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)
Friday, September 28, 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."
NOVA looks to shut down schools amid financial crisis
Major English language teaching chain NOVA is considering shutting down a large number of schools, it emerged on Thursday.
NOVA's income from lesson fees has decreased since the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry issued the language school a partial business suspension order over its practices. Because of this, the school is apparently pushing for a turnaround, hoping to cut costs by trimming and merging unprofitable schools.
NOVA currently operates more than 900 schools, but problems with efficiency have emerged.
Officials close to the group said NOVA has already been trimming and merging schools, focusing on unprofitable schools with low student numbers, but in the future the chain will also apply the move to major schools in cities where rents are high and there is more than one school in the same area. As many as 100 schools could be affected.
The language school will reportedly make considerations for students, allowing them to take lessons at other nearby schools.
(Mainichi)
September 20, 2007
NOVA's income from lesson fees has decreased since the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry issued the language school a partial business suspension order over its practices. Because of this, the school is apparently pushing for a turnaround, hoping to cut costs by trimming and merging unprofitable schools.
NOVA currently operates more than 900 schools, but problems with efficiency have emerged.
Officials close to the group said NOVA has already been trimming and merging schools, focusing on unprofitable schools with low student numbers, but in the future the chain will also apply the move to major schools in cities where rents are high and there is more than one school in the same area. As many as 100 schools could be affected.
The language school will reportedly make considerations for students, allowing them to take lessons at other nearby schools.
(Mainichi)
September 20, 2007
Ex-cop nabbed for trying to force high school girl into hotel
A former Metropolitan Police Department officer was arrested for attempting to force a high school girl into a hotel to molest her, police said.
Takashi Fukugawa, a 34-year-old former officer from Tokyo's Koto-ku, met the 15-year-old high school girl on Sept. 15 after he came to know her through an online dating site. He then took the girl to a hotel in Koto-ku. A passing officer reportedly heard the commotion and arrested Fukugawa.
Fukugawa was fired from the police force after he was arrested for molesting a junior high school girl in December 2005. He got acquainted with the junior high school girl through an Internet site.
(Mainichi)
September 20, 2007
Takashi Fukugawa, a 34-year-old former officer from Tokyo's Koto-ku, met the 15-year-old high school girl on Sept. 15 after he came to know her through an online dating site. He then took the girl to a hotel in Koto-ku. A passing officer reportedly heard the commotion and arrested Fukugawa.
Fukugawa was fired from the police force after he was arrested for molesting a junior high school girl in December 2005. He got acquainted with the junior high school girl through an Internet site.
(Mainichi)
September 20, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
西武線で爆弾テロ狙う ダイナマイト並みの爆薬原料も保有
9月10日12時18分配信
産経新聞
インターネット通販などで購入した薬品で爆発物を製造、所持したとして、爆発物取締罰則違反容疑で警視庁公安部に逮捕、起訴された男が「職のある人を狙い、西武新宿線の電車内で爆弾テロを起こそうと思った」と供述していたことが、分かった。１０日午前、東京地裁で開かれた初公判で検察側が冒頭陳述で明らかにした。男は、１９９５年の米オクラホマシティーの連邦ビル爆破テロ事件で使われ、ダイナマイト並みの破壊力がある「ＡＮＦＯ爆薬」の原料を保有していたことも新たに判明した。 男は東京都東久留米市柳窪、元会社員、寺沢善博被告（３８）。今年４～５月にかけ、ネット通販や薬局で購入した化学剤アセトン５００ミリリットルなどを使い、爆発物「ＴＡＴＰ」（トリアセトントリパーオキサイド）約１００グラムを製造、所持していた。ＴＡＴＰは海外で自爆テロなどに使われている。 公安部の調べに、寺沢被告は「電車内で自爆テロを起こすため、ネットで製造方法を学び、爆発物を作った」と供述。都内の国立大を卒業後、専攻した暗号学を生かそうとして通信会社に就職したが、人間関係が合わずに退職。スーパーや登録した人材派遣会社の紹介で職を転々としたが、長続きせず、社会に不満を抱き始めた。 寺沢被告は「朝の通勤ラッシュ時、自宅の最寄り駅の西武新宿線鷺ノ宮駅から高田馬場駅の間で爆発させ、職のある人を巻き添えにしようと思った」とも供述した。
産経新聞
インターネット通販などで購入した薬品で爆発物を製造、所持したとして、爆発物取締罰則違反容疑で警視庁公安部に逮捕、起訴された男が「職のある人を狙い、西武新宿線の電車内で爆弾テロを起こそうと思った」と供述していたことが、分かった。１０日午前、東京地裁で開かれた初公判で検察側が冒頭陳述で明らかにした。男は、１９９５年の米オクラホマシティーの連邦ビル爆破テロ事件で使われ、ダイナマイト並みの破壊力がある「ＡＮＦＯ爆薬」の原料を保有していたことも新たに判明した。 男は東京都東久留米市柳窪、元会社員、寺沢善博被告（３８）。今年４～５月にかけ、ネット通販や薬局で購入した化学剤アセトン５００ミリリットルなどを使い、爆発物「ＴＡＴＰ」（トリアセトントリパーオキサイド）約１００グラムを製造、所持していた。ＴＡＴＰは海外で自爆テロなどに使われている。 公安部の調べに、寺沢被告は「電車内で自爆テロを起こすため、ネットで製造方法を学び、爆発物を作った」と供述。都内の国立大を卒業後、専攻した暗号学を生かそうとして通信会社に就職したが、人間関係が合わずに退職。スーパーや登録した人材派遣会社の紹介で職を転々としたが、長続きせず、社会に不満を抱き始めた。 寺沢被告は「朝の通勤ラッシュ時、自宅の最寄り駅の西武新宿線鷺ノ宮駅から高田馬場駅の間で爆発させ、職のある人を巻き添えにしようと思った」とも供述した。
Cell phone messages hint at murder motive
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Metropolitan Police Department has determined from cell phone messages sent by a woman killed by a police officer in an apparent murder-suicide Monday that the officer killed her to keep her from talking, fearing it would come out that he had illegally entered her home while she was out, the MPD said.
Senior Police Officer Hidekazu Tomono of the MPD's Tachikawa Police Station is believed to have killed himself after shooting 32-year-old Yoko Sato.
Some responsibility may lie with top-ranking officers at the MPD, who failed to notice that Tomono, 40, had persistently stalked the woman, eventually allegedly killing her to protect himself.
About 430 messages from Sato sent since mid-November were found on Tomono's cell phone, the MPD said.
From an analysis of these messages, the MPD found that since late July, Tomono had been asking Sato's neighbors about her private life and had been watching over her apartment in Kokubunji, Tokyo. Sato sent an increasing number of messages begging Tomono to stop and there were messages in which she accused him of breaking into her apartment.
On the day of the incident, Sato sent Tomono six messages between about 7 p.m. and about 9:50 p.m.--just before the murder.
According to the MPD, the first message from that day was calm, taking the form of a standard greeting. But subsequent messages grew colder, with Sato eventually telling Tomono she did not want to see him. One message suggested that she may have made up her mind to complain about his stalking. In her final message, she mentions his breaking in, saying the police would know it was him if they collected fingerprints.
The MPD also said Sato, who had not shown up for work at the pub she worked at near JR Tachikawa Station since Aug. 15, had recently asked Tomono's colleague who came to the pub if the police would take fingerprints if someone burgled her home. She also told her mother on her mobile phone that she was worried, saying: "I'm being watched. Maybe my cell phone is being monitored."
Tomono would usually send Sato a message when he got close to her apartment to tell her he was nearby, but there was no such message on the day of the incident.
Tomono hired private eye
On Wednesday--the day after the pair's bodies were found--the MPD searched Tomono's home and seized a report of a background check on Sato that Tomono had a private research company make around January.
The report showed Sato also worked a day job and that Tomono paid hundreds of thousands of yen to the company to locate her workplace.
Sato and Tomono became acquainted at the pub where she worked in Tachikawa last autumn.
Tomono would frequent the pub about three or four times a week. Even if he went there with colleagues or superiors from the station, he would often end up staying by himself singing karaoke and waiting until after the bar closed to meet Sato.
(Aug. 25, 2007)
The Metropolitan Police Department has determined from cell phone messages sent by a woman killed by a police officer in an apparent murder-suicide Monday that the officer killed her to keep her from talking, fearing it would come out that he had illegally entered her home while she was out, the MPD said.
Senior Police Officer Hidekazu Tomono of the MPD's Tachikawa Police Station is believed to have killed himself after shooting 32-year-old Yoko Sato.
Some responsibility may lie with top-ranking officers at the MPD, who failed to notice that Tomono, 40, had persistently stalked the woman, eventually allegedly killing her to protect himself.
About 430 messages from Sato sent since mid-November were found on Tomono's cell phone, the MPD said.
From an analysis of these messages, the MPD found that since late July, Tomono had been asking Sato's neighbors about her private life and had been watching over her apartment in Kokubunji, Tokyo. Sato sent an increasing number of messages begging Tomono to stop and there were messages in which she accused him of breaking into her apartment.
On the day of the incident, Sato sent Tomono six messages between about 7 p.m. and about 9:50 p.m.--just before the murder.
According to the MPD, the first message from that day was calm, taking the form of a standard greeting. But subsequent messages grew colder, with Sato eventually telling Tomono she did not want to see him. One message suggested that she may have made up her mind to complain about his stalking. In her final message, she mentions his breaking in, saying the police would know it was him if they collected fingerprints.
The MPD also said Sato, who had not shown up for work at the pub she worked at near JR Tachikawa Station since Aug. 15, had recently asked Tomono's colleague who came to the pub if the police would take fingerprints if someone burgled her home. She also told her mother on her mobile phone that she was worried, saying: "I'm being watched. Maybe my cell phone is being monitored."
Tomono would usually send Sato a message when he got close to her apartment to tell her he was nearby, but there was no such message on the day of the incident.
Tomono hired private eye
On Wednesday--the day after the pair's bodies were found--the MPD searched Tomono's home and seized a report of a background check on Sato that Tomono had a private research company make around January.
The report showed Sato also worked a day job and that Tomono paid hundreds of thousands of yen to the company to locate her workplace.
Sato and Tomono became acquainted at the pub where she worked in Tachikawa last autumn.
Tomono would frequent the pub about three or four times a week. Even if he went there with colleagues or superiors from the station, he would often end up staying by himself singing karaoke and waiting until after the bar closed to meet Sato.
(Aug. 25, 2007)
Tokyo police chief reprimanded for alleged murder by policeman
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
TOKYO, Sept. 20
(Kyodo)
The National Public Safety Commission on Thursday reprimanded the head of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department and other supervisors of a police officer who allegedly shot dead a female acquaintance before killing himself in August.
The department the same day sent papers on the deceased officer, Hidekazu Tomono, 40, who worked at the Tachikawa Police Station, to prosecutors on the murder charge and announce a set of measures to prevent such incidents from recurring, department officials said.
Those subject to the reprimand include Takayoshi Yashiro, superintendent general of the department, and Tachikawa station chief Koichi Matsumoto who had his salary cut by 10 percent for three months and will resign Friday to take the blame.
It is the third time a Tokyo police chief has been reprimanded. The first time followed an incident in 1978 in which a patrol officer broke into the home of a female college student and killed her, while the second was over a 1997 case in which a police investigator made up an amphetamine possession case.
TOKYO, Sept. 20
(Kyodo)
The National Public Safety Commission on Thursday reprimanded the head of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department and other supervisors of a police officer who allegedly shot dead a female acquaintance before killing himself in August.
The department the same day sent papers on the deceased officer, Hidekazu Tomono, 40, who worked at the Tachikawa Police Station, to prosecutors on the murder charge and announce a set of measures to prevent such incidents from recurring, department officials said.
Those subject to the reprimand include Takayoshi Yashiro, superintendent general of the department, and Tachikawa station chief Koichi Matsumoto who had his salary cut by 10 percent for three months and will resign Friday to take the blame.
It is the third time a Tokyo police chief has been reprimanded. The first time followed an incident in 1978 in which a patrol officer broke into the home of a female college student and killed her, while the second was over a 1997 case in which a police investigator made up an amphetamine possession case.
MPD head facing rebuke over cop's murder-suicide
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The National Public Safety Commission is considering disciplining Metropolitan Police Department Superintendent General Takayoshi Yashiro in connection with the suicide of a senior police officer, which occurred after the officer apparently shot and killed a woman last month.
Hidekazu Tomono, 40, of Tachikawa Police Station is believed to have taken his own life after killing pub employee, Yoko Sato, 32.
Disciplinary action is being considered under the National Public Service Law. The commission could decide on whether and how to discipline Yashiro at its regular conference on Thursday.
Yashiro took up his post on Aug. 6, only two weeks before the suicide occurred. However, to maintain public trust, the commission concluded that they should examine to what extent Yashiro, as the newly appointed head of the organization, bore responsibility for the incident.
(Sep. 16, 2007)
The National Public Safety Commission is considering disciplining Metropolitan Police Department Superintendent General Takayoshi Yashiro in connection with the suicide of a senior police officer, which occurred after the officer apparently shot and killed a woman last month.
Hidekazu Tomono, 40, of Tachikawa Police Station is believed to have taken his own life after killing pub employee, Yoko Sato, 32.
Disciplinary action is being considered under the National Public Service Law. The commission could decide on whether and how to discipline Yashiro at its regular conference on Thursday.
Yashiro took up his post on Aug. 6, only two weeks before the suicide occurred. However, to maintain public trust, the commission concluded that they should examine to what extent Yashiro, as the newly appointed head of the organization, bore responsibility for the incident.
(Sep. 16, 2007)
Ex-Kagoshima policeman charged with forcing confession over election
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 16:06 EDT
FUKUOKA — Prosecutors indicted a former Kagoshima police officer Wednesday on a charge of coercing a man into confessing in 2003 during questioning on a voluntary basis over an election violation case, the prosecutors said.
The man, Sachio Kawabata, had filed a complaint against the 45-year-old former assistant police inspector for grabbing his foot to trample on a piece of paper on which a message and the name of a family member were written during the investigation into the election violation case, over which all 12 people indicted have been acquitted.
Kawabata, a 61-year-old hotel operator in Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture, was questioned on suspicion of giving away bottles of "shochu" distilled spirit while campaigning for Shinichi Nakayama in the Kagoshima prefectural assembly election in April 2003.
Nakayama, who was first elected in the 2003 contest, and 11 others charged with buying votes or accepting money for their votes in the election were acquitted in February, with the Kagoshima District Court dismissing the credibility of confessions obtained from some of them during the investigation. The acquittals were finalized in March.
Kawabata, in a civil suit ruling finalized in January, won 600,000 yen in damages from the prefectural government for undergoing the abusive treatment.
He filed the complaint against the police officer, who retired in August, with Kagoshima prosecutors in January, but since the local prosecutors were also involved in investigating the election violation case, the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutors Office has taken over the case.
Kyodo
FUKUOKA — Prosecutors indicted a former Kagoshima police officer Wednesday on a charge of coercing a man into confessing in 2003 during questioning on a voluntary basis over an election violation case, the prosecutors said.
The man, Sachio Kawabata, had filed a complaint against the 45-year-old former assistant police inspector for grabbing his foot to trample on a piece of paper on which a message and the name of a family member were written during the investigation into the election violation case, over which all 12 people indicted have been acquitted.
Kawabata, a 61-year-old hotel operator in Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture, was questioned on suspicion of giving away bottles of "shochu" distilled spirit while campaigning for Shinichi Nakayama in the Kagoshima prefectural assembly election in April 2003.
Nakayama, who was first elected in the 2003 contest, and 11 others charged with buying votes or accepting money for their votes in the election were acquitted in February, with the Kagoshima District Court dismissing the credibility of confessions obtained from some of them during the investigation. The acquittals were finalized in March.
Kawabata, in a civil suit ruling finalized in January, won 600,000 yen in damages from the prefectural government for undergoing the abusive treatment.
He filed the complaint against the police officer, who retired in August, with Kagoshima prosecutors in January, but since the local prosecutors were also involved in investigating the election violation case, the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutors Office has taken over the case.
Kyodo
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Teenage girl who killed father with ax was troubled over his relationships with women
KYOTANABE, Kyoto -- A 16-year-old girl arrested for murdering her father, a police officer, with an ax has told investigators that she had been troubled by her father's relationships with women.
Police investigating the killing said that the 16-year-old purchased the ax used to kill her father at a hardware store near her home on Sept. 13.
The teen reportedly told investigators that she "hated" her father, and police suspect that she had become troubled over her father's relationships and planned to kill him. They are continuing to question her over the exact motives for the crime.
Police said the 16-year-old, who cannot be named because she is a minor, attacked her father as he was sleeping on the second floor of their home in Kyotanabe at about 4 a.m. on Tuesday, bringing the ax down on her his neck and killing him.
An autopsy showed that he died almost instantly from loss of blood. Injuries were found on five or six places on his body, including his neck and his left hand.
"I cut him several times," police quoted the girl as saying.
The teen's older sister said their father had been kind and considerate.
"He never treated us violently," she said.
(Mainichi)
September 19, 2007
Police investigating the killing said that the 16-year-old purchased the ax used to kill her father at a hardware store near her home on Sept. 13.
The teen reportedly told investigators that she "hated" her father, and police suspect that she had become troubled over her father's relationships and planned to kill him. They are continuing to question her over the exact motives for the crime.
Police said the 16-year-old, who cannot be named because she is a minor, attacked her father as he was sleeping on the second floor of their home in Kyotanabe at about 4 a.m. on Tuesday, bringing the ax down on her his neck and killing him.
An autopsy showed that he died almost instantly from loss of blood. Injuries were found on five or six places on his body, including his neck and his left hand.
"I cut him several times," police quoted the girl as saying.
The teen's older sister said their father had been kind and considerate.
"He never treated us violently," she said.
(Mainichi)
September 19, 2007
Police negligence issue in fatal stalking case involving cop
08/24/2007
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
A bar hostess who was shot dead by a police officer before he turned the gun on himself had complained to his colleagues that he was stalking her, but they didn't lift a finger to help.
Frantic, Yoko Sato, 32, also spilled her heart out to her parents and acquaintances while police refused to take her complaint seriously.
Sato's body was found in her tiny apartment in Tokyo's Kokubunji on Tuesday. Lying next to her with a gunshot wound to the chest was senior police officer Hidekazu Tomono, 40.
Sato told her parents in early June that she was being stalked by a police officer from the Tachikawa Police Station who at one point had "begged me for a kiss."
A woman who works at the same bar and a male acquaintance told The Asahi Shimbun that Sato had complained to Tomono's colleagues as well as police officers at the Kanagawa prefectural police headquarters.
However, none of them took any action, saying they belonged to different police divisions, according to Sato's accounts to them.
Officials of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said they have yet to confirm that Sato went to the police to seek help. They said they will investigate the matter to determine if police officers had acted improperly.
In May, Tomono visited Sato's male acquaintance at his workplace and asked questions about her. He also called the man's cellphone with more questions.
Tomono kept visiting the bar and insisted that she always serve him. Sato did not reciprocate Tomono's ardor.
One of her friends suggested to Sato that she quit her job so that she could escape Tomono's attentions and she told the bar manager that she would leave as of Aug. 15.
That night, Tomono turned up at the bar with four colleagues. Tomono stayed behind after they left.
"It looked like Tomono was going to spend some time with her," one of the police officials said.
Earlier this year, Tomono took Sato to another bar where he begged her for a kiss.
A person working at the bar recalled Sato saying that "(Tomono is) annoying, but he is a great customer because he spends tons of money."
Tomono, who was single and lived with his parents in Tokyo's Akiruno, started staying out at nights without saying where he was going.
He gave his parents 100,000 yen each month to cover his food expenses. But around April, he reduced the amount to 80,000 yen. In July and August, he borrowed a total of 1 million yen from his parents.
Meantime, investigators found that Tomono exchanged e-mail messages with Sato via their cellphones on Monday, the day before the pair were found dead.
They said Tomono's body was found some 13 hours after he left the Fujimidai Police Box for patrol duty on the night of Aug. 20. His colleagues started looking for him more than seven hours after he disappeared, but they couldn't reach him.
According to his colleagues, Tomono often pulled disappearing acts when he was on duty.
The MPD has concluded that staff oversight at the Tachikawa Police Station was lax. As a result, it began a special investigation of problems there on Wednesday.
On Monday, after receiving a report that a homeless man had been found asleep nearby, Tomono left the police box around 9:30 p.m. by motorbike.
He met up with the person who had reported the matter to the police station. After that, Tomono remained out of cellphone contact.
Around 10:30 p.m., the police supervisor turned up on his rounds but took no action after learning that Tomono could not be located.
Around 5 a.m. Tuesday, an officer at the police box informed the police station that Tomono was nowhere to be found.
Police officers and investigators were called to search for him. They identified Sato's apartment from her business card and went over there. They discovered the bodies around 10:40 a.m.
A suspicious person had been seen hanging around Sato's apartment. Police now believe it was Tomono.
Even while he was on duty, he apparently went over to Sato's apartment on numerous occasions even though it is located outside the jurisdiction of the Tachikawa Police Station.
The MPD is investigating the motive for Sato's slaying while trying to determine why it took so long for officers to begin searching for Tomono on the night he went missing.
(IHT/Asahi: August 24,2007)
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
A bar hostess who was shot dead by a police officer before he turned the gun on himself had complained to his colleagues that he was stalking her, but they didn't lift a finger to help.
Frantic, Yoko Sato, 32, also spilled her heart out to her parents and acquaintances while police refused to take her complaint seriously.
Sato's body was found in her tiny apartment in Tokyo's Kokubunji on Tuesday. Lying next to her with a gunshot wound to the chest was senior police officer Hidekazu Tomono, 40.
Sato told her parents in early June that she was being stalked by a police officer from the Tachikawa Police Station who at one point had "begged me for a kiss."
A woman who works at the same bar and a male acquaintance told The Asahi Shimbun that Sato had complained to Tomono's colleagues as well as police officers at the Kanagawa prefectural police headquarters.
However, none of them took any action, saying they belonged to different police divisions, according to Sato's accounts to them.
Officials of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said they have yet to confirm that Sato went to the police to seek help. They said they will investigate the matter to determine if police officers had acted improperly.
In May, Tomono visited Sato's male acquaintance at his workplace and asked questions about her. He also called the man's cellphone with more questions.
Tomono kept visiting the bar and insisted that she always serve him. Sato did not reciprocate Tomono's ardor.
One of her friends suggested to Sato that she quit her job so that she could escape Tomono's attentions and she told the bar manager that she would leave as of Aug. 15.
That night, Tomono turned up at the bar with four colleagues. Tomono stayed behind after they left.
"It looked like Tomono was going to spend some time with her," one of the police officials said.
Earlier this year, Tomono took Sato to another bar where he begged her for a kiss.
A person working at the bar recalled Sato saying that "(Tomono is) annoying, but he is a great customer because he spends tons of money."
Tomono, who was single and lived with his parents in Tokyo's Akiruno, started staying out at nights without saying where he was going.
He gave his parents 100,000 yen each month to cover his food expenses. But around April, he reduced the amount to 80,000 yen. In July and August, he borrowed a total of 1 million yen from his parents.
Meantime, investigators found that Tomono exchanged e-mail messages with Sato via their cellphones on Monday, the day before the pair were found dead.
They said Tomono's body was found some 13 hours after he left the Fujimidai Police Box for patrol duty on the night of Aug. 20. His colleagues started looking for him more than seven hours after he disappeared, but they couldn't reach him.
According to his colleagues, Tomono often pulled disappearing acts when he was on duty.
The MPD has concluded that staff oversight at the Tachikawa Police Station was lax. As a result, it began a special investigation of problems there on Wednesday.
On Monday, after receiving a report that a homeless man had been found asleep nearby, Tomono left the police box around 9:30 p.m. by motorbike.
He met up with the person who had reported the matter to the police station. After that, Tomono remained out of cellphone contact.
Around 10:30 p.m., the police supervisor turned up on his rounds but took no action after learning that Tomono could not be located.
Around 5 a.m. Tuesday, an officer at the police box informed the police station that Tomono was nowhere to be found.
Police officers and investigators were called to search for him. They identified Sato's apartment from her business card and went over there. They discovered the bodies around 10:40 a.m.
A suspicious person had been seen hanging around Sato's apartment. Police now believe it was Tomono.
Even while he was on duty, he apparently went over to Sato's apartment on numerous occasions even though it is located outside the jurisdiction of the Tachikawa Police Station.
The MPD is investigating the motive for Sato's slaying while trying to determine why it took so long for officers to begin searching for Tomono on the night he went missing.
(IHT/Asahi: August 24,2007)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Furuta offers to resign as manager of slumping Swallows
5:42pm Tuesday, September 18
Atsuya Furuta, player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows baseball team, has told his club that he will resign as manager after the 2007 season to take responsibility for the team's poor form.
Furuta's two-year contract as manager with the Yakult Swallows will expire at the end of the 2007 season. But the club is asking Furuta to stay on as manager, while it plans not to hire him as a player in 2008.
Swallows executive Yoshikazu Tagiku said on Tuesday that he was informed of Furuta's intention to quit as manager earlier this season.
As of Monday, the Swallows are at the bottom of the six-team standings in the Central League, with 51 wins and 74 losses. Furuta, 42, is reportedly saying that he is responsible for the club's bad results.
(Mainichi)
Atsuya Furuta, player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows baseball team, has told his club that he will resign as manager after the 2007 season to take responsibility for the team's poor form.
Furuta's two-year contract as manager with the Yakult Swallows will expire at the end of the 2007 season. But the club is asking Furuta to stay on as manager, while it plans not to hire him as a player in 2008.
Swallows executive Yoshikazu Tagiku said on Tuesday that he was informed of Furuta's intention to quit as manager earlier this season.
As of Monday, the Swallows are at the bottom of the six-team standings in the Central League, with 51 wins and 74 losses. Furuta, 42, is reportedly saying that he is responsible for the club's bad results.
(Mainichi)
16-year-old Kyoto girl arrested for killing her policeman father with ax
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 14:55 EDT
KYOTO — A 16-year-old girl was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing her father, a police officer, at their home in Kyotanabe, police said.
The girl, a vocational school student, was quoted as telling investigators, "I killed my dad because I did not like him," referring to her 45-year-old father, who was found lying on his bed earlier in the day with gashes to his neck from a hand ax.
The wife of the officer called police at around 4:40 a.m., saying, "My husband killed himself." After police arrived, the girl admitted to killing her father. Police said the girl, covered with blood, was dazed, and was with her mother and 19-year-old sister in the living room.
Her mother and sister were sleeping at the time of the attack, police said.
"He was an excellent officer," Toshiaki Okano, deputy chief of the Minami Police Station, said of the victim. "I have never heard that he had any troubles."
Kyodo
KYOTO — A 16-year-old girl was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing her father, a police officer, at their home in Kyotanabe, police said.
The girl, a vocational school student, was quoted as telling investigators, "I killed my dad because I did not like him," referring to her 45-year-old father, who was found lying on his bed earlier in the day with gashes to his neck from a hand ax.
The wife of the officer called police at around 4:40 a.m., saying, "My husband killed himself." After police arrived, the girl admitted to killing her father. Police said the girl, covered with blood, was dazed, and was with her mother and 19-year-old sister in the living room.
Her mother and sister were sleeping at the time of the attack, police said.
"He was an excellent officer," Toshiaki Okano, deputy chief of the Minami Police Station, said of the victim. "I have never heard that he had any troubles."
Kyodo
Cop hit by subway train while sleeping on tracks
NAGOYA -- A police officer was seriously injured after being hit by a subway train while sleeping on the tracks here late Sunday night, police said.
The driver of a six-carriage train on the Meijo Line of the Nagoya Municipal Subway System spotted a man lying face-up on the tracks at Shiga-Hondori Station in Kita-ku, Nagoya, at about 11:25 p.m., and applied the emergency brakes, local police said.
The train stopped after hitting the man. He suffered a broken left leg and remains in serious condition, according to investigators.
The man has been identified as a 46-year-old inspector at Aichi Prefectural Police. The inspector, who previously belonged to the force's Security Bureau, is now on loan to the prefectural government's disaster countermeasures division.
(Mainichi)
September 18, 2007
The driver of a six-carriage train on the Meijo Line of the Nagoya Municipal Subway System spotted a man lying face-up on the tracks at Shiga-Hondori Station in Kita-ku, Nagoya, at about 11:25 p.m., and applied the emergency brakes, local police said.
The train stopped after hitting the man. He suffered a broken left leg and remains in serious condition, according to investigators.
The man has been identified as a 46-year-old inspector at Aichi Prefectural Police. The inspector, who previously belonged to the force's Security Bureau, is now on loan to the prefectural government's disaster countermeasures division.
(Mainichi)
September 18, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Punished educator certified as 'super teacher' in Kyoto
Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 06:53 EDT
KYOTO — Kyoto City's board of education gave the title of "super teacher" to a 52-year-old city-run high school teacher in 2005 even though he had been repeatedly reprimanded for corporal punishment, board officials admitted Saturday.
Super teachers are required to be role models for other teachers by giving them advice and opening their classes to them.
Although the teacher in question made the school volleyball team a strong contestant, he was punished three times between 1997 and 2001 for throwing a chair at students during team practice and other forms of physically punitive behavior, according to the officials.
The education board, however, awarded him the title in September 2005 along with other 29 teachers as he "demonstrated outstanding achievement in leading the volleyball team."
Since the initial award, the board had renewed it for him every year.
The teacher, however, was again accused further corporal punishment by an anonymous informant in February this year, and had taken medical leave since March. He submitted a letter of resignation to the education board on Friday, according to the officials.
Kyodo
KYOTO — Kyoto City's board of education gave the title of "super teacher" to a 52-year-old city-run high school teacher in 2005 even though he had been repeatedly reprimanded for corporal punishment, board officials admitted Saturday.
Super teachers are required to be role models for other teachers by giving them advice and opening their classes to them.
Although the teacher in question made the school volleyball team a strong contestant, he was punished three times between 1997 and 2001 for throwing a chair at students during team practice and other forms of physically punitive behavior, according to the officials.
The education board, however, awarded him the title in September 2005 along with other 29 teachers as he "demonstrated outstanding achievement in leading the volleyball team."
Since the initial award, the board had renewed it for him every year.
The teacher, however, was again accused further corporal punishment by an anonymous informant in February this year, and had taken medical leave since March. He submitted a letter of resignation to the education board on Friday, according to the officials.
Kyodo
Friday, September 14, 2007
Action planned against police officer who made man trample on relatives' names
KAGOSHIMA -- A group of supporters of a man who was made to trample on paper bearing the names of his relatives when he was questioned by police is set to file an audit request to make a former police officer personally compensate the victim.
The group plans to file a residents audit request with the Kagoshima prefectural audit commissioner to make the former assistant police inspector who questioned the victim pay him compensation for the treatment.
The victim was questioned by prefectural police on suspicion of buying votes during a Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly election. During interrogation, the former assistant police inspector made the victim trample on paper bearing the names of his relatives.
The prefectural government paid the man damages, but the group said it was not right for the prefecture to pay for the officer's actions.
None of the 12 suspects who were questioned in the prefectural assembly election case were found guilty.
(Mainichi)
September 14, 2007
The group plans to file a residents audit request with the Kagoshima prefectural audit commissioner to make the former assistant police inspector who questioned the victim pay him compensation for the treatment.
The victim was questioned by prefectural police on suspicion of buying votes during a Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly election. During interrogation, the former assistant police inspector made the victim trample on paper bearing the names of his relatives.
The prefectural government paid the man damages, but the group said it was not right for the prefecture to pay for the officer's actions.
None of the 12 suspects who were questioned in the prefectural assembly election case were found guilty.
(Mainichi)
September 14, 2007
Police officer arrested for molesting junior high school girl
A police officer has been arrested for molesting a 15-year-old girl in Tokyo in late July, police said.
Masaki Higashikozono, 23, a Kanagawa Prefectural Police officer enrolled in the force's police academy, stands accused of violating a Tokyo metropolitan ordinance on the wholesome upbringing of youths.
He admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I couldn't suppress my desires, and committed an atrocious act," he was quoted as telling investigators.
Higashikozono fondled the body of a third-year junior high school girl at a hotel in Toshima-ku, Tokyo, in late July, investigators said. The officer had got acquainted with the girl through an online matchmaking site in late May.
(Mainichi)
September 14, 2007
Masaki Higashikozono, 23, a Kanagawa Prefectural Police officer enrolled in the force's police academy, stands accused of violating a Tokyo metropolitan ordinance on the wholesome upbringing of youths.
He admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I couldn't suppress my desires, and committed an atrocious act," he was quoted as telling investigators.
Higashikozono fondled the body of a third-year junior high school girl at a hotel in Toshima-ku, Tokyo, in late July, investigators said. The officer had got acquainted with the girl through an online matchmaking site in late May.
(Mainichi)
September 14, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Police officers punished for losing key to cuffs
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Nine police officers have been disciplined for their role in giving a defendant in an assault case an opportunity to escape on two occasions after a police sergeant dropped the key to the man's handcuffs while he was being escorted by car to Fukaya Police Station in Saitama Prefecture, police said.
The Inspection Office of the Saitama prefectural police on Wednesday fined a 55-year-old assistant police inspector one-tenth of a month's wages and took disciplinary action against his superior, a 59-year-old inspector. Seven other officers, including the head of the station and the 60-year-old police sergeant who dropped the key, were given a warning.
On one of the occasions, the sergeant, who was escorting a 26-year-old Brazilian man--on trial for assault and other charges--with the assistant police inspector, dropped the key inside the police car on March 22.
(Aug. 24, 2007)
Nine police officers have been disciplined for their role in giving a defendant in an assault case an opportunity to escape on two occasions after a police sergeant dropped the key to the man's handcuffs while he was being escorted by car to Fukaya Police Station in Saitama Prefecture, police said.
The Inspection Office of the Saitama prefectural police on Wednesday fined a 55-year-old assistant police inspector one-tenth of a month's wages and took disciplinary action against his superior, a 59-year-old inspector. Seven other officers, including the head of the station and the 60-year-old police sergeant who dropped the key, were given a warning.
On one of the occasions, the sergeant, who was escorting a 26-year-old Brazilian man--on trial for assault and other charges--with the assistant police inspector, dropped the key inside the police car on March 22.
(Aug. 24, 2007)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Japanese schoolchildren fed toxic dolphin meat
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Wednesday September 5, 2007
Councillors from the home of the Japan's whaling industry have revealed that schoolchildren in the area have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of cetacean meat.
In a rare departure from the official line that the meat is safe and nutritious, two assembly members from Taiji in Wakayama prefecture broke ranks to say that tests on samples of short-finned pilot whales - a type of large dolphin, despite its name - had found mercury levels 10 to 16 times higher than those advised by the health ministry.
"In kindergartens, elementary schools and middle schools, children are served the meat two or three times a month, but their parents believe that it comes from whales caught in the Antarctic. They seem to be unaware that their children are eating these pilot whales," said Hisato Ryono, who described the meat as "toxic waste".
In some cases the mercury levels were higher than those recorded in seafood affected in the infamous Minamata mercury poisoning case, which has been responsible for the deaths of 1,700 people since the 1950s. Mercury poisoning can damage the nervous system and internal organs and is known to be dangerous to the foetus.
One of the Taiji samples, bought from two local supermarkets, contained almost 16 times more mercury than the ministry's accepted level of 0.4 parts per million, the councillors said. The same sample also contained 12 times more methyl mercury than is deemed acceptable.
Meat from the dolphins is currently only served in Taiji, about 280 miles west of Tokyo, but authorities plan to go ahead with the construction of a ¥330m (£1.4m) dolphin processing plant that will ship meat to other parts of the country as part of efforts to boost domestic consumption, particularly among children.
Mr Ryono and his colleague, Junichiro Yamashita, decided to go public with their findings after Taiji authorities ignored their requests to have the meat inspected before it was served in school lunches.
Their claims, however, have been ignored by most of the country's media. "The media have concerns because such information can have an impact on the fishing industry in Taiji," Mr Yamashita said. "But it is a problem because local residents, including the parents of schoolchildren, remain unaware [of the dangers]."
They warned that other dolphin and whale meat is unlikely to be safe for human consumption.
"I believe that pollution in the sea around Japan is the cause of this," Mr Ryono said. "The fish are contaminated with mercury and then eaten by whales as part of the food cycle. The levels rise because whales accumulate mercury."
The claims come as Taiji prepares for its annual dolphin cull. The town slaughters about 2,300 of the 20,000 dolphins killed in Japanese waters every year over the next six months. In a practice condemned as barbaric by animal rights campaigners, fishermen drive pods of dolphins towards the shore and spear or hack then to death.
Although the councillors say they do not oppose traditional whale and dolphin hunting, they have been shunned by fellow assembly members since going public with their findings.
"The health ministry may not be taking this problem seriously but once the information spreads, the country will have to face the issue," Mr Yamashita said.
bbc.co.uk
Wednesday September 5, 2007
Councillors from the home of the Japan's whaling industry have revealed that schoolchildren in the area have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of cetacean meat.
In a rare departure from the official line that the meat is safe and nutritious, two assembly members from Taiji in Wakayama prefecture broke ranks to say that tests on samples of short-finned pilot whales - a type of large dolphin, despite its name - had found mercury levels 10 to 16 times higher than those advised by the health ministry.
"In kindergartens, elementary schools and middle schools, children are served the meat two or three times a month, but their parents believe that it comes from whales caught in the Antarctic. They seem to be unaware that their children are eating these pilot whales," said Hisato Ryono, who described the meat as "toxic waste".
In some cases the mercury levels were higher than those recorded in seafood affected in the infamous Minamata mercury poisoning case, which has been responsible for the deaths of 1,700 people since the 1950s. Mercury poisoning can damage the nervous system and internal organs and is known to be dangerous to the foetus.
One of the Taiji samples, bought from two local supermarkets, contained almost 16 times more mercury than the ministry's accepted level of 0.4 parts per million, the councillors said. The same sample also contained 12 times more methyl mercury than is deemed acceptable.
Meat from the dolphins is currently only served in Taiji, about 280 miles west of Tokyo, but authorities plan to go ahead with the construction of a ¥330m (£1.4m) dolphin processing plant that will ship meat to other parts of the country as part of efforts to boost domestic consumption, particularly among children.
Mr Ryono and his colleague, Junichiro Yamashita, decided to go public with their findings after Taiji authorities ignored their requests to have the meat inspected before it was served in school lunches.
Their claims, however, have been ignored by most of the country's media. "The media have concerns because such information can have an impact on the fishing industry in Taiji," Mr Yamashita said. "But it is a problem because local residents, including the parents of schoolchildren, remain unaware [of the dangers]."
They warned that other dolphin and whale meat is unlikely to be safe for human consumption.
"I believe that pollution in the sea around Japan is the cause of this," Mr Ryono said. "The fish are contaminated with mercury and then eaten by whales as part of the food cycle. The levels rise because whales accumulate mercury."
The claims come as Taiji prepares for its annual dolphin cull. The town slaughters about 2,300 of the 20,000 dolphins killed in Japanese waters every year over the next six months. In a practice condemned as barbaric by animal rights campaigners, fishermen drive pods of dolphins towards the shore and spear or hack then to death.
Although the councillors say they do not oppose traditional whale and dolphin hunting, they have been shunned by fellow assembly members since going public with their findings.
"The health ministry may not be taking this problem seriously but once the information spreads, the country will have to face the issue," Mr Yamashita said.
bbc.co.uk
S Korea to end school junk food sales
September 6, 2007 - 9:59AM
South Korea will halt sales of junk food and sodas at schools nationwide in order to cut down on a recently growing problem of childhood obesity, the education ministry says.
South Korea has been able to avoid a serious childhood obesity problem for decades but saw the obesity rate hit 18.2 per cent among its students in 2005 due to a more sedentary lifestyle and greater consumption of high-calorie foods.
The ministry plans to end sales of carbonated drinks in schools by the end of this year and then cut off sales of instant noodles, candy bars and other junk food, an official said.
"Living conditions have improved in this country, but this has resulted in students becoming less active," a ministry official said.
Reuters
South Korea will halt sales of junk food and sodas at schools nationwide in order to cut down on a recently growing problem of childhood obesity, the education ministry says.
South Korea has been able to avoid a serious childhood obesity problem for decades but saw the obesity rate hit 18.2 per cent among its students in 2005 due to a more sedentary lifestyle and greater consumption of high-calorie foods.
The ministry plans to end sales of carbonated drinks in schools by the end of this year and then cut off sales of instant noodles, candy bars and other junk food, an official said.
"Living conditions have improved in this country, but this has resulted in students becoming less active," a ministry official said.
Reuters
Japan Hopes New Reef Will Produce Good Waves
September 06 2007 at 02:54AM
Tokyo - Japan plans to build its first artificial reef to respond to the growing number of surfers as more Japanese kick back on the waves, officials said on Wednesday.
Japan has a vibrant surfing culture, with tanned surfers sporting bleached hair seen even in the coldest months of winter at Shonan beach near Tokyo.
But hardcore surfing aficionados tend to head overseas, particularly to Hawaii, due to the dearth of good waves at home.
The western prefecture of Wakayama, just south of Osaka, plans to make a reef out of natural stones and shaped like a boomerang, which would produce waves of up to two metres.
The reef, to be built off the coast of Nachikatsuura, a seashore village, will not only target experienced surfers but also beginners, said Koji Naka, a local tourism official.
"There is a growing number of surfers in the local region as well as surrounding areas. We hope to attract surfer tourists and make it as famous as Shonan," he said.
The reef will be built on sand, which will be safe for beginners, he said.It will be built six metres below the water surface and will measure 50m by 4.5m.
Construction is slated to begin late December or early January 2008, Naka said.
iol.co.za
Tokyo - Japan plans to build its first artificial reef to respond to the growing number of surfers as more Japanese kick back on the waves, officials said on Wednesday.
Japan has a vibrant surfing culture, with tanned surfers sporting bleached hair seen even in the coldest months of winter at Shonan beach near Tokyo.
But hardcore surfing aficionados tend to head overseas, particularly to Hawaii, due to the dearth of good waves at home.
The western prefecture of Wakayama, just south of Osaka, plans to make a reef out of natural stones and shaped like a boomerang, which would produce waves of up to two metres.
The reef, to be built off the coast of Nachikatsuura, a seashore village, will not only target experienced surfers but also beginners, said Koji Naka, a local tourism official.
"There is a growing number of surfers in the local region as well as surrounding areas. We hope to attract surfer tourists and make it as famous as Shonan," he said.
The reef will be built on sand, which will be safe for beginners, he said.It will be built six metres below the water surface and will measure 50m by 4.5m.
Construction is slated to begin late December or early January 2008, Naka said.
iol.co.za
Alarm clock that rolls away and hides a hit in Japan
A moving alarm clock on wheels that rolls about the room beeping and hides so users have to get up and turn it off has proved a hit in Japan following its introduction here.
The unique clock, named "Nanda Clocky" in Japan, was designed three years ago by 27-year-old Gauri Nanda, who was studying at a university in the United States at the time. Nanda, who reportedly struggled to wake up in the morning herself, formed a company and launched the product earlier this year.
Commenting on the clock's popularity, Nanda said the interest suggested there were a lot of people who were stopping their alarms and drifting back to sleep.
Nanda Clocky retails for 8,400 yen, and is being marketed in Japan by Ark Trading Inc.
(Mainichi)
September 9, 2007
The unique clock, named "Nanda Clocky" in Japan, was designed three years ago by 27-year-old Gauri Nanda, who was studying at a university in the United States at the time. Nanda, who reportedly struggled to wake up in the morning herself, formed a company and launched the product earlier this year.
Commenting on the clock's popularity, Nanda said the interest suggested there were a lot of people who were stopping their alarms and drifting back to sleep.
Nanda Clocky retails for 8,400 yen, and is being marketed in Japan by Ark Trading Inc.
(Mainichi)
September 9, 2007
爆発物：「持っていただけ」初公判で３８歳被告
国際テロにも使われる爆発物「ＴＡＴＰ」（トリアセトントリパーオキサイド）を自宅で製造・所持したとして、爆発物取締罰則違反に問われた東京都東久留米市の無職、寺沢善博被告（３８）は１０日、東京地裁（半田靖史裁判長）の初公判で「持っていただけ」と述べ、人に危害を加えるつもりはなかったと主張した。これに対し、検察側は「朝のラッシュ時に西武新宿線の車内で爆発させようと考えていた」と指摘した。
検察側は冒頭陳述で「寺沢被告は大学院卒業後、複数の勤務先から解雇され、仕事がある人たちに激しいねたみを持つようになった」と指摘。「自宅から近い西武新宿線の車内に爆発物を持ち込んで、仕事がある多くの人を殺そうと考えた」と述べた。
ＴＡＴＰについては、ロンドンの自爆テロや製造方法を書いた記事をインターネットで読んだ上で、原材料を薬局などで購入。薬品を自宅で調合して製造し、爆発実験を繰り返したという。
起訴状によると、寺沢被告は５～６月、ＴＡＴＰ約９２．５グラムを製造・所持したほか、爆発物に使う鉄パイプや豆電球セットなどを所持した。【銭場裕司】
毎日新聞 2007年9月10日 12時37分
検察側は冒頭陳述で「寺沢被告は大学院卒業後、複数の勤務先から解雇され、仕事がある人たちに激しいねたみを持つようになった」と指摘。「自宅から近い西武新宿線の車内に爆発物を持ち込んで、仕事がある多くの人を殺そうと考えた」と述べた。
ＴＡＴＰについては、ロンドンの自爆テロや製造方法を書いた記事をインターネットで読んだ上で、原材料を薬局などで購入。薬品を自宅で調合して製造し、爆発実験を繰り返したという。
起訴状によると、寺沢被告は５～６月、ＴＡＴＰ約９２．５グラムを製造・所持したほか、爆発物に使う鉄パイプや豆電球セットなどを所持した。【銭場裕司】
毎日新聞 2007年9月10日 12時37分
Tokyo Man Allegedly Aimed to Bomb Commuter Train
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007
Kyodo News
A man intended to set off a bomb on a Tokyo commuter train using homemade explosives, prosecutors said Monday as his trial opened at the Tokyo District Court.
Yoshihiro Terasawa, 38, facing charges of violating the explosives control law, has admitted to making and possessing the explosives but has denied intending to detonate them, saying, "I was not going to harm people or their assets."
One of the prosecutors said in an opening statement that Terasawa "was thinking about detonating the explosives on a commuter train on Seibu Railway Co.'s Shinjuku Line, on which the defendant's nearest station is located, after reading about a method for manufacturing the explosives on the Internet."
Prosecutors alleged that Terasawa was dissatisfied about not having a stable job and came to envy people with steady employment. They said he came up with the idea of making explosives after reading on the Internet about the deadly 2005 suicide bombings in London.
He is charged with making about 92.5 grams of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, in his home by mixing acetone and hydrochloric acid. He also conducted a test explosion, the prosecutors said.
Kyodo News
A man intended to set off a bomb on a Tokyo commuter train using homemade explosives, prosecutors said Monday as his trial opened at the Tokyo District Court.
Yoshihiro Terasawa, 38, facing charges of violating the explosives control law, has admitted to making and possessing the explosives but has denied intending to detonate them, saying, "I was not going to harm people or their assets."
One of the prosecutors said in an opening statement that Terasawa "was thinking about detonating the explosives on a commuter train on Seibu Railway Co.'s Shinjuku Line, on which the defendant's nearest station is located, after reading about a method for manufacturing the explosives on the Internet."
Prosecutors alleged that Terasawa was dissatisfied about not having a stable job and came to envy people with steady employment. They said he came up with the idea of making explosives after reading on the Internet about the deadly 2005 suicide bombings in London.
He is charged with making about 92.5 grams of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, in his home by mixing acetone and hydrochloric acid. He also conducted a test explosion, the prosecutors said.
Wakayama Cop Arrested for Molesting Schoolgirls
Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 08:01 EDT
WAKAYAMA — A police sergeant was arrested Friday for sexually molesting female high school students with whom he became acquainted after he questioned them on the street in Wakayama.
The officer, identified as Kenichi Tanaka, 31, stopped and questioned two high school students riding on a minibike around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. When his shift was over around 10:30 a.m. the same day, he allegedly called one of the girls on her cell phone, saying they might be in trouble for both riding on the one bike. He told the girls they would have to meet him at a hotel where he allegedly molested them.
The girls reported the incident to their parents who notified police. "I did a bad thing," Tanaka was quoted as saying. "It is something that a police officer should never do. We are deeply sorry," a police spokesperson said.
Japan Today
WAKAYAMA — A police sergeant was arrested Friday for sexually molesting female high school students with whom he became acquainted after he questioned them on the street in Wakayama.
The officer, identified as Kenichi Tanaka, 31, stopped and questioned two high school students riding on a minibike around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. When his shift was over around 10:30 a.m. the same day, he allegedly called one of the girls on her cell phone, saying they might be in trouble for both riding on the one bike. He told the girls they would have to meet him at a hotel where he allegedly molested them.
The girls reported the incident to their parents who notified police. "I did a bad thing," Tanaka was quoted as saying. "It is something that a police officer should never do. We are deeply sorry," a police spokesperson said.
Japan Today
Off-duty Cop Busted for Snatching Woman's Bad in Roppongi
5:23pm Thursday, September 6
An off-duty Metropolitan Police Department officer has been arrested for snatching a bag from a woman in Tokyo, police said.
"I did it because I was stressed with my job," officer Seiji Yoshikawa, 40, was quoted as saying.
Yoshikawa, a senior officer with Akishima Police Station in western Tokyo, was working as part of an investigation team at Azabu Police Station.
Yoshikawa talked with his colleagues and drank a can of beer at Azabu Police Station after finishing work on Wednesday evening. When he left the police station, he snatched a bag from a woman in a commercial building in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.
(Mainichi)
An off-duty Metropolitan Police Department officer has been arrested for snatching a bag from a woman in Tokyo, police said.
"I did it because I was stressed with my job," officer Seiji Yoshikawa, 40, was quoted as saying.
Yoshikawa, a senior officer with Akishima Police Station in western Tokyo, was working as part of an investigation team at Azabu Police Station.
Yoshikawa talked with his colleagues and drank a can of beer at Azabu Police Station after finishing work on Wednesday evening. When he left the police station, he snatched a bag from a woman in a commercial building in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.
(Mainichi)
Police Officer Arrested for Hitting Teen Brandishing Gun-shaped Lighter
YOKOHAMA -- A police officer who hit a high school student in the face after they got into an argument over a gun-shaped lighter that the teen was pointing at passengers on a train has been arrested, law enforcers said.
Arrested was Kanagawa Prefectural Police senior officer Yoshihiro Koiso, 33, a member of Yamato Police Station.
Police said the officer hit the 16-year-old several times in the face on a street in Asahi-ku, Yokohama, leaving him with light injuries. Another officer who arrived at the scene soon after the incident, which occurred at about 10:50 p.m. on Tuesday, arrested Koiso on suspicion of injuring the student.
Officials said the teenager had been pointing a gun-shaped lighter at passengers on a train, and after getting off the train, Koiso warned the student, sparking an argument.
(Mainichi)
September 5, 2007
Arrested was Kanagawa Prefectural Police senior officer Yoshihiro Koiso, 33, a member of Yamato Police Station.
Police said the officer hit the 16-year-old several times in the face on a street in Asahi-ku, Yokohama, leaving him with light injuries. Another officer who arrived at the scene soon after the incident, which occurred at about 10:50 p.m. on Tuesday, arrested Koiso on suspicion of injuring the student.
Officials said the teenager had been pointing a gun-shaped lighter at passengers on a train, and after getting off the train, Koiso warned the student, sparking an argument.
(Mainichi)
September 5, 2007
Cop Allegedly Killed Woman After Stalking Her for Months
Saturday, August 25, 2007 at 08:01 EDT
TOKYO — A 40-year-old Tokyo policeman allegedly shot and killed a woman and then killed himself earlier this week after he stalked her for months and feared he would be exposed, police sources said Friday. The policeman was identified as Hidekazu Tomono, a "koban" police box duty officer at the Tachikawa Police Station of the Metropolitan Police Department.
He allegedly shot and killed 32-year-old Yoko Sato, an employee of a restaurant in Tachikawa, western Tokyo.
Investigators say Sato had sent email messages to Tomono threatening to file a criminal complaint against him because she said he had entered her apartment without permission.
Sato's last message, sent at around 9:50 p.m. Monday shortly before she was killed, reads that his intrusion into her apartment could be established by fingerprints, the sources said.
Tomono apparently feared his stalking of the woman would be exposed, they said.
Tokyo police say Tomono allegedly shot Sato to death with his handgun Monday night at her apartment in Kokubunji, some 30 kilometers west of central Tokyo, and then turned the gun on himself.
The bodies of Sato and Tomono were found in the apartment Tuesday morning. The woman had been shot twice each in the chest and the abdomen, while Tomono had a gunshot wound to the chest.
Police sources said Sato had sent six email messages Monday to Tomono's mobile phone.
In the messages, Sato said she did not want to meet with Tomono, that he had entered her apartment without permission, and she threatened to file a criminal complaint against him, the sources said.
The last time a policeman committed murder in Japan was in December 2000, when a 42-year-old officer of the Kanagawa prefectural police stabbed and killed a fellow female officer and then killed himself. In 1983, an Osaka policeman killed his mistress.
Kyodo
TOKYO — A 40-year-old Tokyo policeman allegedly shot and killed a woman and then killed himself earlier this week after he stalked her for months and feared he would be exposed, police sources said Friday. The policeman was identified as Hidekazu Tomono, a "koban" police box duty officer at the Tachikawa Police Station of the Metropolitan Police Department.
He allegedly shot and killed 32-year-old Yoko Sato, an employee of a restaurant in Tachikawa, western Tokyo.
Investigators say Sato had sent email messages to Tomono threatening to file a criminal complaint against him because she said he had entered her apartment without permission.
Sato's last message, sent at around 9:50 p.m. Monday shortly before she was killed, reads that his intrusion into her apartment could be established by fingerprints, the sources said.
Tomono apparently feared his stalking of the woman would be exposed, they said.
Tokyo police say Tomono allegedly shot Sato to death with his handgun Monday night at her apartment in Kokubunji, some 30 kilometers west of central Tokyo, and then turned the gun on himself.
The bodies of Sato and Tomono were found in the apartment Tuesday morning. The woman had been shot twice each in the chest and the abdomen, while Tomono had a gunshot wound to the chest.
Police sources said Sato had sent six email messages Monday to Tomono's mobile phone.
In the messages, Sato said she did not want to meet with Tomono, that he had entered her apartment without permission, and she threatened to file a criminal complaint against him, the sources said.
The last time a policeman committed murder in Japan was in December 2000, when a 42-year-old officer of the Kanagawa prefectural police stabbed and killed a fellow female officer and then killed himself. In 1983, an Osaka policeman killed his mistress.
Kyodo
Boxer-Turned-Policeman Aims to Knock Out Crime
The Yomiuri Shimbun
A nationally ranked Japanese pro boxer will start a second career as a police officer from October, a result of the Japan Boxing Commission's new project to help retired boxers secure law enforcement jobs.
The JBC program to help former pros has included measures such as hosting a Metropolitan Police Department career open house for boxers in February.
Two boxers already have passed the employment test to become a police officer.
One of them is Tatsuya Tsubouchi, 27, who will become an Osaka prefectural police officer from October. He is ranked ninth in the Japan superbantamweight class (55.3 kilograms and under), belonging to the Osaka Teiken Gym in Miyakojima Ward, Osaka.
Over three years his record is nine wins, including three knockouts, and one loss--a record that underscores his reputation as an aggressive fighter.
However, Tsubouchi also has been grappling with chronic pain in his lower back, and finds it difficult to lose the necessary 8 kilograms before each bout, something he has to do to meet the weight requirement for his class.
The boxer first considered retirement from the ring after feeling an unusually acute pain in his back in January. At that time, he came across a newspaper article covering the JBC's effort to help boxers become police officers.
Reading the article, Tsubouchi recalled his childhood dream of becoming a policeman and thought that his instinctive intolerance of injustice made him well suited to the job. He also felt the determination he had developed during his years of boxing would help him in his new career.
Tsubouchi started attending a vocational school specializing in preparing candidates for civil servant examinations in the spring. He then attended the highly competitive examination for entry to the Osaka prefectural police, which fewer than one in six applicants pass. He was among the select few, however, and received a letter of acceptance to the force in August.
Tsubouchi is still in fighting condition. The pain in his lower back has abated slightly, and he won a match on points in June. However, he has decided that a match to be held in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, on Sept. 23, will be his last.
That match will mark the end of Tsubouchi's dream of becoming Japan champion, but also the start of his new life. After joining the police, he is hoping to be posted to the riot squad.
Meanwhile, a retired boxer who has fought three matches at MT Gym in Kanagawa Prefecture will become an MPD officer from April.
(Sep. 6, 2007)
A nationally ranked Japanese pro boxer will start a second career as a police officer from October, a result of the Japan Boxing Commission's new project to help retired boxers secure law enforcement jobs.
The JBC program to help former pros has included measures such as hosting a Metropolitan Police Department career open house for boxers in February.
Two boxers already have passed the employment test to become a police officer.
One of them is Tatsuya Tsubouchi, 27, who will become an Osaka prefectural police officer from October. He is ranked ninth in the Japan superbantamweight class (55.3 kilograms and under), belonging to the Osaka Teiken Gym in Miyakojima Ward, Osaka.
Over three years his record is nine wins, including three knockouts, and one loss--a record that underscores his reputation as an aggressive fighter.
However, Tsubouchi also has been grappling with chronic pain in his lower back, and finds it difficult to lose the necessary 8 kilograms before each bout, something he has to do to meet the weight requirement for his class.
The boxer first considered retirement from the ring after feeling an unusually acute pain in his back in January. At that time, he came across a newspaper article covering the JBC's effort to help boxers become police officers.
Reading the article, Tsubouchi recalled his childhood dream of becoming a policeman and thought that his instinctive intolerance of injustice made him well suited to the job. He also felt the determination he had developed during his years of boxing would help him in his new career.
Tsubouchi started attending a vocational school specializing in preparing candidates for civil servant examinations in the spring. He then attended the highly competitive examination for entry to the Osaka prefectural police, which fewer than one in six applicants pass. He was among the select few, however, and received a letter of acceptance to the force in August.
Tsubouchi is still in fighting condition. The pain in his lower back has abated slightly, and he won a match on points in June. However, he has decided that a match to be held in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, on Sept. 23, will be his last.
That match will mark the end of Tsubouchi's dream of becoming Japan champion, but also the start of his new life. After joining the police, he is hoping to be posted to the riot squad.
Meanwhile, a retired boxer who has fought three matches at MT Gym in Kanagawa Prefecture will become an MPD officer from April.
(Sep. 6, 2007)
Lonely Lawmen Hooked on Hookers
A Tokyo woman's recent tragic death at the hands of a police officer who stalked her then took his own life when his love was unrequited has moved the generally dismal love lives of lawmen back into the news, according to Weekly Playboy (9/17).
With irregular work hours, the possibility of danger and a general image of being overly straight-laced, many male police officers in Japan struggle to find themselves a girlfriend, let alone a wife.
Generally, there are few patterns that lead to police officers marrying, the most common being tying up with a policewoman. But women in Japanese police forces are vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts and those male cops who do snare a fellow crimefighter are almost always the cream of the crop, leaving vast numbers of lawmen lonely.
"We're not all chosen for just having pretty faces," a policewoman tells Weekly Playboy, explaining why female law enforcers aim for cops likely to move through the ranks when choosing a potential spouse. "I'd say of all the male members on the force, only about one third would be the type likely to get gals' juices flowing. And policewomen tend to focus their attention on those types of guys. You should see how hard the guys fight to get the attention of a policewoman who's even mildly pretty."
Cops who struggle to find a partner within the force have to turn their attentions toward ordinary women, many of who aren't particularly interested.
"Top officers often arrange for matchmaking parties with companies that employ lots of women, like banks or insurance companies. The problem is that most people think cops are a bit prudish. A lot of women have also had run-ins with the police with things like traffic tickets and stuff," a police officer says. "Even if there is a chance to meet women outside of the force, it rarely leads to love. Cops who are shy and have little prospect of going up the ranks tend to get looked down on at their stations."
Without a fellow police officer for love and regular women giving them the short shrift, many crimefighters look to Japan's bustling sex industry for female comfort.
"There are absolutely loads of police officers who are hooked on the sex business," a police officer tells Weekly Playboy. "They have to know about the business for their jobs, which means they often know the best places to go to for some fun."
But, as a former policewoman now working as a callgirl explains, a fondness for the sex business carries inherent dangers for policemen.
"Lots of cops get really carried away when a nightclub hostess or sex worker starts treating them kindly. The guys tend to take the women's attention for real instead of realizing that they're being looked after because they're customers. They aren't used to being fawned over by women, because they've been mostly ignored by the opposite sex in the past," the one-time Dickless Tracey says. "Police officers who've graduated from university tend to know better about handling women in the adult entertainment business, probably because they've had the chance to get around with the opposite sex when they were in college. But the guys who went straight into the police academy from high school have basically spent their lives sheltered from society, so there really are a lot of naive types there."
It's not like women in the adult entertainment industry welcome patronage from policemen, either. And it's little wonder considering the way some cops behave.
"We've had this police officer in his 30s come to drink at our club now and again. He had the build of a sportsman and really big eyes. At first glance, he was a real turn-on. But it turned out he was no different to all the other drunks," Rio, a hostess at a cabaret club in Tokyo's Roppongi district, tells Weekly Playboy. "He lorded it over everyone and looked down his nose at the hostesses. After he'd had a few, he started talking dirty and trying to feel up the girls. When he asked one of the hostesses for a kiss and she politely declined, he threatened to arrest her if she didn't go along. Once we heard that, he'd turned off everyone." (By Ryann Connell)
September 6, 2007
With irregular work hours, the possibility of danger and a general image of being overly straight-laced, many male police officers in Japan struggle to find themselves a girlfriend, let alone a wife.
Generally, there are few patterns that lead to police officers marrying, the most common being tying up with a policewoman. But women in Japanese police forces are vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts and those male cops who do snare a fellow crimefighter are almost always the cream of the crop, leaving vast numbers of lawmen lonely.
"We're not all chosen for just having pretty faces," a policewoman tells Weekly Playboy, explaining why female law enforcers aim for cops likely to move through the ranks when choosing a potential spouse. "I'd say of all the male members on the force, only about one third would be the type likely to get gals' juices flowing. And policewomen tend to focus their attention on those types of guys. You should see how hard the guys fight to get the attention of a policewoman who's even mildly pretty."
Cops who struggle to find a partner within the force have to turn their attentions toward ordinary women, many of who aren't particularly interested.
"Top officers often arrange for matchmaking parties with companies that employ lots of women, like banks or insurance companies. The problem is that most people think cops are a bit prudish. A lot of women have also had run-ins with the police with things like traffic tickets and stuff," a police officer says. "Even if there is a chance to meet women outside of the force, it rarely leads to love. Cops who are shy and have little prospect of going up the ranks tend to get looked down on at their stations."
Without a fellow police officer for love and regular women giving them the short shrift, many crimefighters look to Japan's bustling sex industry for female comfort.
"There are absolutely loads of police officers who are hooked on the sex business," a police officer tells Weekly Playboy. "They have to know about the business for their jobs, which means they often know the best places to go to for some fun."
But, as a former policewoman now working as a callgirl explains, a fondness for the sex business carries inherent dangers for policemen.
"Lots of cops get really carried away when a nightclub hostess or sex worker starts treating them kindly. The guys tend to take the women's attention for real instead of realizing that they're being looked after because they're customers. They aren't used to being fawned over by women, because they've been mostly ignored by the opposite sex in the past," the one-time Dickless Tracey says. "Police officers who've graduated from university tend to know better about handling women in the adult entertainment business, probably because they've had the chance to get around with the opposite sex when they were in college. But the guys who went straight into the police academy from high school have basically spent their lives sheltered from society, so there really are a lot of naive types there."
It's not like women in the adult entertainment industry welcome patronage from policemen, either. And it's little wonder considering the way some cops behave.
"We've had this police officer in his 30s come to drink at our club now and again. He had the build of a sportsman and really big eyes. At first glance, he was a real turn-on. But it turned out he was no different to all the other drunks," Rio, a hostess at a cabaret club in Tokyo's Roppongi district, tells Weekly Playboy. "He lorded it over everyone and looked down his nose at the hostesses. After he'd had a few, he started talking dirty and trying to feel up the girls. When he asked one of the hostesses for a kiss and she politely declined, he threatened to arrest her if she didn't go along. Once we heard that, he'd turned off everyone." (By Ryann Connell)
September 6, 2007
NPA to Store Evidence on IC tags
Monday, September 3, 2007 at 07:38 EDT
TOKYO — The National Police Agency has decided to store evidence collected from crime scenes and suspects' homes on integrated circuit tags due to the loss of such evidence from police stations across Japan, agency officials said Monday.
Under the new system, police officers will attach IC tags to evidence right after they collect it and read the tags by machine when they move the evidence into or out of cabinets, they said.
The NPA will introduce the system on a trial basis at two police stations next fiscal year and has included 147 million yen of the costs for this into its budget request for fiscal 2008, they said.
Kyodo
TOKYO — The National Police Agency has decided to store evidence collected from crime scenes and suspects' homes on integrated circuit tags due to the loss of such evidence from police stations across Japan, agency officials said Monday.
Under the new system, police officers will attach IC tags to evidence right after they collect it and read the tags by machine when they move the evidence into or out of cabinets, they said.
The NPA will introduce the system on a trial basis at two police stations next fiscal year and has included 147 million yen of the costs for this into its budget request for fiscal 2008, they said.
Kyodo
Tokyo Police Admit Losing Evidence in Murder Case
Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007
Kyodo News
Tokyo police said Friday they have lost four pieces of evidence linked to a 21-year-old cram school student who has been charged with killing his younger sister and dismembering her body in late December.
The items lost are a wooden sword, a saw, a pair of athletic shoes and a sweat shirt, which were seized Jan. 4, the day after the dismembered body of the 20-year-old junior college student was discovered in the suspect's room at the family's home in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
Police said they might have mistakenly disposed of the items, which had been kept at the Yoyogi Police Station.
Police stored the items at the police station Jan. 5 after taking them to the scene of the crime for investigative purposes that day.
The items were discovered missing Jan. 7, when they were to be sent to experts for examination, police said.
On Monday, prosecutors indicted Yuki Muto for allegedly suffocating his sister, Azumi, with a towel and submerging her head in bath water while she was unconscious on the afternoon of Dec. 30 before dismembering her body.
Akira Mitsuzane, the Metropolitan Police Department's chief investigator of murders and robberies, said he deeply regrets the loss of the evidence, which he said were key items in helping to establish the crime.
Shuji Iwamura, deputy chief of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, also said he regretted the evidence had been lost.
Iwamura said that losing the items could affect the outcome of Muto's case, however "the prosecution will make best efforts to win a right decision" in court.
Kyodo News
Tokyo police said Friday they have lost four pieces of evidence linked to a 21-year-old cram school student who has been charged with killing his younger sister and dismembering her body in late December.
The items lost are a wooden sword, a saw, a pair of athletic shoes and a sweat shirt, which were seized Jan. 4, the day after the dismembered body of the 20-year-old junior college student was discovered in the suspect's room at the family's home in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
Police said they might have mistakenly disposed of the items, which had been kept at the Yoyogi Police Station.
Police stored the items at the police station Jan. 5 after taking them to the scene of the crime for investigative purposes that day.
The items were discovered missing Jan. 7, when they were to be sent to experts for examination, police said.
On Monday, prosecutors indicted Yuki Muto for allegedly suffocating his sister, Azumi, with a towel and submerging her head in bath water while she was unconscious on the afternoon of Dec. 30 before dismembering her body.
Akira Mitsuzane, the Metropolitan Police Department's chief investigator of murders and robberies, said he deeply regrets the loss of the evidence, which he said were key items in helping to establish the crime.
Shuji Iwamura, deputy chief of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, also said he regretted the evidence had been lost.
Iwamura said that losing the items could affect the outcome of Muto's case, however "the prosecution will make best efforts to win a right decision" in court.
Kanagawa Police Bewildered by Support for Officer Assault
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Kanagawa prefectural police have been forced to hold a press conference to explain why one of their officers was arrested on suspicion of striking a high school student, after the prefectural police headquarters was inundated with complaints from people across the country backing the officer's actions.
The police believe the public have misunderstood why the 33-year-old officer from Yamato Police Station was charged after he allegedly hit a student who had been reprimanded at a train station in Yokohama by station staff Tuesday night.
At the press conference Thursday, the police explained that many of those who contacted them over the handling of the issue were under the misconception that the officer hit the student because he was not following the officer's instructions.
Most of the about 1,000 complaints the police received as of Thursday backed the officer, saying it was unnecessary to arrest the officer despite the attack, and that doing so would make it more difficult for people to reprimand antisocial young people. Only a few of those who contacted the police condemned the officer's action.
Speaking at Thursday's press conference, the head of the inspection office of the Kanagawa prefectural police said: "The student was being warned by station staff about his behavior and he had actually listened to what they said. But despite this, the officer later grabbed the student by the hair and hit him."
"It was as if he was picking a fight instead of just warning him," he added.
The police had already held a press conference about the arrest Wednesday, but held a second one after receiving a complaint from the student's mother, who said the incident had been misreported to the public.
According to the police, the student, 16, on Tuesday pointed from a train a lighter resembling a gun, and pretended to be shooting toward a platform at Futamatagawa Station on the Sotetsu Line in Asahi Ward, Yokohama. A number of people including the train conductor warned the student about his actions, and the student is said to have put the lighter inside his bag, indicating he understood he had done something wrong, the police said.
The officer, who was watching the scene from the next compartment, reportedly saw the student chatting with his friends and felt he had not shown enough contrition for what he had done.
The officer is said to have followed the student after he got off at the next station, and grabbed him by his hair and bag before hitting him in the face and demanding that he open his bag and show the officer the item. The student, who was slightly injured in the attack, is said not to have argued with the officer.
The prefectural police said the officer's actions were inexcusable for someone in his position, and that they were bewildered over public support for his actions.
(Sep. 8, 2007)
The Kanagawa prefectural police have been forced to hold a press conference to explain why one of their officers was arrested on suspicion of striking a high school student, after the prefectural police headquarters was inundated with complaints from people across the country backing the officer's actions.
The police believe the public have misunderstood why the 33-year-old officer from Yamato Police Station was charged after he allegedly hit a student who had been reprimanded at a train station in Yokohama by station staff Tuesday night.
At the press conference Thursday, the police explained that many of those who contacted them over the handling of the issue were under the misconception that the officer hit the student because he was not following the officer's instructions.
Most of the about 1,000 complaints the police received as of Thursday backed the officer, saying it was unnecessary to arrest the officer despite the attack, and that doing so would make it more difficult for people to reprimand antisocial young people. Only a few of those who contacted the police condemned the officer's action.
Speaking at Thursday's press conference, the head of the inspection office of the Kanagawa prefectural police said: "The student was being warned by station staff about his behavior and he had actually listened to what they said. But despite this, the officer later grabbed the student by the hair and hit him."
"It was as if he was picking a fight instead of just warning him," he added.
The police had already held a press conference about the arrest Wednesday, but held a second one after receiving a complaint from the student's mother, who said the incident had been misreported to the public.
According to the police, the student, 16, on Tuesday pointed from a train a lighter resembling a gun, and pretended to be shooting toward a platform at Futamatagawa Station on the Sotetsu Line in Asahi Ward, Yokohama. A number of people including the train conductor warned the student about his actions, and the student is said to have put the lighter inside his bag, indicating he understood he had done something wrong, the police said.
The officer, who was watching the scene from the next compartment, reportedly saw the student chatting with his friends and felt he had not shown enough contrition for what he had done.
The officer is said to have followed the student after he got off at the next station, and grabbed him by his hair and bag before hitting him in the face and demanding that he open his bag and show the officer the item. The student, who was slightly injured in the attack, is said not to have argued with the officer.
The prefectural police said the officer's actions were inexcusable for someone in his position, and that they were bewildered over public support for his actions.
(Sep. 8, 2007)
Police Sargeant Wins Damages Over 'Retaliatory' Treatment for Exposing Slush Fund
MATSUYAMA -- A police officer who sued the Ehime Prefectural Government for ill treatment after he exposed a prefectural police slush fund was awarded 1 million yen in damages in a ruling at a court here on Tuesday.
Awarded compensation was 58-year-old police sergeant Toshiro Senba.
"The treatment was unreasonable under social norms," the Matsuyama District Court's presiding judge said in handing down the ruling.
Senba filed a lawsuit seeking 1 million yen in damages, saying that he was the victim of a retaliatory personnel reshuffle after he exposed the slush fund, and that he was hindered from holding a news conference.
(Mainichi)
September 11, 2007
Awarded compensation was 58-year-old police sergeant Toshiro Senba.
"The treatment was unreasonable under social norms," the Matsuyama District Court's presiding judge said in handing down the ruling.
Senba filed a lawsuit seeking 1 million yen in damages, saying that he was the victim of a retaliatory personnel reshuffle after he exposed the slush fund, and that he was hindered from holding a news conference.
(Mainichi)
September 11, 2007
Cop Kept Crime Reports at Home for 13 Years
The Yomiuri Shimbun
A 43-year-old senior police officer of the Chiba prefectural police took home about 140 investigation-related documents, including crime victims' reports and evidence, and left them unattended for 13 years, it was learned Friday.
According to police, the statute of limitations had taken effect in most of the cases. The prefectural police will send papers on the officer to the Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of destroying public documents.
The police said the officer, who belongs to the Criminal Investigation Section of Sanmu Police Station, took home and left unattended investigation reports, criminal complaints and evidence related to thefts that he was working on, while he was posted at Matsudo and Nagareyama police stations from 1992 to 2005.
(Aug. 25, 2007)
A 43-year-old senior police officer of the Chiba prefectural police took home about 140 investigation-related documents, including crime victims' reports and evidence, and left them unattended for 13 years, it was learned Friday.
According to police, the statute of limitations had taken effect in most of the cases. The prefectural police will send papers on the officer to the Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of destroying public documents.
The police said the officer, who belongs to the Criminal Investigation Section of Sanmu Police Station, took home and left unattended investigation reports, criminal complaints and evidence related to thefts that he was working on, while he was posted at Matsudo and Nagareyama police stations from 1992 to 2005.
(Aug. 25, 2007)
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