly posted messages on the site, which has about 11 million registered members, during his working hours.
His superior officers verbally reprimanded him for his actions. Police sources quoted him as saying, "I was careless."
The officer began posting messages on the site from around August. He introduced himself in his profile section as a public servant working in the traffic division of a police station. He replaced some of the kanji identifying the police station where he is assigned with symbols, but it was still clear that he was a police officer working at a station in Nara Prefecture.
He reportedly also disclosed his gender, the area where he lives and his birth date.
According to sources, at 12:22 a.m. on Oct. 2 he posted a message saying, "A certain police station's special investigation task force finally obtained arrest warrants for a motorcycle gang group and will conduct a crackdown on them tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep soon because I have to go [to the police station] early tomorrow morning to provide backup."
In a message posted at 1:57 p.m. on Aug. 24, he wrote: "A rear-end accident occurred on National Highway Route 165!! The person in the car that was hit from behind was injured. The car that rear-ended the other one is reported to be on the run!! This is a hit-and-run...And there was a report that the suspect car was caught shortly after I left the police station in an unmarked patrol car. Damn, I missed out."
When the car's driver was arrested without a warrant, the officer wrote: "Now I'm at a district court seeking a warrant. It'll take some time to get it, so I'm waiting...Because of this, [I will lose] my consecutive days off...I'm crying."
All the messages he wrote described events that occurred, the sources said.
The policeman also referred in detail to accidents and described himself as "buried under a mountain of documents" in a post titled "On duty reports!?"
There were about 11.1 million registered Mixi members as of July 31. Only registered members can browse its message boards. Those who post messages can limit viewers of the messages to friends, friends and their friends or any Mixi member.
The officer's messages were accessible to all members, and the police received reports from some who read his messages, the sources said.
The officer was quoted by the police as saying, "I thought only my friends could read my posts."
(Nov. 9, 2007)
A Nara prefectural police officer posted information about police investigations, including an announcement of a forthcoming crackdown on a group of motorcycle gangs, on a message board of Internet social networking site Mixi, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The officer, in his 20s, reportedly posted messages on the site, which has about 11 million registered members, during his working hours.
His superior officers verbally reprimanded him for his actions. Police sources quoted him as saying, "I was careless."
The officer began posting messages on the site from around August. He introduced himself in his profile section as a public servant working in the traffic division of a police station. He replaced some of the kanji identifying the police station where he is assigned with symbols, but it was still clear that he was a police officer working at a station in Nara Prefecture.
He reportedly also disclosed his gender, the area where he lives and his birth date.
According to sources, at 12:22 a.m. on Oct. 2 he posted a message saying, "A certain police station's special investigation task force finally obtained arrest warrants for a motorcycle gang group and will conduct a crackdown on them tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep soon because I have to go [to the police station] early tomorrow morning to provide backup."
In a message posted at 1:57 p.m. on Aug. 24, he wrote: "A rear-end accident occurred on National Highway Route 165!! The person in the car that was hit from behind was injured. The car that rear-ended the other one is reported to be on the run!! This is a hit-and-run...And there was a report that the suspect car was caught shortly after I left the police station in an unmarked patrol car. Damn, I missed out."
When the car's driver was arrested without a warrant, the officer wrote: "Now I'm at a district court seeking a warrant. It'll take some time to get it, so I'm waiting...Because of this, [I will lose] my consecutive days off...I'm crying."
All the messages he wrote described events that occurred, the sources said.
The policeman also referred in detail to accidents and described himself as "buried under a mountain of documents" in a post titled "On duty reports!?"
There were about 11.1 million registered Mixi members as of July 31. Only registered members can browse its message boards. Those who post messages can limit viewers of the messages to friends, friends and their friends or any Mixi member.
The officer's messages were accessible to all members, and the police received reports from some who read his messages, the sources said.
The officer was quoted by the police as saying, "I thought only my friends could read my posts."
(Nov. 9, 2007)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
High court acquits jobless man of shoving policeman
OSAKA -- A high court acquitted a man of injuring a policeman, overturning a lower court ruling that had given him a suspended prison term.
The Osaka High Court found a 47-year-old unemployed man from Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, not guilty of injuring an assistant inspector from Fushimi Police Station.
Earlier, the Kyoto District Court had convicted the man of interfering with a police officer in the execution of his duties and inflicting bodily injury, sentencing him to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years.
"It is incomprehensible that the witnesses who were at the scene did not see the policeman being attacked," said Presiding Judge Ichiro Nakasone at the Osaka High Court in handing down the ruling.
The judge also ruled that the man's statements during the police investigation were "unreliable."
The assistant police inspector questioned the man on a street in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, in September last year, and then asked him to come voluntarily to a police box nearby for questioning, according to the indictment.
The man had been indicted for shoving the chest of the policeman, making him fall to the ground twice and inflicting him with injuries that took one week to heal.
Mainichi
October 8, 2007
The Osaka High Court found a 47-year-old unemployed man from Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, not guilty of injuring an assistant inspector from Fushimi Police Station.
Earlier, the Kyoto District Court had convicted the man of interfering with a police officer in the execution of his duties and inflicting bodily injury, sentencing him to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years.
"It is incomprehensible that the witnesses who were at the scene did not see the policeman being attacked," said Presiding Judge Ichiro Nakasone at the Osaka High Court in handing down the ruling.
The judge also ruled that the man's statements during the police investigation were "unreliable."
The assistant police inspector questioned the man on a street in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, in September last year, and then asked him to come voluntarily to a police box nearby for questioning, according to the indictment.
The man had been indicted for shoving the chest of the policeman, making him fall to the ground twice and inflicting him with injuries that took one week to heal.
Mainichi
October 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Cop resigns after disposing [of] criminal complaints at home
SAITAMA -- A police officer has resigned after being reprimanded last month for disposing criminal complaints filed by more than 10 people at his home, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned.
The Mainichi Shimbun made the discovery after it gained access to relevant documents under the local government's information disclosure system.
The officer admitted to the allegations. "I kept the documents in my locker and forgot to submit them. When I was transferred, I took the documents home and disposed them," he was quoted as telling his bosses.
The 49-year-old officer with Saitama Prefectural Police accepted criminal complaints on more than 10 incidents such as theft and trespassing in 1994 and between 2003 and 2004 when he was working at police boxes, according to the force's inspection office.
Nevertheless, he failed to compile investigation reports and took home the complaints and disposed them.
Mainichi
November 7, 2007
The Mainichi Shimbun made the discovery after it gained access to relevant documents under the local government's information disclosure system.
The officer admitted to the allegations. "I kept the documents in my locker and forgot to submit them. When I was transferred, I took the documents home and disposed them," he was quoted as telling his bosses.
The 49-year-old officer with Saitama Prefectural Police accepted criminal complaints on more than 10 incidents such as theft and trespassing in 1994 and between 2003 and 2004 when he was working at police boxes, according to the force's inspection office.
Nevertheless, he failed to compile investigation reports and took home the complaints and disposed them.
Mainichi
November 7, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Senior cop collared for shoplifting from drugstore after jumping out of window
HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka -- A senior policeman was arrested on Monday for shoplifting from a drugstore here after jumping out of a window in a failed getaway attempt, investigators said.
Hidenori Ishikawa, 32, a senior policeman at the Hamamatsu-higashi Police Station, was arrested on charges of theft. He has admitted to the allegations.
According to police, Ishikawa was caught stealing candy, towels and other goods worth a total of 2,800 yen from a drugstore in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, at around 4:20 p.m. on Sunday.
He was questioned in a staff room on the second floor of the store but didn't identify himself and instead gave police a false address. Later at around 5:00 p.m., Ishikawa jumped out of a window in the room onto the ground about 3.5 meters below in an attempt to flee but was caught by police officers after running about 200 meters away.
Ishikawa sustained light injuries that will take about two weeks to heal, according to police.
The disgraced police officer, who was off duty on Sunday, was quoted by police as saying, "I went into the store to buy drinks, but when I was walking around, I wanted to get more stuff. I fled because I was afraid they were going to identify me as a policeman."
Masatoshi Aoshima, head of the Hamamatsu-higashi Police Station, said, "It is an act unworthy of a policeman and it's highly regrettable. We'd like to deeply apologize to prefectural citizens."
October 5, 2007
Mainichi
Hidenori Ishikawa, 32, a senior policeman at the Hamamatsu-higashi Police Station, was arrested on charges of theft. He has admitted to the allegations.
According to police, Ishikawa was caught stealing candy, towels and other goods worth a total of 2,800 yen from a drugstore in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, at around 4:20 p.m. on Sunday.
He was questioned in a staff room on the second floor of the store but didn't identify himself and instead gave police a false address. Later at around 5:00 p.m., Ishikawa jumped out of a window in the room onto the ground about 3.5 meters below in an attempt to flee but was caught by police officers after running about 200 meters away.
Ishikawa sustained light injuries that will take about two weeks to heal, according to police.
The disgraced police officer, who was off duty on Sunday, was quoted by police as saying, "I went into the store to buy drinks, but when I was walking around, I wanted to get more stuff. I fled because I was afraid they were going to identify me as a policeman."
Masatoshi Aoshima, head of the Hamamatsu-higashi Police Station, said, "It is an act unworthy of a policeman and it's highly regrettable. We'd like to deeply apologize to prefectural citizens."
October 5, 2007
Mainichi
Sunday, October 28, 2007
10,000 IT terms, trendy words to be added to Kojien dictionary
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 06:48 EDT
TOKYO — Around 10,000 entries, including information technology terms and trendy words, will be added to the next version of the prestigious "Kojien" Japanese dictionary, Iwanami Shoten Publishers said Tuesday.
The terms to be added include Japanese words for whistle-blowing, the Iraq war and NEET (not in education, employment or training), as well as youth slang such as "love-love" (mutually in love), "uzai" (annoying) and "gyakugire" (becoming offensive instead of reflecting).
With the additions, the total number of entries in the sixth edition of the Kojien, or Comprehensive Dictionary of the Japanese Language, will come to around 240,000. The edition will be published Jan 11.
The publishing house examined about 100,000 words collected from the Internet and media reports since the fifth edition was published in 1998 and selected around 10,000 words after judging they had become popular.
The new entries also include words about the environment, finance and the economy.
"The changes in the roughly 10 years since the revisions to the fifth edition correspond to 100 years in the past. The progress in scientific technology and informatization are reflected in the language," Iwanami President Akio Yamaguchi said.
The publisher chose not to include trendy words such as "Ina Bauer," "cool biz" and "moe" (cute) after concluding that their use will be short-lived or not very popular.
Referred to as "the standard of the Japanese language," the Kojien was first published in 1955, according to the Iwanami website.
TOKYO — Around 10,000 entries, including information technology terms and trendy words, will be added to the next version of the prestigious "Kojien" Japanese dictionary, Iwanami Shoten Publishers said Tuesday.
The terms to be added include Japanese words for whistle-blowing, the Iraq war and NEET (not in education, employment or training), as well as youth slang such as "love-love" (mutually in love), "uzai" (annoying) and "gyakugire" (becoming offensive instead of reflecting).
With the additions, the total number of entries in the sixth edition of the Kojien, or Comprehensive Dictionary of the Japanese Language, will come to around 240,000. The edition will be published Jan 11.
The publishing house examined about 100,000 words collected from the Internet and media reports since the fifth edition was published in 1998 and selected around 10,000 words after judging they had become popular.
The new entries also include words about the environment, finance and the economy.
"The changes in the roughly 10 years since the revisions to the fifth edition correspond to 100 years in the past. The progress in scientific technology and informatization are reflected in the language," Iwanami President Akio Yamaguchi said.
The publisher chose not to include trendy words such as "Ina Bauer," "cool biz" and "moe" (cute) after concluding that their use will be short-lived or not very popular.
Referred to as "the standard of the Japanese language," the Kojien was first published in 1955, according to the Iwanami website.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Chiba cop molests woman looking for help in stalking case
CHIBA -- A police officer faces charges for molesting a woman who came looking for help with a stalker, prefectural police said.
Chiba Prefectural Police has sent an investigation document to prosecutors accusing the officer, 33-year-old Yoshitaka Miura, of violence and cruelty as a special public officer. He is currently not under arrest.
He resigned Friday after being slapped with a six-month suspension from duty. He admitted to the allegations during questioning, investigators said.
The prefectural police inspection office justified its decision not to arrest him.
"It was unnecessary to arrest him, since there are no concerns that he will abscond or destroy evidence," said. Hideo Okada, a senior official of the prefectural police inspection office. "We'll step up discipline amongst officers to prevent a recurrence."
The incident occurred on July 3, the force's inspection office said. At about 2:30 p.m., the victim visited a police box in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, where Miura was working, and told him she was being stalked and defrauded.
Later that day, Miura went to her apartment in uniform, and fondled her breasts during his one-hour visit.
October 27, 2007
Chiba Prefectural Police has sent an investigation document to prosecutors accusing the officer, 33-year-old Yoshitaka Miura, of violence and cruelty as a special public officer. He is currently not under arrest.
He resigned Friday after being slapped with a six-month suspension from duty. He admitted to the allegations during questioning, investigators said.
The prefectural police inspection office justified its decision not to arrest him.
"It was unnecessary to arrest him, since there are no concerns that he will abscond or destroy evidence," said. Hideo Okada, a senior official of the prefectural police inspection office. "We'll step up discipline amongst officers to prevent a recurrence."
The incident occurred on July 3, the force's inspection office said. At about 2:30 p.m., the victim visited a police box in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, where Miura was working, and told him she was being stalked and defrauded.
Later that day, Miura went to her apartment in uniform, and fondled her breasts during his one-hour visit.
October 27, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Tokyo police lieutenant, mother found murdered at home
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 11:39 EDT
TOKYO — Police on Wednesday found the bodies of Kenzo Shimada, 40, a lieutenant at Akiruno police station, and his mother Hiroko, 65, dead in their house. Investigators believe it was a murder-suicide.
According to police, they were found lying down in the living room on the first floor of their two-story house. Hiroko had been stabbed in the back and Shimada in his stomach. Police found several knives around them. The front door of the house was unlocked, and there were signs of a struggle because the TV set was broken. However, police say there's no evidence that anyone ransacked the house.
Shimada, who was single, lived with his parents. His father suffers dementia and is currently in hospital. Shimada's colleagues said he recently discussed his family with them, but appeared normal at work on Tuesday.
Kyodo
TOKYO — Police on Wednesday found the bodies of Kenzo Shimada, 40, a lieutenant at Akiruno police station, and his mother Hiroko, 65, dead in their house. Investigators believe it was a murder-suicide.
According to police, they were found lying down in the living room on the first floor of their two-story house. Hiroko had been stabbed in the back and Shimada in his stomach. Police found several knives around them. The front door of the house was unlocked, and there were signs of a struggle because the TV set was broken. However, police say there's no evidence that anyone ransacked the house.
Shimada, who was single, lived with his parents. His father suffers dementia and is currently in hospital. Shimada's colleagues said he recently discussed his family with them, but appeared normal at work on Tuesday.
Kyodo
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
'Stalker' police inspector commits suicide after questioning
NAGOYA -- A 52-year-old police assistant inspector from Nishio Police Station has committed suicide in disgrace after he was questioned about stalking a woman in her 20s, Aichi Prefectural Police said Tuesday.
"He used his position to find out the woman's e-mail address, which is against regulations, and we were planning to transfer him," a spokesman for the prefectural police's internal affairs department said.
The assistant inspector, whose name has not been released, sometimes sent the woman up to 10 e-mail messages a day, begging her to become his lover.
The woman and her lawyer eventually visited the police station and demanded the assistant inspector be transferred and ordered to stay away from her.
Police said the assistant inspector had been in charge of authorizing the number of pachinko machines in use. When the young woman who works at a pachinko parlor visited the station in July, he apparently fell for her. The following month, he asked the woman to tell him her mobile phone e-mail address.
The assistant inspector sent scores of messages to her. On Oct. 5, the woman and her lawyer visited the station and complained about the assistant inspector.
Internal affairs officials twice questioned the assistant inspector and said he basically admitted to the allegations against him, saying that he thought the woman "seemed like a nice type."
The woman admitted that she had initially replied to some of the assistant inspector's e-mails, but later told investigators that she had only done so because she feared that ignoring the lawman would create problems for her employers.
The police assistant inspector was found hanged in his home on Monday last week. He did not leave a suicide note.
Mainichi
October 23, 2007
"He used his position to find out the woman's e-mail address, which is against regulations, and we were planning to transfer him," a spokesman for the prefectural police's internal affairs department said.
The assistant inspector, whose name has not been released, sometimes sent the woman up to 10 e-mail messages a day, begging her to become his lover.
The woman and her lawyer eventually visited the police station and demanded the assistant inspector be transferred and ordered to stay away from her.
Police said the assistant inspector had been in charge of authorizing the number of pachinko machines in use. When the young woman who works at a pachinko parlor visited the station in July, he apparently fell for her. The following month, he asked the woman to tell him her mobile phone e-mail address.
The assistant inspector sent scores of messages to her. On Oct. 5, the woman and her lawyer visited the station and complained about the assistant inspector.
Internal affairs officials twice questioned the assistant inspector and said he basically admitted to the allegations against him, saying that he thought the woman "seemed like a nice type."
The woman admitted that she had initially replied to some of the assistant inspector's e-mails, but later told investigators that she had only done so because she feared that ignoring the lawman would create problems for her employers.
The police assistant inspector was found hanged in his home on Monday last week. He did not leave a suicide note.
Mainichi
October 23, 2007
Senior cop commits suicide after being questioned over stalking woman in Aichi
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 13:05 EDT
NAGOYA — A 52-year-old senior officer of the Aichi prefectural police force committed suicide last week after being questioned twice for allegedly stalking a woman in her 20s, police said Tuesday. The policeman is believed to have sent dozens of emails to her from his mobile phone from late August through early September. In those emails, he asked the woman, who works at a pachinko parlor, to go driving and dining with him and sought her friendship, police sources said.
The policeman was in charge of authorizing the replacement of pachinko machines at pachinko parlors, and the woman visited his station in late August to receive related documents. After receiving a complaint from the woman, the prefectural police department questioned the officer twice in early October. He was found dead on Oct 15 after hanging himself at his home, police said.
In August, a 40-year-old Tokyo policeman allegedly shot and killed a woman and then killed himself after he apparently stalked her for months and feared it would be exposed.
Kyodo
NAGOYA — A 52-year-old senior officer of the Aichi prefectural police force committed suicide last week after being questioned twice for allegedly stalking a woman in her 20s, police said Tuesday. The policeman is believed to have sent dozens of emails to her from his mobile phone from late August through early September. In those emails, he asked the woman, who works at a pachinko parlor, to go driving and dining with him and sought her friendship, police sources said.
The policeman was in charge of authorizing the replacement of pachinko machines at pachinko parlors, and the woman visited his station in late August to receive related documents. After receiving a complaint from the woman, the prefectural police department questioned the officer twice in early October. He was found dead on Oct 15 after hanging himself at his home, police said.
In August, a 40-year-old Tokyo policeman allegedly shot and killed a woman and then killed himself after he apparently stalked her for months and feared it would be exposed.
Kyodo
Monday, October 22, 2007
Cop stabbed after catching man siphoning gas
SHIRAKO, Chiba -- A police officer is receiving treatment for stab wounds after a man knifed him because he caught him siphoning gasoline from a car here, police said.
Chiba Prefectural Police sergeant Yoshihiro Shimada, 44, is expected to make a recovery from stab wounds to his chest and stomach.
Arata Okazawa was arrested for attempted murder and for breaking the Swords and Firearms Control Law after he allegedly attacked the policeman.
Okazawa, 58, unemployed of no fixed address, denies the allegations.
"I had no intention of killing him," he told the police.
Shirako has recently seen a spate of gasoline siphoning incidents and police were on their guard to try and find the culprit. Shimada had been working on the case since July.
Police said Shimada found Okazawa siphoning gas from a car parked near a Shirako apartment not long after 2 a.m. Monday and approached him to question him over his behavior. But
Okazawa whipped out a knife and stabbed Shimada twice, police said, adding that two other officers overpowered the suspect and arrested him.
Police are questioning Okazawa about his involvement in other siphoning cases.
Mainichi
October 22, 2007
Chiba Prefectural Police sergeant Yoshihiro Shimada, 44, is expected to make a recovery from stab wounds to his chest and stomach.
Arata Okazawa was arrested for attempted murder and for breaking the Swords and Firearms Control Law after he allegedly attacked the policeman.
Okazawa, 58, unemployed of no fixed address, denies the allegations.
"I had no intention of killing him," he told the police.
Shirako has recently seen a spate of gasoline siphoning incidents and police were on their guard to try and find the culprit. Shimada had been working on the case since July.
Police said Shimada found Okazawa siphoning gas from a car parked near a Shirako apartment not long after 2 a.m. Monday and approached him to question him over his behavior. But
Okazawa whipped out a knife and stabbed Shimada twice, police said, adding that two other officers overpowered the suspect and arrested him.
Police are questioning Okazawa about his involvement in other siphoning cases.
Mainichi
October 22, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Corrupt cop appeals prison sentence for leaking investigation info
NAGOYA -- An ex-police officer convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for leaking information on investigations has appealed his prison sentence.
Toshikazu Kurimoto, 32, a former senior officer with the Aichi Prefectural Police, has filed an appeal with the Nagoya High Court against the 22-month prison sentence that the Nagoya District Court handed down on him on Thursday.
Kurimoto was convicted of receiving a total of 813,000 yen in bribes from a former casino manager and a Chinese temporary work agency between September 2006 and last January.
In return, he provided them with confidential information on investigations, including the date of a planned raid on a Philippine pub over the hiring of illegal workers, thereby helping them evade arrest, the lower court found.
Mainichi
October 20, 2007
Toshikazu Kurimoto, 32, a former senior officer with the Aichi Prefectural Police, has filed an appeal with the Nagoya High Court against the 22-month prison sentence that the Nagoya District Court handed down on him on Thursday.
Kurimoto was convicted of receiving a total of 813,000 yen in bribes from a former casino manager and a Chinese temporary work agency between September 2006 and last January.
In return, he provided them with confidential information on investigations, including the date of a planned raid on a Philippine pub over the hiring of illegal workers, thereby helping them evade arrest, the lower court found.
Mainichi
October 20, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Doctor questions initial police actions over sumo wrestler's death
Monday, October 15, 2007 at 05:00 EDT
NIIGATA — A forensic doctor who performed an autopsy on a teenage sumo wrestler who died in June apparently from hazing questioned Sunday initial police actions for failing to suspect foul play.
Aichi prefectural police "returned the body without conducting an autopsy after accepting without question what the stablemaster and others had to say," said Koji Dewa, an associate professor at Niigata University who performed an autopsy at the request of the family of the wrestler, 17-year-old Takashi Saito. "I suspect they failed to miss some basics of investigations," said Dewa, who specializes in forensic medicine.
Saito, who had the ring name of Tokitaizan, was hospitalized in critical condition on June 26 after training at the Tokitsukaze stable in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, and was declared dead the same day.
The hospital determined that he died of heart failure, and police returned the body to the stable apparently without suspecting foul play or the possibility that fellow wrestlers and others at the stable may have been involved in the death.
The family of the dead wrestler, dissatisfied with the stable's explanations that bruises on the body stemmed from "regular training," asked the university to conduct an autopsy, and it was carried out June 28.
The autopsy raised suspicions over the death and the police are now working to build a criminal case against the stablemaster and some senior wrestlers of the stable on suspicion they were involved in the deadly hazing.
Dewa said, "Even if the clinical doctor who confirmed the death had not taken notice, a medical examiner from the prefectural police should have immediately noticed the suspicious nature of the death when they had a chance to see the bruises."
The autopsy found extensive internal bleeding in the shoulders, hips and other parts of Saito. The cause of his death was determined to be multiple traumatic shocks.
Dewa said a lack of doctors and investigators may have also contributed to what he calls the failure by police. "What with a lack of forensic medicine experts or complex procedures, a clinical physician may conclude a person has died of natural causes and the authorities tend to accept that view."
Kyodo
NIIGATA — A forensic doctor who performed an autopsy on a teenage sumo wrestler who died in June apparently from hazing questioned Sunday initial police actions for failing to suspect foul play.
Aichi prefectural police "returned the body without conducting an autopsy after accepting without question what the stablemaster and others had to say," said Koji Dewa, an associate professor at Niigata University who performed an autopsy at the request of the family of the wrestler, 17-year-old Takashi Saito. "I suspect they failed to miss some basics of investigations," said Dewa, who specializes in forensic medicine.
Saito, who had the ring name of Tokitaizan, was hospitalized in critical condition on June 26 after training at the Tokitsukaze stable in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, and was declared dead the same day.
The hospital determined that he died of heart failure, and police returned the body to the stable apparently without suspecting foul play or the possibility that fellow wrestlers and others at the stable may have been involved in the death.
The family of the dead wrestler, dissatisfied with the stable's explanations that bruises on the body stemmed from "regular training," asked the university to conduct an autopsy, and it was carried out June 28.
The autopsy raised suspicions over the death and the police are now working to build a criminal case against the stablemaster and some senior wrestlers of the stable on suspicion they were involved in the deadly hazing.
Dewa said, "Even if the clinical doctor who confirmed the death had not taken notice, a medical examiner from the prefectural police should have immediately noticed the suspicious nature of the death when they had a chance to see the bruises."
The autopsy found extensive internal bleeding in the shoulders, hips and other parts of Saito. The cause of his death was determined to be multiple traumatic shocks.
Dewa said a lack of doctors and investigators may have also contributed to what he calls the failure by police. "What with a lack of forensic medicine experts or complex procedures, a clinical physician may conclude a person has died of natural causes and the authorities tend to accept that view."
Kyodo
Saturday, October 13, 2007
South Korea Records US$781 MLN Trade Surplus With U.S. in August
Friday October 12, 7:13 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 Asia Pulse - South Korea recorded a US$782 million trade surplus with the United States for the month of August, down from $1.4 billion the month before, a tally released by the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday.
The surplus broke down as $3.78 billion in exports and $3 billion in imports, making the Asian nation the seventh-largest source of exports and imports for the U.S.
South Korea's cumulative trade surplus with the U.S. for January-August stood at $9.49 billion.
July's $393 million surplus in advanced technology product trade turned into a $55 million deficit in August. South Korea's deficit in this category totaled $1.41 billion as of August.
In auto trade, Seoul sold $761 million worth of cars and parts while buying $70 million worth. South Korea is $7.2 billion in the black in this sector in the year to date.
U.S. trade with North Korea was below the minimum measuring requirement of $500,000.
(Yonhap)
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 Asia Pulse - South Korea recorded a US$782 million trade surplus with the United States for the month of August, down from $1.4 billion the month before, a tally released by the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday.
The surplus broke down as $3.78 billion in exports and $3 billion in imports, making the Asian nation the seventh-largest source of exports and imports for the U.S.
South Korea's cumulative trade surplus with the U.S. for January-August stood at $9.49 billion.
July's $393 million surplus in advanced technology product trade turned into a $55 million deficit in August. South Korea's deficit in this category totaled $1.41 billion as of August.
In auto trade, Seoul sold $761 million worth of cars and parts while buying $70 million worth. South Korea is $7.2 billion in the black in this sector in the year to date.
U.S. trade with North Korea was below the minimum measuring requirement of $500,000.
(Yonhap)
Friday, October 12, 2007
Federation to limit perks for high school baseball players
10/12/2007
The Asahi Shimbun
The Japan High School Baseball Federation will limit the scholarships and perks for baseball players in response to revelations of widespread violations of federation rules banning money or gifts to talented ballplayers.
In the guidelines compiled Thursday, an advisory panel proposed that member baseball clubs offer scholarships to only five students each year.
The guidelines are not binding and offenders will not be punished. But the federation expects the guidelines to improve the situation.
Tsutomu Hotta, chairman of the panel, said the guidelines are nonbinding because of wide discrepancies in the opinions of the members.
The 15-member advisory panel was formed in July, after reports surfaced in May that nearly 8,000 baseball players at 376 member schools had been given perks against the federation's rules.
The federation will finalize the guidelines at a board meeting Nov. 30 after hearing the opinions of about 4,200 member schools through the regional boards.
The guidelines will be applied to students enrolling in senior high schools in and after fiscal 2009.
The federation will hold an extraordinary meeting of directors of the nine regional boards on Oct. 18 to explain about the guidelines.
The panel had discussed two other options: limiting the number of player on perks to four in the same grade who are allowed to play in official games or to impose no restrictions.
The panel agreed the guidelines will be implemented tentatively for three years, followed by a review.
If a member club registers more than five players for each year, it will not be penalized but will be required to explain the reasons for the excessive number to the federation.
The guidelines will also require member schools to obtain a letter of recommendation from the principal of student's junior high school when granting a scholarship. This move is intended to prevent the involvement of brokers.
Under the guidelines, students should meet a certain academic level to obtain a scholarship.
The financial perks should be limited to enrollment and tuition fees and not cover the students' club activities or accommodation fees.
The panel concluded that the guidelines do not go against the federation's ban on preferential treatment because the scholarships will be granted as an educational measure under the
Fundamental Law of Education and the School Education Law.
(IHT/Asahi: October 12,2007)
The Asahi Shimbun
The Japan High School Baseball Federation will limit the scholarships and perks for baseball players in response to revelations of widespread violations of federation rules banning money or gifts to talented ballplayers.
In the guidelines compiled Thursday, an advisory panel proposed that member baseball clubs offer scholarships to only five students each year.
The guidelines are not binding and offenders will not be punished. But the federation expects the guidelines to improve the situation.
Tsutomu Hotta, chairman of the panel, said the guidelines are nonbinding because of wide discrepancies in the opinions of the members.
The 15-member advisory panel was formed in July, after reports surfaced in May that nearly 8,000 baseball players at 376 member schools had been given perks against the federation's rules.
The federation will finalize the guidelines at a board meeting Nov. 30 after hearing the opinions of about 4,200 member schools through the regional boards.
The guidelines will be applied to students enrolling in senior high schools in and after fiscal 2009.
The federation will hold an extraordinary meeting of directors of the nine regional boards on Oct. 18 to explain about the guidelines.
The panel had discussed two other options: limiting the number of player on perks to four in the same grade who are allowed to play in official games or to impose no restrictions.
The panel agreed the guidelines will be implemented tentatively for three years, followed by a review.
If a member club registers more than five players for each year, it will not be penalized but will be required to explain the reasons for the excessive number to the federation.
The guidelines will also require member schools to obtain a letter of recommendation from the principal of student's junior high school when granting a scholarship. This move is intended to prevent the involvement of brokers.
Under the guidelines, students should meet a certain academic level to obtain a scholarship.
The financial perks should be limited to enrollment and tuition fees and not cover the students' club activities or accommodation fees.
The panel concluded that the guidelines do not go against the federation's ban on preferential treatment because the scholarships will be granted as an educational measure under the
Fundamental Law of Education and the School Education Law.
(IHT/Asahi: October 12,2007)
Man under arrest for murder sold sleeping pills to 12 people through suicide site
KAWASAKI -- A man under arrest for killing a woman at her request had sold sleeping pills to 12 people who accessed his online suicide site for a combined total of 1 million yen, police said.
Kazunari Saito, 33, admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I set up the site to earn money. I decided the price of the drugs through negotiations with customers," he was quoted as telling investigators.
Saito began to sell sleeping pills through a mobile phone suicide Website he set up in June 2006, Kanagawa Prefectural Police said.
He sold sleeping pills to 12 people including those from Yokohama, the Saitama Prefecture city of Koshigaya, Kobe and Fukuoka over a 10-month period.
One of the customers, a resident of Chiba Prefecture, subsequently committed suicide by swallowing the pills.
However, prefectural police have deemed it difficult to form a case against Saito for assisting suicides. Investigators have pointed out they failed to prove the causal relations between the drug and the death of the victim and that they cannot confirm that Saito urged the victim to commit suicide.
Saito was arrested in July for violating the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Law by illegally selling sleeping pills and was subsequently hit with a new arrest warrant on suspicion of contracted murder for killing a 21-year-old woman from Kawasaki who visited his site.
Mainichi
October 12, 2007
Kazunari Saito, 33, admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I set up the site to earn money. I decided the price of the drugs through negotiations with customers," he was quoted as telling investigators.
Saito began to sell sleeping pills through a mobile phone suicide Website he set up in June 2006, Kanagawa Prefectural Police said.
He sold sleeping pills to 12 people including those from Yokohama, the Saitama Prefecture city of Koshigaya, Kobe and Fukuoka over a 10-month period.
One of the customers, a resident of Chiba Prefecture, subsequently committed suicide by swallowing the pills.
However, prefectural police have deemed it difficult to form a case against Saito for assisting suicides. Investigators have pointed out they failed to prove the causal relations between the drug and the death of the victim and that they cannot confirm that Saito urged the victim to commit suicide.
Saito was arrested in July for violating the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Law by illegally selling sleeping pills and was subsequently hit with a new arrest warrant on suspicion of contracted murder for killing a 21-year-old woman from Kawasaki who visited his site.
Mainichi
October 12, 2007
Japan Must Answer Questions About Megumi Yokota Test
Japan has extended economic sanctions on North Korea for six months saying the North failed to address the issue of its abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s satisfactorily. The U.S. seems to be unhappy. Washington said outwardly it understands Tokyo’s position, but under the surface there were complaints. The U.S. is discussing removing North Korea from the list of terror sponsoring nations as a reward for the North disabling its nuclear program, so Japan's attempts to link the problem of taking North Korea off the terror-sponsoring country list with the abduction issue constitute a stumbling block to U.S.-North Korea dialogue.
Washington is concerned about Japan's hardline approach and has raised doubts about a DNA test that showed that remains sent back from North Korea were not in fact those of the most famous abduction victim, Megumi Yokotga, which has galvanized Japanese sentiment. Some diplomatic sources in Washington think Japanese rightwingers or "neocons" are distorting the truth by messing with the DNA tests.
The Japanese government announced in late 2004 that DNA tests of the cremated remains North Korea said were those of Megumi Yokota were in fact those of two others. The Japanese were naturally furious, and Tokyo took a series of hardline measures including economic sanctions.
But the international scientific community says it is basically impossible to identify genes from cremated remains. The science journal Nature in February 2005 took formal issue with the Japanese government's DNA test formula.
The Japanese government on Dec. 9, 2004 commissioned the National Research Institute of Police Science under the National Police Agency to identify genes from samples of Yokota’s remains, but the testing failed. The government then reassigned the task to a Teikyo University research team, less experienced in DNA testing, which later announced it confirmed the remains were not Yokota’s.
The problem arises from the fact that the academic in charge of the research team backtracked in an interview with Nature, saying it could not be said for certain that the remains were not those of the woman who was abducted on a Japanese beach at the age of 13. In the wake of a refutation of the interview by the Japanese government, Nature sought another interview with the professor; the Japanese government gagged him by appointing him to the National Research Institute of Police Science, and requiring him to seek approval from the National Police Agency for any media interviews.
Dr. John Butler at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a U.S. authority on gene inspection, said in a recent telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo it is almost impossible to identify genes from remains cremated at 1,200 degrees. World-renowned gene identification experts deny the Japanese government's assertion that genes were extracted from the remains North Korea forwarded to Japan.
One Japan expert says Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is having some trouble expunging the legacy of the neocons, including the possibly bogus Yokota DNA story. Few Japanese people know that their government's announcement on the matter was full of holes; perhaps that is why the Japanese public is furious about North Korean leader Kim Jung-il's reported remarks that there are no more Japanese abductees in the North.
I have no intention whatsoever to defend North Korea’s bizarre abductions of foreign nationals. But it is a serious matter if the Japanese government is involved in the manipulation of the facts or tacitly approved it for political purposes. It behooves Japan to reveal the truth about the DNA test, a problem of its own creation. It would be the first step toward truly resolving the abductions issue and help denuclearize North Korea.
The column was contributed by Choi Woo-suk, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in Washington.
October 11, 2007
Washington is concerned about Japan's hardline approach and has raised doubts about a DNA test that showed that remains sent back from North Korea were not in fact those of the most famous abduction victim, Megumi Yokotga, which has galvanized Japanese sentiment. Some diplomatic sources in Washington think Japanese rightwingers or "neocons" are distorting the truth by messing with the DNA tests.
The Japanese government announced in late 2004 that DNA tests of the cremated remains North Korea said were those of Megumi Yokota were in fact those of two others. The Japanese were naturally furious, and Tokyo took a series of hardline measures including economic sanctions.
But the international scientific community says it is basically impossible to identify genes from cremated remains. The science journal Nature in February 2005 took formal issue with the Japanese government's DNA test formula.
The Japanese government on Dec. 9, 2004 commissioned the National Research Institute of Police Science under the National Police Agency to identify genes from samples of Yokota’s remains, but the testing failed. The government then reassigned the task to a Teikyo University research team, less experienced in DNA testing, which later announced it confirmed the remains were not Yokota’s.
The problem arises from the fact that the academic in charge of the research team backtracked in an interview with Nature, saying it could not be said for certain that the remains were not those of the woman who was abducted on a Japanese beach at the age of 13. In the wake of a refutation of the interview by the Japanese government, Nature sought another interview with the professor; the Japanese government gagged him by appointing him to the National Research Institute of Police Science, and requiring him to seek approval from the National Police Agency for any media interviews.
Dr. John Butler at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a U.S. authority on gene inspection, said in a recent telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo it is almost impossible to identify genes from remains cremated at 1,200 degrees. World-renowned gene identification experts deny the Japanese government's assertion that genes were extracted from the remains North Korea forwarded to Japan.
One Japan expert says Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is having some trouble expunging the legacy of the neocons, including the possibly bogus Yokota DNA story. Few Japanese people know that their government's announcement on the matter was full of holes; perhaps that is why the Japanese public is furious about North Korean leader Kim Jung-il's reported remarks that there are no more Japanese abductees in the North.
I have no intention whatsoever to defend North Korea’s bizarre abductions of foreign nationals. But it is a serious matter if the Japanese government is involved in the manipulation of the facts or tacitly approved it for political purposes. It behooves Japan to reveal the truth about the DNA test, a problem of its own creation. It would be the first step toward truly resolving the abductions issue and help denuclearize North Korea.
The column was contributed by Choi Woo-suk, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in Washington.
October 11, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tokyo riot squad police sergeant caught pinching panties
A suburban Tokyo riot squad police sergeant caught while stealing a woman's panties has been arrested, police said.
Keisuke Kanbara, 27, the Metropolitan Police Department riot squad sergeant, was arrested for breaking the Picking Prevention Law.
Kanbara admits to the allegations.
"I broke into a first floor apartment and stole some women's panties," police quoted him as saying, adding that he has hinted at further thefts.
Kanbara is the second MPD police sergeant to be involved in an embarrassing scandal in recent months following a case in August where a cop shot a bar hostess and then took his own life.
Masahito Kanetaka, the head of the MPD's police affairs department, apologized.
"I deeply apologize that one of our members has done something like this at a time when we are instructing all staff not to commit wrongdoings," he said.
Police said Kanbara picked the lock on a woman's apartment in Tachikawa using a driver, then entered and stole some of her underwear. Kanbara told investigators he had dumped the undergarments and a search of the nearby area uncovered over a dozen pairs of women's underpants.
Kanbara joined the MPD in April 2002 and was posted to the riot squad in October 2005. He lives in a police dormitory with his family. As he has told investigators he has committed other thefts, police are looking around his workplace and the dormitory to uncover any possible stealing that may have taken place.
Mainichi
October 10, 2007
Keisuke Kanbara, 27, the Metropolitan Police Department riot squad sergeant, was arrested for breaking the Picking Prevention Law.
Kanbara admits to the allegations.
"I broke into a first floor apartment and stole some women's panties," police quoted him as saying, adding that he has hinted at further thefts.
Kanbara is the second MPD police sergeant to be involved in an embarrassing scandal in recent months following a case in August where a cop shot a bar hostess and then took his own life.
Masahito Kanetaka, the head of the MPD's police affairs department, apologized.
"I deeply apologize that one of our members has done something like this at a time when we are instructing all staff not to commit wrongdoings," he said.
Police said Kanbara picked the lock on a woman's apartment in Tachikawa using a driver, then entered and stole some of her underwear. Kanbara told investigators he had dumped the undergarments and a search of the nearby area uncovered over a dozen pairs of women's underpants.
Kanbara joined the MPD in April 2002 and was posted to the riot squad in October 2005. He lives in a police dormitory with his family. As he has told investigators he has committed other thefts, police are looking around his workplace and the dormitory to uncover any possible stealing that may have taken place.
Mainichi
October 10, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Man resisting arrest shoots cop in buttock
The Yomiuri Shimbun
A police sergeant was shot in the buttock at point-blank range by a man who grabbed his gun while resisting arrest on suspicion of stealing from a roadside vending machine in Tagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, early Friday, police said.
The sergeant arrived at the scene at about 4:40 a.m. with two other officers after a security company reported to Tagawa Police Station that a vending machine on a national highway selling DVDs and other items had been ransacked about 20 minutes earlier, according to the police.
The police tried to restrain two men they found in a car near the scene. One, Akira Uranaka, 29, of Kama in the prefecture and a member of the Taishu-kai crime syndicate, tried to escape, but was caught by an officer about 40 meters away. The other, unemployed Masamichi Oda, 21, of Tagawa, tried to break free when being held by the other two officers, grabbed the 29-year-old sergeant's gun from his holster and shot him.
(Oct. 6, 2007)
A police sergeant was shot in the buttock at point-blank range by a man who grabbed his gun while resisting arrest on suspicion of stealing from a roadside vending machine in Tagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, early Friday, police said.
The sergeant arrived at the scene at about 4:40 a.m. with two other officers after a security company reported to Tagawa Police Station that a vending machine on a national highway selling DVDs and other items had been ransacked about 20 minutes earlier, according to the police.
The police tried to restrain two men they found in a car near the scene. One, Akira Uranaka, 29, of Kama in the prefecture and a member of the Taishu-kai crime syndicate, tried to escape, but was caught by an officer about 40 meters away. The other, unemployed Masamichi Oda, 21, of Tagawa, tried to break free when being held by the other two officers, grabbed the 29-year-old sergeant's gun from his holster and shot him.
(Oct. 6, 2007)
Friday, October 5, 2007
Japanese bureaucrats reprimanded over Wikipedia Gundam entries
By Duncan Hooper
Last Updated: 8:31am BST 05/10/2007
Six bureaucrats from Japan's Agriculture Ministry have been reprimanded for spending their work time writing Wikipedia entries on subjects ranging from films to cartoon robots.
One of the employees focused solely on a page about Gundam, a popular, long-running animated series about giant robots, spending hours submitting 260 entries.
The series has spun off intricate toy robots popular among schoolchildren as well as adults known as "otaku" nerds.
"The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam," noted Tsutomu Shimomura an official at the ministry who announced the results of an internal probe.
The six civil servants together made 408 entries from ministry computers since 2003.
The ministry has reacted by banning access to Wikipedia at work.
An Imperial Household Agency official was reprimanded last month for using an agency computer to delete references on Wikipedia that criticized imperial tombs.
The online encyclopaedia recently revealed plans to trial restrictions on contributors following evidence of misleading postings.
Only committed editors who have submitted at least 30 reliable entries in a month would be permitted to make instant changes to the site.
Telegraph
Last Updated: 8:31am BST 05/10/2007
Six bureaucrats from Japan's Agriculture Ministry have been reprimanded for spending their work time writing Wikipedia entries on subjects ranging from films to cartoon robots.
One of the employees focused solely on a page about Gundam, a popular, long-running animated series about giant robots, spending hours submitting 260 entries.
The series has spun off intricate toy robots popular among schoolchildren as well as adults known as "otaku" nerds.
"The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam," noted Tsutomu Shimomura an official at the ministry who announced the results of an internal probe.
The six civil servants together made 408 entries from ministry computers since 2003.
The ministry has reacted by banning access to Wikipedia at work.
An Imperial Household Agency official was reprimanded last month for using an agency computer to delete references on Wikipedia that criticized imperial tombs.
The online encyclopaedia recently revealed plans to trial restrictions on contributors following evidence of misleading postings.
Only committed editors who have submitted at least 30 reliable entries in a month would be permitted to make instant changes to the site.
Telegraph
Japan to press charges over journalist's death
Posted Wed Oct 3, 2007 8:00pm AEST
Japan's police will seek to press murder charges against Burmese troops who shot dead a Japanese journalist during pro-democracy protests last month, a newspaper reported.
Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department will seek the prosecution of the soldiers who killed Kenji Nagai, 50, a journalist for the Tokyo-based video news service APF News, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
Under Japanese law police can seek the prosecution of suspects when a Japanese national is the victim of a felony crime overseas, although whether the suspects are extradited depends on whether there is a treaty in place.
Mr Nagai was killed in Rangoon on September 27 while covering a military crackdown on mass anti-government protests.
In television footage later aired by Japanese broadcasters, Mr Nagai, dressed casually in shorts and sandals, appeared to be shot at close range by Burmese troops.
Mr Nagai, who is believed to have died instantly after a bullet fatally penetrated his body, was seen lying on the ground still clutching his video camera.
Burmese leaders told Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka during a visit to the capital Naypyidaw that the fatal shooting was an accident.
Japanese police plan to conduct an autopsy on Mr Nagai's body, which is expected to return to Japan on Thursday via Bangkok, the Yomiuri newspaper said.
Aid withdrawal
Meanwhile, Japan is considering suspending some 500 million yen ($4.85 million) in humanitarian aid for Burma a senior Japanese government official said.
Japan has withheld new full-scale aid to impoverished Burma since democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in 2003, but it has funded emergency health projects and provided some training and technological transfers.
A senior Japanese government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tokyo was considering suspending its plan to extend 552 million yen in "human resources development aid" to Burma.
In late July, Tokyo decided to extend the aid aimed to help nurture democracy and a market economy in Burma.
But Japan will maintain its policy of engagement with Burma, he said, and Tokyo has no plans at the moment to suspend trade with Burma or freeze the country's assets.
- Reuters/AFP
Japan's police will seek to press murder charges against Burmese troops who shot dead a Japanese journalist during pro-democracy protests last month, a newspaper reported.
Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department will seek the prosecution of the soldiers who killed Kenji Nagai, 50, a journalist for the Tokyo-based video news service APF News, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
Under Japanese law police can seek the prosecution of suspects when a Japanese national is the victim of a felony crime overseas, although whether the suspects are extradited depends on whether there is a treaty in place.
Mr Nagai was killed in Rangoon on September 27 while covering a military crackdown on mass anti-government protests.
In television footage later aired by Japanese broadcasters, Mr Nagai, dressed casually in shorts and sandals, appeared to be shot at close range by Burmese troops.
Mr Nagai, who is believed to have died instantly after a bullet fatally penetrated his body, was seen lying on the ground still clutching his video camera.
Burmese leaders told Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka during a visit to the capital Naypyidaw that the fatal shooting was an accident.
Japanese police plan to conduct an autopsy on Mr Nagai's body, which is expected to return to Japan on Thursday via Bangkok, the Yomiuri newspaper said.
Aid withdrawal
Meanwhile, Japan is considering suspending some 500 million yen ($4.85 million) in humanitarian aid for Burma a senior Japanese government official said.
Japan has withheld new full-scale aid to impoverished Burma since democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in 2003, but it has funded emergency health projects and provided some training and technological transfers.
A senior Japanese government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tokyo was considering suspending its plan to extend 552 million yen in "human resources development aid" to Burma.
In late July, Tokyo decided to extend the aid aimed to help nurture democracy and a market economy in Burma.
But Japan will maintain its policy of engagement with Burma, he said, and Tokyo has no plans at the moment to suspend trade with Burma or freeze the country's assets.
- Reuters/AFP
Japan reaches out to Okinawa over textbook row
TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's government said Tuesday it may rescind an instruction for references to its military's role in forced mass suicides during World War II to be deleted from school textbooks.
The government, under former premier Shinzo Abe, in March ordered references to the military's involvement in the suicides of Japanese civilians to be removed from learning materials for the first time.
The controversial move angered residents in Japan's southern islands of Okinawa, where about 110,000 people staged a rally Saturday in protest.
Education Minister Kisaburo Tokai said Tuesday the government would consider any requests by publishers to put back into textbooks references to the Japanese military's role in the suicides.
"The ministry will deal with any applications for further revisions in a serious manner," said Tokai, who was appointed last month by new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
"A panel will be summoned to make a fair judgement over the issue if necessary."
In contrast to the hawkish young Abe, who vowed to build a "beautiful nation" more proud of its past, Fukuda is widely seen as a dove who is less eager to erase the legacies of Japan's World War II defeat.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters that the government should "not intervene in the screening of school textbooks."
The 83-day Battle of Okinawa, the bloodiest in the Pacific war, left 190,000 Japanese dead, half of them Okinawan civilians.
While many civilians perished in the all-out US bombardment, local accounts say Japanese troops forced residents of Okinawa -- a southern island chain and an independent kingdom until the 19th century -- to commit suicide rather than surrender to US forces.
Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima welcomed signs that the government may rescind the order.
"What the Okinawa people have hoped for with body and soul is coming one step closer," said Nakaima, who will meet with Tokai on Wednesday morning during a visit to Tokyo to discuss the matter.
"I appreciate as governor and a resident that the new cabinet has immediately responded to this issue sensitively," he said.
Publishers are now expected to submit their applications for new revisions this month for textbooks to be used for the school year starting in April.
A spokesman for one publisher that was forced to drop a reference to the military involvement in the suicides said authors would need to be consulted before it was decided whether to revert to the original wording.
A textbook prepared by the publisher, Shimizu Shoin Co. had previously said some people "were forced by Japanese troops to commit group suicides" but was changed to, "There were people who were driven into group suicides."
In recent years, nationalist academics have insisted that Okinawa's suicide pacts were voluntary and not due to orders by troops from mainland Japan.
The ministry had said there was enough disagreement that "it is not appropriate to determine that there were military orders."
AFP
The government, under former premier Shinzo Abe, in March ordered references to the military's involvement in the suicides of Japanese civilians to be removed from learning materials for the first time.
The controversial move angered residents in Japan's southern islands of Okinawa, where about 110,000 people staged a rally Saturday in protest.
Education Minister Kisaburo Tokai said Tuesday the government would consider any requests by publishers to put back into textbooks references to the Japanese military's role in the suicides.
"The ministry will deal with any applications for further revisions in a serious manner," said Tokai, who was appointed last month by new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
"A panel will be summoned to make a fair judgement over the issue if necessary."
In contrast to the hawkish young Abe, who vowed to build a "beautiful nation" more proud of its past, Fukuda is widely seen as a dove who is less eager to erase the legacies of Japan's World War II defeat.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters that the government should "not intervene in the screening of school textbooks."
The 83-day Battle of Okinawa, the bloodiest in the Pacific war, left 190,000 Japanese dead, half of them Okinawan civilians.
While many civilians perished in the all-out US bombardment, local accounts say Japanese troops forced residents of Okinawa -- a southern island chain and an independent kingdom until the 19th century -- to commit suicide rather than surrender to US forces.
Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima welcomed signs that the government may rescind the order.
"What the Okinawa people have hoped for with body and soul is coming one step closer," said Nakaima, who will meet with Tokai on Wednesday morning during a visit to Tokyo to discuss the matter.
"I appreciate as governor and a resident that the new cabinet has immediately responded to this issue sensitively," he said.
Publishers are now expected to submit their applications for new revisions this month for textbooks to be used for the school year starting in April.
A spokesman for one publisher that was forced to drop a reference to the military involvement in the suicides said authors would need to be consulted before it was decided whether to revert to the original wording.
A textbook prepared by the publisher, Shimizu Shoin Co. had previously said some people "were forced by Japanese troops to commit group suicides" but was changed to, "There were people who were driven into group suicides."
In recent years, nationalist academics have insisted that Okinawa's suicide pacts were voluntary and not due to orders by troops from mainland Japan.
The ministry had said there was enough disagreement that "it is not appropriate to determine that there were military orders."
AFP
Japan to fingerprint, photograph foreigners from Nov 20
Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 06:49 EDT
TOKYO — The government will approve a draft ordinance stipulating that a mandatory fingerprinting and photographing of visitors aged 16 or older will enter into force on Nov 20, officials said Thursday. The revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law incorporating such a measure was enacted in May last year in a bid to block the entry into Japan of individuals designated as terrorists by the justice minister.
Under the law, scanned fingerprints and other biometric data will be stored in a computer to be checked against those of past deportees. The system can also be accessed by investigative authorities, they said. The measure excludes ethnic Koreans and other permanent residents with special status, those under 16, those visiting Japan for diplomatic or official purposes, and those invited by the state.
Kyodo
TOKYO — The government will approve a draft ordinance stipulating that a mandatory fingerprinting and photographing of visitors aged 16 or older will enter into force on Nov 20, officials said Thursday. The revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law incorporating such a measure was enacted in May last year in a bid to block the entry into Japan of individuals designated as terrorists by the justice minister.
Under the law, scanned fingerprints and other biometric data will be stored in a computer to be checked against those of past deportees. The system can also be accessed by investigative authorities, they said. The measure excludes ethnic Koreans and other permanent residents with special status, those under 16, those visiting Japan for diplomatic or official purposes, and those invited by the state.
Kyodo
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Police sergeant arrested for molesting high school girl on train
URAYASU, Chiba -- A police officer was arrested for molesting a high school girl on a train on
Tuesday morning while he was on his way to work, local police said.
Kazumasa Yamaguchi, 36, a sergeant at the Metropolitan Police Department, stands accused of violating a Chiba prefectural ordinance prohibiting people from creating a nuisance.
He admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I molested her because she was my type," he was quoted as telling investigators.
Yamaguchi lifted up the skirt of the 16-year-old girl and fondled her body for about 10 minutes from about 7 a.m. on Tuesday on a JR Keiyo Line train while it was traveling between Minami-
Funabashi and Shin-Urayasu stations, investigators said.
The high school girl grabbed Yamaguchi and handed him over to officers after the train arrived at Shin-Urayasu Station.
Mainichi
October 2, 2007
Tuesday morning while he was on his way to work, local police said.
Kazumasa Yamaguchi, 36, a sergeant at the Metropolitan Police Department, stands accused of violating a Chiba prefectural ordinance prohibiting people from creating a nuisance.
He admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I molested her because she was my type," he was quoted as telling investigators.
Yamaguchi lifted up the skirt of the 16-year-old girl and fondled her body for about 10 minutes from about 7 a.m. on Tuesday on a JR Keiyo Line train while it was traveling between Minami-
Funabashi and Shin-Urayasu stations, investigators said.
The high school girl grabbed Yamaguchi and handed him over to officers after the train arrived at Shin-Urayasu Station.
Mainichi
October 2, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Police to raid bedding supplier L&G on suspicion of fraud
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 06:45 EDT
TOKYO — Police plan to raid the head office and the homes of managers of Tokyo-based bedding supplier L&G on suspicion that the company collected money from investors across Japan by declaring that it paid high dividends in violation of the investment law, investigative sources said Monday.
Based in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, the firm, which claims to supply products for health purposes, is said to have collected more than 100 billion yen from about 50,000 people nationwide. But the company is believed to be virtually bankrupt, the sources said.
Kyodo News
TOKYO — Police plan to raid the head office and the homes of managers of Tokyo-based bedding supplier L&G on suspicion that the company collected money from investors across Japan by declaring that it paid high dividends in violation of the investment law, investigative sources said Monday.
Based in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, the firm, which claims to supply products for health purposes, is said to have collected more than 100 billion yen from about 50,000 people nationwide. But the company is believed to be virtually bankrupt, the sources said.
Kyodo News
Friday, September 28, 2007
16 hospitals rejected pregnant Chiba woman
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Sixteen hospitals rejected requests to admit a pregnant woman in her 30s from Chiba who was in immediate danger of having a miscarriage, it has been learned.
The diagnosis of the woman's condition was made at Chiba University Hospital in the city's Chuo Ward, the hospital she was finally admitted to about one hour after the first emergency call was made.
The Chiba Fire Department launched an investigation into the city's emergency care of pregnant women after it was revealed that a 38-year-old pregnant woman from Nara Prefecture suffered a miscarriage after being refused admission by one hospital after another.
The fire department said it did not know whether the woman eventually suffered a miscarriage after admission to the hospital and that it had no record of any reasons given by hospitals for their decisions to refuse admission.
(Sep. 8, 2007)
Sixteen hospitals rejected requests to admit a pregnant woman in her 30s from Chiba who was in immediate danger of having a miscarriage, it has been learned.
The diagnosis of the woman's condition was made at Chiba University Hospital in the city's Chuo Ward, the hospital she was finally admitted to about one hour after the first emergency call was made.
The Chiba Fire Department launched an investigation into the city's emergency care of pregnant women after it was revealed that a 38-year-old pregnant woman from Nara Prefecture suffered a miscarriage after being refused admission by one hospital after another.
The fire department said it did not know whether the woman eventually suffered a miscarriage after admission to the hospital and that it had no record of any reasons given by hospitals for their decisions to refuse admission.
(Sep. 8, 2007)
191 multiple refusals of pregnant women found
Kyodo News
There were at least 191 cases where a pregnant woman being transported by ambulance was turned away by five or more hospitals between 2004 and 2006, a survey showed Thursday, underscoring the growing hardships of ambulance crews forced to scramble by the dearth of obstetricians in the country.
The number of cases in which one or more hospitals refused to admit pregnant women, including the 191, was 2,780 in the three-year period.
In the survey, carried out by Kyodo News, the 47 prefectural governments were asked about the current situation for emergency care services for pregnant women, and 27 had responded as of Thursday.
Those figures are expected to swell in a government survey to be released shortly.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency, an organization under the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, is currently conducting its own nationwide survey through the prefectural governments after a pregnant woman in Nara Prefecture suffered a miscarriage in late August after nine hospitals refused to admit her, a case that drew nationwide attention.
In the first survey, most of the hospitals cited an inability to offer adequate care and a lack of specialized staff for refusing pregnant women for emergency treatment.
Of the 191 cases where five or more hospitals rejected pregnant women, Osaka Prefecture accounted for the largest number, at 58, followed by Chiba and Nara prefectures at 29 each and Ibaraki Prefecture at 27.
The 58 cases in Osaka Prefecture include six cases in which 10 or more hospitals refused to admit a pregnant woman, and one in which more than 20 hospitals refused to do so.
Eight out of Chiba Prefecture's 28 cases involved refusal by more than 10 hospitals.
Ibaraki, Saitama and Nara prefectures also reported cases involving 10 or more refusals.
Explaining their decisions, hospitals in 628 of the 2,780 cases cited difficulties providing adequate care.
The survey also showed that 552 cases involved hospitals with no obstetricians on night shifts and 381 cases involving those whose staff were performing operations or were otherwise preoccupied. There were also 383 cases where obstetricians were not in, and 214 where there were no vacant beds.
There were two cases in Osaka and Nara prefectures where an ambulance took more than two hours to transport a pregnant woman to a hospital because of difficulties finding one that would accept her. One similar case was reported in Fukushima Prefecture.
Meanwhile, in Gunma Prefecture in 2004, an ambulance transported a woman who complained of abdominal pain. After being refused by four hospitals, she was taken to a fifth and was confirmed to be pregnant there.
Nearly two hours passed before she was sent to another hospital outside Gunma Prefecture because no obstetrician was available at the fifth hospital.
In Gifu Prefecture, an ambulance took about one hour to transport a woman late at night after being refused by five hospitals.
September 28, 2007
There were at least 191 cases where a pregnant woman being transported by ambulance was turned away by five or more hospitals between 2004 and 2006, a survey showed Thursday, underscoring the growing hardships of ambulance crews forced to scramble by the dearth of obstetricians in the country.
The number of cases in which one or more hospitals refused to admit pregnant women, including the 191, was 2,780 in the three-year period.
In the survey, carried out by Kyodo News, the 47 prefectural governments were asked about the current situation for emergency care services for pregnant women, and 27 had responded as of Thursday.
Those figures are expected to swell in a government survey to be released shortly.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency, an organization under the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, is currently conducting its own nationwide survey through the prefectural governments after a pregnant woman in Nara Prefecture suffered a miscarriage in late August after nine hospitals refused to admit her, a case that drew nationwide attention.
In the first survey, most of the hospitals cited an inability to offer adequate care and a lack of specialized staff for refusing pregnant women for emergency treatment.
Of the 191 cases where five or more hospitals rejected pregnant women, Osaka Prefecture accounted for the largest number, at 58, followed by Chiba and Nara prefectures at 29 each and Ibaraki Prefecture at 27.
The 58 cases in Osaka Prefecture include six cases in which 10 or more hospitals refused to admit a pregnant woman, and one in which more than 20 hospitals refused to do so.
Eight out of Chiba Prefecture's 28 cases involved refusal by more than 10 hospitals.
Ibaraki, Saitama and Nara prefectures also reported cases involving 10 or more refusals.
Explaining their decisions, hospitals in 628 of the 2,780 cases cited difficulties providing adequate care.
The survey also showed that 552 cases involved hospitals with no obstetricians on night shifts and 381 cases involving those whose staff were performing operations or were otherwise preoccupied. There were also 383 cases where obstetricians were not in, and 214 where there were no vacant beds.
There were two cases in Osaka and Nara prefectures where an ambulance took more than two hours to transport a pregnant woman to a hospital because of difficulties finding one that would accept her. One similar case was reported in Fukushima Prefecture.
Meanwhile, in Gunma Prefecture in 2004, an ambulance transported a woman who complained of abdominal pain. After being refused by four hospitals, she was taken to a fifth and was confirmed to be pregnant there.
Nearly two hours passed before she was sent to another hospital outside Gunma Prefecture because no obstetrician was available at the fifth hospital.
In Gifu Prefecture, an ambulance took about one hour to transport a woman late at night after being refused by five hospitals.
September 28, 2007
Video shows Japanese journalist 'being shot deliberately'
Footage capturing the last, terrible seconds of Kenji Nagai’s life has been aired on Japanese television – horrifying a nation and raising official suspicion that the 50-year old photo-journalist was murdered by Burmese troops (writes Leo Lewis in Tokyo).
The shaky, indistinct moments of footage appear to show Nagai, who was on the edge of a crowd of panic-stricken demonstrators, shoved violently to the ground by a soldier and shot dead at point-blank range.
The crowd flees, leaving behind a visibly agonised figure believed to be Nagai – dressed casually in shorts and flip-flops – on his back in the street. In his right hand is a video camera, held above the ground to protect it from the fall.
A loud crack is audible as a soldier points his rifle at the prone figure before launching himself at the dispersing crowd of protesters.
A doctor at the Japanese embassy in Burma confirmed a bullet entered Nagai’s body from the lower right side of his chest, pierced his heart and exited from his back.
The footage, say Japanese experts, squarely contradicts the official Burmese explanation of Nagai’s death – that he was killed by a “stray bullet”.
In the few seconds before he was killed, Nagai appeared to being filming the Burmese military as it faced down the crowd. One of the soldiers seems to spot him doing so, and launches his deadly response.
Masahiko Komura, Japan’s Foreign Minister, said that the footage appeared to show that Nagai was slain deliberately by Burmese troops as they charged on a crowd of civilians. The government has dispatched the deputy foreign minister to Burma to establish the truth behind Nagai’s death.
Japanese media are hailing Nagai as a heroic crusader for the truth. His elderly mother, who made a brief, tearful statement this afternoon, said that she begged her son not to go to Burma, but Nagai had simply told her that it was his job to go to places nobody else wanted to. “I wept through the night as I thought about my son,” she said, “his job always made me prepared for the worst, but every time he went away my heart would beat fast.”
Nagai’s father said that if his son had indeed been shot dead at point blank range, it was the cruelest way to die.
Japanese television stations today showed a montage of Nagai’s work – mostly video taken during conflicts in the Middle East. His photo-journalism focused heavily on the victims of any conflict he covered.
The largest foreign donor of overseas development aid to Burma, Japan has officially said it will not cut off aid to the military-run nation. But foreign ministry sources today told The Times that its multi-million dollar donations to the country were now under review.
Times Online
September 28, 2007
The shaky, indistinct moments of footage appear to show Nagai, who was on the edge of a crowd of panic-stricken demonstrators, shoved violently to the ground by a soldier and shot dead at point-blank range.
The crowd flees, leaving behind a visibly agonised figure believed to be Nagai – dressed casually in shorts and flip-flops – on his back in the street. In his right hand is a video camera, held above the ground to protect it from the fall.
A loud crack is audible as a soldier points his rifle at the prone figure before launching himself at the dispersing crowd of protesters.
A doctor at the Japanese embassy in Burma confirmed a bullet entered Nagai’s body from the lower right side of his chest, pierced his heart and exited from his back.
The footage, say Japanese experts, squarely contradicts the official Burmese explanation of Nagai’s death – that he was killed by a “stray bullet”.
In the few seconds before he was killed, Nagai appeared to being filming the Burmese military as it faced down the crowd. One of the soldiers seems to spot him doing so, and launches his deadly response.
Masahiko Komura, Japan’s Foreign Minister, said that the footage appeared to show that Nagai was slain deliberately by Burmese troops as they charged on a crowd of civilians. The government has dispatched the deputy foreign minister to Burma to establish the truth behind Nagai’s death.
Japanese media are hailing Nagai as a heroic crusader for the truth. His elderly mother, who made a brief, tearful statement this afternoon, said that she begged her son not to go to Burma, but Nagai had simply told her that it was his job to go to places nobody else wanted to. “I wept through the night as I thought about my son,” she said, “his job always made me prepared for the worst, but every time he went away my heart would beat fast.”
Nagai’s father said that if his son had indeed been shot dead at point blank range, it was the cruelest way to die.
Japanese television stations today showed a montage of Nagai’s work – mostly video taken during conflicts in the Middle East. His photo-journalism focused heavily on the victims of any conflict he covered.
The largest foreign donor of overseas development aid to Burma, Japan has officially said it will not cut off aid to the military-run nation. But foreign ministry sources today told The Times that its multi-million dollar donations to the country were now under review.
Times Online
September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Parents of slain English teacher frustrated as manhunt grows cold
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007
British family demands more information on search for Ichihashi
CHIBA (Kyodo) The parents of slain Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker expressed frustration Wednesday, six months to the day since her body was found, that police have not apprehended the lone suspect.
"This man must be caught. We are very frightened that he will offend again," her father, William Hawker, said by telephone from England. He was referring to suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28.
"I am sure that the Japanese police are doing their best," Hawker, 54, said, while urging them to provide the family with more information on the progress of the investigation.
"Initially, we had information coming from the police and we felt that we were more involved with the case," he said. "Now, we only receive a weekly report on what the police have done and where they have searched."
The victim's body was found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of Ichihashi's apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, on March 26. Ichihashi fled from officers who went there after language school Nova Corp., her employer, reported it was unable to contact her.
Apparently frustrated by the lack of police information, the family set up a Web site and has obtained several reports of Ichihashi sightings from Canada, Thailand and other places.
A senior police investigator denied the possibility that he has fled Japan, saying he was put on the wanted list immediately after the murder.
Police have received more than 2,000 reports on him from 45 of the 47 prefectures and sent officers to roughly 20 prefectures so far. But they have developed few concrete clues on his whereabouts.
"It is difficult for us to carry on living a normal life," Hawker's father said. Still, "we don't blame Tokyo. We don't blame Japanese people. She just met an evil person."
Julia Hawker, the victim's 50-year-old mother, said that if Ichihashi is arrested, "it would enable us to remember her with more joy."
Japan Times
British family demands more information on search for Ichihashi
CHIBA (Kyodo) The parents of slain Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker expressed frustration Wednesday, six months to the day since her body was found, that police have not apprehended the lone suspect.
"This man must be caught. We are very frightened that he will offend again," her father, William Hawker, said by telephone from England. He was referring to suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28.
"I am sure that the Japanese police are doing their best," Hawker, 54, said, while urging them to provide the family with more information on the progress of the investigation.
"Initially, we had information coming from the police and we felt that we were more involved with the case," he said. "Now, we only receive a weekly report on what the police have done and where they have searched."
The victim's body was found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of Ichihashi's apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, on March 26. Ichihashi fled from officers who went there after language school Nova Corp., her employer, reported it was unable to contact her.
Apparently frustrated by the lack of police information, the family set up a Web site and has obtained several reports of Ichihashi sightings from Canada, Thailand and other places.
A senior police investigator denied the possibility that he has fled Japan, saying he was put on the wanted list immediately after the murder.
Police have received more than 2,000 reports on him from 45 of the 47 prefectures and sent officers to roughly 20 prefectures so far. But they have developed few concrete clues on his whereabouts.
"It is difficult for us to carry on living a normal life," Hawker's father said. Still, "we don't blame Tokyo. We don't blame Japanese people. She just met an evil person."
Julia Hawker, the victim's 50-year-old mother, said that if Ichihashi is arrested, "it would enable us to remember her with more joy."
Japan Times
Monday, September 24, 2007
Father of dead British woman makes tearful plea
Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:22pm BST
TOKYO (Reuters) - The father of a young British woman whose body was found naked in a bathtub full of sand near Tokyo made a tearful plea on Wednesday for information on a man police are hunting.
English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, from Brandon, near Coventry, was found dead on Monday in the city of Ichikawa, east of Tokyo.
Police have issued an arrest warrant and launched a nationwide hunt for the Japanese man who lived alone in the apartment where her body was found on the balcony.
William Hawker broke down in tears as he demanded the suspect's capture.
"My daughter was a lovely girl, she would've helped anybody, and it is because she would help anybody she is where she is now," he told a news conference.
Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, fled when police arrived to question him, losing his shoes and a rucksack he was carrying in a chase, a police spokesman said.
Ichihashi's neighbours told Japanese television they had heard banging noises coming from his apartment at night.
"We are investigating the cause of her death," the spokesman said. "It is unclear at the moment."
The case comes less than a month before a verdict is due in the trial of a wealthy Japanese businessman accused of killing British woman Lucie Blackman, 21, in 2000.
The father of Lucie Blackman, Tim Blackman, told Japanese television: "It's very tragic news.
"Of course we are thinking very much about Tokyo and Lucie's case at the moment."
Police found Blackman's mutilated body buried in a seaside cave near an apartment belonging to the businessman, who has denied the charges against him.
TOKYO (Reuters) - The father of a young British woman whose body was found naked in a bathtub full of sand near Tokyo made a tearful plea on Wednesday for information on a man police are hunting.
English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, from Brandon, near Coventry, was found dead on Monday in the city of Ichikawa, east of Tokyo.
Police have issued an arrest warrant and launched a nationwide hunt for the Japanese man who lived alone in the apartment where her body was found on the balcony.
William Hawker broke down in tears as he demanded the suspect's capture.
"My daughter was a lovely girl, she would've helped anybody, and it is because she would help anybody she is where she is now," he told a news conference.
Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, fled when police arrived to question him, losing his shoes and a rucksack he was carrying in a chase, a police spokesman said.
Ichihashi's neighbours told Japanese television they had heard banging noises coming from his apartment at night.
"We are investigating the cause of her death," the spokesman said. "It is unclear at the moment."
The case comes less than a month before a verdict is due in the trial of a wealthy Japanese businessman accused of killing British woman Lucie Blackman, 21, in 2000.
The father of Lucie Blackman, Tim Blackman, told Japanese television: "It's very tragic news.
"Of course we are thinking very much about Tokyo and Lucie's case at the moment."
Police found Blackman's mutilated body buried in a seaside cave near an apartment belonging to the businessman, who has denied the charges against him.
Briton's body found in Japan bath
A woman found buried in sand in a bathtub in Japan has been named by police as 22-year-old missing Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker.
Colleagues identified the body of the English teacher, from Brandon near Coventry, found on a fourth-floor flat balcony in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo.
The cause of death is not yet known but there were bruises on the victim's face, the BBC's Chris Hogg said.
Police are hunting a man who fled the apartment in Chiba prefecture.
Disappearance
The BBC's correspondent said the teacher was reported missing by her flatmates on Monday afternoon after she disappeared from her home on Sunday.
Local media reported that Miss Hawker, who worked at the Koiwa school in Tokyo, had been in Japan for only a few months and was a popular teacher, he added.
They said she had gone to the apartment for the first time on Saturday to give English lessons to 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi.
She had left details of the address at home before she disappeared and police are now trying to locate Mr Ichihashi.
A handbag and a passport thought to belong to the victim were found near the apartment.
The Nova language school in London, which employed Miss Hawker, said in a statement that she had graduated from university last year and had joined its teaching team on 25 October.
"She took her job seriously and put every effort into it. She was trying to get used to Japan. We are very sorry that this has happened," it said.
The school was co-operating fully with the investigation, it added.
George Fisher, the headmaster of King Henry VIII School in Coventry where Miss Hawker was a pupil until 2003, said the staff were very upset by her death.
"I knew Lindsay well, she was a very popular student, and the school and staff are devastated," he said.
BBC News
Tuesday 27, March 2007
Colleagues identified the body of the English teacher, from Brandon near Coventry, found on a fourth-floor flat balcony in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo.
The cause of death is not yet known but there were bruises on the victim's face, the BBC's Chris Hogg said.
Police are hunting a man who fled the apartment in Chiba prefecture.
Disappearance
The BBC's correspondent said the teacher was reported missing by her flatmates on Monday afternoon after she disappeared from her home on Sunday.
Local media reported that Miss Hawker, who worked at the Koiwa school in Tokyo, had been in Japan for only a few months and was a popular teacher, he added.
They said she had gone to the apartment for the first time on Saturday to give English lessons to 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi.
She had left details of the address at home before she disappeared and police are now trying to locate Mr Ichihashi.
A handbag and a passport thought to belong to the victim were found near the apartment.
The Nova language school in London, which employed Miss Hawker, said in a statement that she had graduated from university last year and had joined its teaching team on 25 October.
"She took her job seriously and put every effort into it. She was trying to get used to Japan. We are very sorry that this has happened," it said.
The school was co-operating fully with the investigation, it added.
George Fisher, the headmaster of King Henry VIII School in Coventry where Miss Hawker was a pupil until 2003, said the staff were very upset by her death.
"I knew Lindsay well, she was a very popular student, and the school and staff are devastated," he said.
BBC News
Tuesday 27, March 2007
Body of British teacher found; man flees scene
03/28/2007
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
ICHIKAWA, Chiba Prefecture--Police are searching for a man who fled while they were searching his apartment here after discovering the body of a missing British woman in a bathtub on the balcony.
Police said Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, was wanted in connection with the abandonment of the woman's body. While police have yet to confirm the cause of death, they were treating the case as a possible murder Tuesday night.
Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, who lived in Funabashi and worked as an instructor at an English conversation school in Tokyo, had been missing for two days when her body was found Monday night.
Police were informed around 3:30 p.m. Monday by a staff member at Hawker's school in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward that she was missing.
Around 10 p.m. police searched Ichihashi's fourth-floor apartment here and discovered the body buried in sand in a bathtub on the balcony.
The police also found a bag and a card with Hawker's name on it in the apartment.
Ichihashi used to be a student at the school where Hawker taught and was acquainted with her.
He was in the apartment while police conducted their search but still he managed to escape even though officers tried to grab hold of him.
(IHT/Asahi: March 28,2007)
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
ICHIKAWA, Chiba Prefecture--Police are searching for a man who fled while they were searching his apartment here after discovering the body of a missing British woman in a bathtub on the balcony.
Police said Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, was wanted in connection with the abandonment of the woman's body. While police have yet to confirm the cause of death, they were treating the case as a possible murder Tuesday night.
Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, who lived in Funabashi and worked as an instructor at an English conversation school in Tokyo, had been missing for two days when her body was found Monday night.
Police were informed around 3:30 p.m. Monday by a staff member at Hawker's school in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward that she was missing.
Around 10 p.m. police searched Ichihashi's fourth-floor apartment here and discovered the body buried in sand in a bathtub on the balcony.
The police also found a bag and a card with Hawker's name on it in the apartment.
Ichihashi used to be a student at the school where Hawker taught and was acquainted with her.
He was in the apartment while police conducted their search but still he managed to escape even though officers tried to grab hold of him.
(IHT/Asahi: March 28,2007)
From the Sidelines/ TV Timer: Shows delve into background of suspect in British teacher's death
04/04/2007
Lindsay Ann Hawker was young, out to see the world and by all accounts beautiful. Now, the man who lived at the apartment where her battered and strangled body was found in a sand-filled bathtub remains on the run.
Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, has been wanted by police since he fled from several officers who arrived at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in search of the missing 22-year-old British teacher.
The TV shows repeatedly showed the apartment with the bathtub sitting on the balcony and speculated what routes Ichihashi, who lost his shoes during his flight from the law, might have taken.
His mug shot and description were repeatedly aired.
The shows also delved into his background and interviewed his former classmates and acquaintances. Ichihashi was captain of a junior high school basketball team and headed a student body in Gifu Prefecture. Eerily, he wrote in an essay that he liked being a peeping tom.
Some remembered Ichihashi as having a quick temper.
Hawker's father, Bill Hawker, held a news conference after his arrival in Japan.
"My daughter didn't come here to be murdered. She came here to help people, she came here to teach," he said. "My daughter was a lovely girl. She would have helped anybody. And it's because she would have helped anybody that she is where she is now."
The father said the family thought Japan would be a safe place for Lindsay to visit.
The TV programs also showed the victim's two sisters talking to reporters in England. The British media are following this case closely.
The incident reminded viewers of another British woman, Lucie Blackman, 21, a former flight attendant, who was working at a nightclub in Tokyo when she went missing in 2000.
Police found her remains the following year in a beachside cave in Kanagawa Prefecture. Joji Obara has been accused of raping and fatally drugging her.
At that time, Japan's safety was also put in doubt.
--The Asahi Shimbun
WHAT WAS ON THE TUBE (MARCH 26-30)
The following are the lengths of time six "wide shows" on four channels in the Tokyo area devoted to certain topics. The programs cover everything from politics to celebrity gossip. The listing is provided by Reservia Corp. http://www.reservia.co.jp/
1. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture and surrounding regions. A funeral was held for Kiyomi Miyakoshi, the only fatality in the temblor, amid frequent aftershocks and the misery of the more than 1,000 evacuated to shelters. Roads remain damaged and blocked, while TV shows offer footage of the houses that collapsed. 5 hr, 1 min
2. Hitoshi Ueki, a comedian who gained wide popularity in the 1960s, dies of respiratory failure at a Tokyo hospital at the age of 80. Ueki rose to stardom as member of the Crazy Cats, a comedy troupe led by Hana Hajime, and was also known for his songs, including "Sudara Bushi," with the lyrics, "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I can't help it." 3 hr, 49 min, 38 sec
3. A British woman's body is found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of an apartment in Chiba Prefecture. The man who lived there escapes when police officers arrived to look for the missing English teacher. Tatsuya Ichihashi was put on the wanted list. 3 hr, 33 min, 32 sec
4. Asian skaters dazzle the audience at the exhibition performance of the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo. Miki Ando, 19, winner of the women's gold, skates to a live singing performance and later attempts a quadruple jump, but fails to land it. Still, her smile remains. Mao Asada took the silver and South Korean Kim Yu Na the bronze. 1 hr, 21 min, 1 sec
5. The Tokyo Midtown complex opens at the former site of the Defense Agency in Roppongi. The 10-hectare complex comprises six buildings that house offices, shops, restaurants and a museum. The Ritz Carlton operates on the top floors of the Midtown Tower. That's just what the nation's capital needs. More concrete buildings. 1 hr, 14 min, 35 sec
6. Kyogen performer Izumi Motoya and his scandal-ridden mother, Setsuko, talk to reporters at Haneda Airport on their way to a performance on Ishigakijima island. Setsuko denies reports that fees for the use of a hall on the island have yet to be paid. She also denies other reports, such as accusations she hid income and failed to pay rent. 56 min, 12 sec
7. Yuka Maeda, 43, is arrested over the stabbing death of a female friend, Yuko Suzuki, then 39, in an apartment in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in March 2005. Maeda had been on the run for two years and used more than 10 aliases. She had been staying with people she met at a public bath- health center in Tokyo, where she was eventually arrested. 51 min, 45 sec
8. Miyazaki Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru is hospitalized for influenza. The busy governor, now a fixture on the wide shows since winning the post in January, falls ill after attending the award ceremony of the Spring Grand Sumo tournament, and cheering for the baseball team of his high school in Miyakonojo that played in a tournament. 41 min, 21 sec
9. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit the old city of Kawagoe with visiting Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and also attend a banquet. The imperial couple takes a rest in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, where they are joined by the family of their second son, Prince Fumihito. Fumihito's son, Prince Hisahito, laughs out loud before the cameras. 34 min, 31 sec
10. Police find human bones in the water at a port in Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture. The discovery was based on testimony by a man on trial for the murder of two women, who said he dumped parts of the victims' bodies at the site in question. Bones had been found in 2005 from a port in Himeji in the same prefecture. The same suspect's words had also led police to that port. 32 min, 19 sec
(IHT/Asahi: April 4,2007)
Lindsay Ann Hawker was young, out to see the world and by all accounts beautiful. Now, the man who lived at the apartment where her battered and strangled body was found in a sand-filled bathtub remains on the run.
Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, has been wanted by police since he fled from several officers who arrived at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in search of the missing 22-year-old British teacher.
The TV shows repeatedly showed the apartment with the bathtub sitting on the balcony and speculated what routes Ichihashi, who lost his shoes during his flight from the law, might have taken.
His mug shot and description were repeatedly aired.
The shows also delved into his background and interviewed his former classmates and acquaintances. Ichihashi was captain of a junior high school basketball team and headed a student body in Gifu Prefecture. Eerily, he wrote in an essay that he liked being a peeping tom.
Some remembered Ichihashi as having a quick temper.
Hawker's father, Bill Hawker, held a news conference after his arrival in Japan.
"My daughter didn't come here to be murdered. She came here to help people, she came here to teach," he said. "My daughter was a lovely girl. She would have helped anybody. And it's because she would have helped anybody that she is where she is now."
The father said the family thought Japan would be a safe place for Lindsay to visit.
The TV programs also showed the victim's two sisters talking to reporters in England. The British media are following this case closely.
The incident reminded viewers of another British woman, Lucie Blackman, 21, a former flight attendant, who was working at a nightclub in Tokyo when she went missing in 2000.
Police found her remains the following year in a beachside cave in Kanagawa Prefecture. Joji Obara has been accused of raping and fatally drugging her.
At that time, Japan's safety was also put in doubt.
--The Asahi Shimbun
WHAT WAS ON THE TUBE (MARCH 26-30)
The following are the lengths of time six "wide shows" on four channels in the Tokyo area devoted to certain topics. The programs cover everything from politics to celebrity gossip. The listing is provided by Reservia Corp. http://www.reservia.co.jp/
1. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture and surrounding regions. A funeral was held for Kiyomi Miyakoshi, the only fatality in the temblor, amid frequent aftershocks and the misery of the more than 1,000 evacuated to shelters. Roads remain damaged and blocked, while TV shows offer footage of the houses that collapsed. 5 hr, 1 min
2. Hitoshi Ueki, a comedian who gained wide popularity in the 1960s, dies of respiratory failure at a Tokyo hospital at the age of 80. Ueki rose to stardom as member of the Crazy Cats, a comedy troupe led by Hana Hajime, and was also known for his songs, including "Sudara Bushi," with the lyrics, "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I can't help it." 3 hr, 49 min, 38 sec
3. A British woman's body is found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of an apartment in Chiba Prefecture. The man who lived there escapes when police officers arrived to look for the missing English teacher. Tatsuya Ichihashi was put on the wanted list. 3 hr, 33 min, 32 sec
4. Asian skaters dazzle the audience at the exhibition performance of the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo. Miki Ando, 19, winner of the women's gold, skates to a live singing performance and later attempts a quadruple jump, but fails to land it. Still, her smile remains. Mao Asada took the silver and South Korean Kim Yu Na the bronze. 1 hr, 21 min, 1 sec
5. The Tokyo Midtown complex opens at the former site of the Defense Agency in Roppongi. The 10-hectare complex comprises six buildings that house offices, shops, restaurants and a museum. The Ritz Carlton operates on the top floors of the Midtown Tower. That's just what the nation's capital needs. More concrete buildings. 1 hr, 14 min, 35 sec
6. Kyogen performer Izumi Motoya and his scandal-ridden mother, Setsuko, talk to reporters at Haneda Airport on their way to a performance on Ishigakijima island. Setsuko denies reports that fees for the use of a hall on the island have yet to be paid. She also denies other reports, such as accusations she hid income and failed to pay rent. 56 min, 12 sec
7. Yuka Maeda, 43, is arrested over the stabbing death of a female friend, Yuko Suzuki, then 39, in an apartment in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in March 2005. Maeda had been on the run for two years and used more than 10 aliases. She had been staying with people she met at a public bath- health center in Tokyo, where she was eventually arrested. 51 min, 45 sec
8. Miyazaki Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru is hospitalized for influenza. The busy governor, now a fixture on the wide shows since winning the post in January, falls ill after attending the award ceremony of the Spring Grand Sumo tournament, and cheering for the baseball team of his high school in Miyakonojo that played in a tournament. 41 min, 21 sec
9. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit the old city of Kawagoe with visiting Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and also attend a banquet. The imperial couple takes a rest in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, where they are joined by the family of their second son, Prince Fumihito. Fumihito's son, Prince Hisahito, laughs out loud before the cameras. 34 min, 31 sec
10. Police find human bones in the water at a port in Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture. The discovery was based on testimony by a man on trial for the murder of two women, who said he dumped parts of the victims' bodies at the site in question. Bones had been found in 2005 from a port in Himeji in the same prefecture. The same suspect's words had also led police to that port. 32 min, 19 sec
(IHT/Asahi: April 4,2007)
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Tokyo cop commits suicide by jumping in front of subway train
A man who died after jumping in front of a subway train has been identified as a police officer belonging to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), police said.
MPD investigators believe that Norio Tonooka, 40, a sergeant at the MPD's special investigation team, committed suicide.
Tonooka died after jumping in front of a train at Omotesando Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line in Minato-ku on Friday morning, according to the MPD. No suicide note has been found. (Mainichi)
A man who died after jumping in front of a subway train has been identified as a police officer belonging to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), police said.
MPD investigators believe that Norio Tonooka, 40, a sergeant at the MPD's special investigation team, committed suicide.
Tonooka died after jumping in front of a train at Omotesando Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line in Minato-ku on Friday morning, according to the MPD. No suicide note has been found.
(Mainichi)
September 22, 2007
MPD investigators believe that Norio Tonooka, 40, a sergeant at the MPD's special investigation team, committed suicide.
Tonooka died after jumping in front of a train at Omotesando Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line in Minato-ku on Friday morning, according to the MPD. No suicide note has been found. (Mainichi)
A man who died after jumping in front of a subway train has been identified as a police officer belonging to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), police said.
MPD investigators believe that Norio Tonooka, 40, a sergeant at the MPD's special investigation team, committed suicide.
Tonooka died after jumping in front of a train at Omotesando Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line in Minato-ku on Friday morning, according to the MPD. No suicide note has been found.
(Mainichi)
September 22, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Woman breaches ancient Japanese tradition
Agence France-Presse
Last updated 03:10pm (Mla time) 09/20/2007
TOKYO -- Sumo's centuries-old tradition of barring women from entering the ring was momentarily breached Thursday after a woman suddenly threw herself onto the mound where the wrestlers fight.
Television footage showed a middle-aged woman in blue jeans and a green T-shirt abruptly climbing onto the elevated mound between matches Wednesday at the autumn grand tournament in Tokyo.
The mound encompasses the circle in which sumo wrestlers fight but the woman -- whose motive was unclear -- was dragged down by a stunned wrestler and others before she could reach the fighting circle.
Although the entire square mound is technically considered the sumo ring, sumo authorities denied the ancient tradition -- which bars women from entering the "sacred" ring -- had been broken.
"She put her foot on the mound and that can never be a desirable incident. Fortunately, however, she did not enter the fighting ring," a spokeswoman at the Japan Sumo Association said.
"We do not consider that she entered the ring," the official said, adding the association had no plans to press charges against her.
But sports tabloids dismissed the association's view and splashed photos of the woman on their front pages.
"They certainly blocked her from entering the fighting ring and there was no hindrance to matches, but nonetheless a 1,400-year history was broken since a woman was on the ring," the Nikkan Sports wrote.
The sumo association has gone to great lengths to preserve the tradition, even rejecting requests by powerful female politicians to present trophies to the winners of tournaments, making them send their male deputies instead.
Sumo is linked to the Shinto faith, whose rituals strictly forbid any contact with blood, such as that shed by women during menstruation and childbirth.
Women, considered to lack purity, were not even allowed to watch sumo until the late 19th century.
The woman who broke into the mound was taken to a nearby police station but later released, reports said.
Her identity and motive were unclear, although the Nikkan Sports said she was holding fliers with messages such as "Help. Evil spirits."
Last updated 03:10pm (Mla time) 09/20/2007
TOKYO -- Sumo's centuries-old tradition of barring women from entering the ring was momentarily breached Thursday after a woman suddenly threw herself onto the mound where the wrestlers fight.
Television footage showed a middle-aged woman in blue jeans and a green T-shirt abruptly climbing onto the elevated mound between matches Wednesday at the autumn grand tournament in Tokyo.
The mound encompasses the circle in which sumo wrestlers fight but the woman -- whose motive was unclear -- was dragged down by a stunned wrestler and others before she could reach the fighting circle.
Although the entire square mound is technically considered the sumo ring, sumo authorities denied the ancient tradition -- which bars women from entering the "sacred" ring -- had been broken.
"She put her foot on the mound and that can never be a desirable incident. Fortunately, however, she did not enter the fighting ring," a spokeswoman at the Japan Sumo Association said.
"We do not consider that she entered the ring," the official said, adding the association had no plans to press charges against her.
But sports tabloids dismissed the association's view and splashed photos of the woman on their front pages.
"They certainly blocked her from entering the fighting ring and there was no hindrance to matches, but nonetheless a 1,400-year history was broken since a woman was on the ring," the Nikkan Sports wrote.
The sumo association has gone to great lengths to preserve the tradition, even rejecting requests by powerful female politicians to present trophies to the winners of tournaments, making them send their male deputies instead.
Sumo is linked to the Shinto faith, whose rituals strictly forbid any contact with blood, such as that shed by women during menstruation and childbirth.
Women, considered to lack purity, were not even allowed to watch sumo until the late 19th century.
The woman who broke into the mound was taken to a nearby police station but later released, reports said.
Her identity and motive were unclear, although the Nikkan Sports said she was holding fliers with messages such as "Help. Evil spirits."
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