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http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10538 Bank clerk pockets 124 million yen 11:43am Saturday, March 24 NAGOYA -- A clerk working for a branch of Seto Shinkin Bank has pocketed 124 million yen in cash, officials at the financial institution said. Seto Shinkin Bank plans to file a complaint against the 26-year-old female clerk with police. The woman was in charge of placing cash into ATMs. Normally, only management level-officials have keys to ATMs at the bank. In-house rules provide that a senior worker and a cashier must be together when they open ATMs and insert the cash. But the woman was apparently allowed to open ATMs at the branch without being supervised by senior workers. The clerk's wrongdoing came to light after in-house inspections of safes and ATMs found that the amount of cash was short in two ATMs. She has admitted to the allegations. (Mainichi) ============================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10534 Court rejects damages suit filed by war orphans 4:06pm Friday, March 23 TOKUSHIMA -- The Tokushima District Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by four war-displaced Japanese who had demanded damages from the government for neglecting its responsibility to quickly bring them back from China after World War II and support them once they returned to Japan. The four plaintiffs had each sought 33 million yen in damages from the government, but the court rejected their lawsuit, saying that the government had not acted illegally. "Although it's hard to say that the government sufficiently fulfilled its political responsibility to help the victims quickly return to Japan and support them, the government did not act illegally with regard to the forming and implementation of measures," the court said. The focus of the case had been on whether the government had a responsibility to help the plaintiffs quickly return to Japan after they were left stranded in China and whether it fulfilled that responsibility; whether the government was obliged to support them after they returned to Japan and whether it did that; and whether it was appropriate to apply the logic that everyone should accept their situation because it was a result of the war. In the ruling Presiding Judge Masayuki Abe said, "Regarding war-displaced orphans who were forced to remain in China because of the government's policies before and after the war, the government had a responsibility to take measures to help them quickly return to Japan." He added that the government could have largely prevented prolonged victimization of war orphans after the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and Japan (in 1972). However, when it came to the government's formation and implementation of measures to help the war orphans return to Japan, Abe ruled that the government could not be held legally responsible. "The government had no direct experience of a situation involving a large number of long-term returnees coming back to Japan, and it cannot be said that it failed to implement the necessary measures," Abe said. The ruling was the fourth in a series of compensation lawsuits filed by war orphans. In July 2005 the Osaka District Court rejected a lawsuit filed by orphans, and the Tokyo District Court followed with a similar ruling in January this year. In a separate ruling in the Kobe District Court in December 2006, the court found the government responsible and ordered it to pay damages to the plaintiffs. (Mainichi) ================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10533 Livedoor fined record 280 million yen over securities scandal 3:42pm Friday, March 23 The Tokyo District Court on Friday fined Internet firm Livedoor Co. a record 280 million yen for violating the Securities and Exchange Law. The amount was the largest fine handed down on a company for violating the law, surpassing the 200 million yen fine handed down in connection with a Seibu Railway share scandal in 2005. The court also fined Livedoor Marketing, a related firm, 40 million yen. Livedoor had been accused of violating the law by falsifying its financial statements, deceiving investors and spreading rumors. With the latest ruling, all seven people and the two firms charged in connection with Livedoor's activities have now been found guilty. (Mainichi) ============================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10532 Irate cop argues at mobile phone shop for 8 hours 6:29pm Friday, March 23 KUSHIRO, Hokkaido -- A plain clothes police officer argued with clerks at a mobile phone shop for over 8 hours, prompting the shop to consider filing a complaint. The 32-year-old officer from Kushiro Police Station was in plain clothes when he visited the local mobile phone shop at about 11 a.m. on March 18. He complained for one hour, saying that the battery in his mobile phone ran out quickly after only just having it repaired, according to the shop's owner Kazuki Takebayashi. Staff told the officer that they would replace his mobile phone. The officer then left and returned at about 2:30 p.m. to pick up the new phone. But the officer got angry when he realized that some data contained in his old mobile phone had not been transferred to the new one, and stayed there arguing past the shop's closing time of 7 p.m. Takebayashi then alerted officers at a nearby police box in Kushiro. The plain clothes officer talked in a friendly manner with two of three officers who arrived at the shop. Takebayashi asked the visiting officers whether the complainant was a police officer. The officers told Takebayashi that this was the first time they had met the man. But another officer who came to the shop at about 9:30 p.m. admitted that the man was a police officer and apologized to Takebayashi. Persuaded by the other officers, the plain clothes officer eventually left the shop at about 10:30 p.m. Two senior officials from Kushiro Police Station visited the mobile phone shop the next day, telling Takebayashi that they would question the officer involved and may punish him. (Mainichi) ========================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10529 Woman handed life sentence for deadly arson attack 1:35pm Friday, March 23 SAITAMA -- A woman accused of starting a deadly fire at a branch of the Don Quijote discount store in Saitama was sentenced to life imprisonment in a ruling at the Saitama District Court on Friday. Sentenced to life imprisonment over the fire that killed three store employees in 2004 was Noriko Watanabe, 49. Watanabe was convicted of setting fire to bedding at Don Quijote's Urawa-Kagetsu branch at about 8:15 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2004, to cause a distraction so she could steal items from the store. The resulting fire razed the store, and claimed the lives of three employees aged between 19 and 39. Watanabe started seven fires at four major stores in total between Dec. 13 and 15 that year, the court heard. The ruling said she had started the fires to vent her frustration over the failure of her relationship with a man she had been going out with. During the investigation stage of the case, Watanabe admitted responsibility for the arson attacks but after her trial began in March 2005, she denied the allegations against her, saying she had never started any fires. Lawyers for Watanabe had claimed she was innocent, saying, "The statements in her written confession were vague." (Mainichi) =========================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10526 81-year-old man busted for paying junior high school girl for sex 11:41am Friday, March 23 SAPPORO -- An 81-year-old man has been arrested for paying a junior high school girl for sex at a hotel here, police said. Nobuhiro Nakamura, from Sapporo, is thought to be the oldest person in Hokkaido arrested in violation of the child prostitution and pornography law that took effect in 1999. Nakamura allegedly paid 20,000 yen to a 14-year-old girl for sex in Sapporo on Dec. 30 last year. He has admitted to the allegations. Nakamura came to know the girl sometime in January last year, when he accosted her at a supermarket, saying, "Let me entertain you with a meal." Police suspect Nakamura of beginning to pay her for sex around May that year. The girl ran away from home in February this year. Officers questioned her when she returned home, and learned about her relationship with Nakamura. (Mainichi) ============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10525 Aso says Westerners not as good as Japanese in Mideast peace initiative 5:25pm Friday, March 23 NAGASAKI -- Foreign Minister Taro Aso caused a stir Wednesday by commenting in a speech on a Middle East peace initiative that "blue eyed, blond" Westerners would be "no good." Speaking during a lecture in Nagasaki Prefecture, Aso referred to a Japanese peace initiative, saying, "Japan is doing what the Americans can't do. You can trust Japanese. It would probably be no good to have blue eyes and blond hair." The minister added, "Fortunately, we have yellow faces. We have never at all been involved in exploitation there (in the Middle East) or been involved in fights or fired machine guns. Aso's comments related to projects in the Jordan Valley connected with a Japanese peace initiative. (Mainichi) ================================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10524 NHK reporter arrested for trespassing 1:30pm Friday, March 23 A 32-year-old NHK reporter was arrested for trespassing but was later released after he admitted to the allegations, police said. The man, who works for NHK's business news division, allegedly entered the second-floor corridor of an apartment block in Tokyo's Setagaya-ku during the early hours of March 16. A resident in the apartment block alerted police who arrested the reporter. The reporter claimed that he wanted to take a look at a view from the second floor because he was thinking about buying a condominium next to the apartment block. However, police arrested him because of his suspicious behavior. NHK's public relations office said that the 32-year-old had left a reporters' club in central Tokyo at about 11 p.m. on March 15 and visited apartments he planned to buy. NHK said it was regrettable that one of its employees had been arrested, and apologized to its viewers and the people involved in the incident. (Mainichi) =========================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10523 Serial killer handed death penalty 5:39pm Thursday, March 22 CHIBA -- A man on trial over four killings including the double murder of a company president's wife and daughter was handed the death penalty Thursday in a ruling at the Chiba District Court. Sentenced to death for robbery and murder was Tetsuo Odajima, 63. In handing down the death penalty, Presiding Judge Wataru Nemoto branded Odajima's actions as hard-hearted and cruel. "It was ruthless, hard-hearted and cruel. They were crimes in which the defendant failed to show the slightest bit of humanity," Nemoto said. According to the ruling, Odajima conspired with Katsumi Morita, 56, to break into the home of Mabuchi Motor Co. President Takaichi Mabuchi in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, on Aug. 5, 2002. After entering the home the pair strangled Mabuchi's 66-year-old wife Etsuko and their 40-year-old daughter Yuka, the court heard. Afterwards, the men allegedly stole several hundred thousand yen in cash from the home, along with 10 jewelry items with a combined value of about 9.7 million yen, and set fire to the home before fleeing. On Sept. 24 that year, the pair murdered 71-year-old dentist Fumio Aoyagi at his home in Tokyo's Meguro-ku, and stole about 350,000 yen in cash from him, the ruling said. Later, on Nov. 21 the same year, they stormed into the home of 65-year-old Kimie Oshima in Abiko, Chiba Prefecture, murdered her and stole 1 million yen in cash, according to the ruling. Morita has already been handed the death penalty over the crimes, and has filed an appeal against his sentence. (Mainichi) ======================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10512 City sanitation worker nabbed over dope stash 5:44pm Wednesday, March 21 TAKARAZUKA, Hyogo -- A Takarazuka Municipal Government garbage truck driver has been arrested after being caught in possession of marijuana, police said. Hiroshi Kitaura, the sanitation worker, was arrested for breaking the Cannabis Control Law. Kitaura, 36, from Kawanishi, Hyogo Prefecture, admits to the allegations. "I'd tried marijuana before and wanted to have another smoke again for the first time in a while," police quoted the suspect as saying. Police said Kitaura was found with a bag containing about 0.5 grams of marijuana in his friend's home on the night of Jan. 17. The friend, a 38-year-old street stall vendor, was also arrested but released with charges left pending. The cannabis Kitaura was carrying had a street value of about 1,600 yen, police said. Police said they would try and find out where Kitaura's stash came from. Takarazuka Municipal Government officials said they have yet to decide how they will deal with Kitaura's case. They said the city employed him in 1990 and he has been posted at the Takarazuka Clean Center for a long time. (Mainichi) ============================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10510 Sagamihara's anti-U.S. base mayor dies 2:17pm Wednesday, March 21 SAGAMIHARA, Kanagawa -- Sagamihara Mayor Isao Ogawa, a fervent opponent of U.S. military facilities in his city, died Wednesday following a long illness, officials said. He was 76. Ogawa fell ill and was hospitalized on Feb. 16 before announcing on March 8 that he intended to resign on April 30, midway during his third term as the city's mayor. Ogawa also served four terms as a member of the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly before becoming Sagamihara mayor in January 1997. Ogawa was a fervent campaigner against the U.S. Army's Sagami General Depot, located in the center of Sagamihara, saying it had "absolutely no merit for local residents." (Mainichi) =============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10497 Delivery worker nabbed for pushing emergency buttons at railway crossings 5:57pm Tuesday, March 20 ATSUGI, Kanagawa -- A delivery worker has been arrested for pushing emergency buttons at two railway crossings earlier this year, disrupting the operation of Odakyu Line trains, police said. Naoki Watanabe, 50, from Atsugi, stands accused of pushing emergency buttons on the Odakyu Line in Atsugi on Jan. 7, causing two trains to come to a halt. "I've been frustrated by my job and family," officers quoted Watanabe as saying. Watanabe told officers that he was responsible for a dozen other similar pranks on railway crossings since 2003. (Mainichi) ========================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10493 Woman who worked at disabled facility fired for having sex with teen resident 2:40pm Tuesday, March 20 WAKAYAMA -- A part-time worker was dismissed from a facility for disabled children after she allegedly had a sexual relationship with a boy staying there, it has emerged. The woman started working at the facility for disabled children in Wakayama in January 2002, and forced herself on the boy. Her wrongdoing came to light when the teenage boy and his family told facility officials in April 2005 about her actions. "I couldn't refuse her because I thought no other facility would accept me," the boy said. The Wakayama Prefectural Government has canceled the woman's registration as a nurse. Two leading officials from the facility resigned in 2006 to take responsibility for the scandal. (Mainichi) =================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10491 Worker arrested for stealing 2 expensive carp from fish farm 1:57pm Tuesday, March 20 HIROSHIMA -- A 21-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for stealing two carp worth some 5 million yen from a fish farm where he worked, police said. Masato Tonoshiki, 21, has admitted to the allegations. "I wanted to raise carp," officers quoted Tonoshiki as saying. Tonoshiki stole two carp from a tank at the fish farm in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture in January last year and entrusted them to a friend. The golden carp he stole were 70 to 80 centimeters long. Tonoshiki began working at the farm about three years ago. Hiroshima and Niigata prefectures are two of the major areas for raising golden carp in Japan. (Mainichi) ============== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10490 Man fatally stabs mom after being told off for smoking dope 1:15pm Tuesday, March 20 KAWAGUCHI, Saitama -- A man who stabbed his mother to death here after she told him off for smoking marijuana has been arrested, police said. Killed was 48-year-old Mitsuyo Motoki. Police said a resident living in the same apartment block as Motoki phoned police at about 11:50 p.m. on Monday, saying it appeared that there was a fight going on in the home. When officers arrived they found Motoki lying on her face bleeding in the kitchen of the home. She was taken to a hospital, where she was confirmed dead. Motoki's 23-year-old son Kento, who was in another room of the home, told police, "I did it," prompting officers to immediately arrest him. Investigators said that Kento stabbed his mother several times in the neck with a kitchen knife at 11:47 p.m. on Monday. "I got angry because she told me off for smoking pot," police quoted Kento as saying when he was questioned over his motives for the attack. Police seized 1 gram of marijuana from the home, and also arrested another 23-year-old man at the home for possession of marijuana. Motoki had lived at the home with her husband and son. Police said her husband was home at the time of the fatal stabbing. They added that evidence suggested there had been a fight in the kitchen of the home. (Mainichi) ============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10487 Customs official, teacher busted for paying junior high school girl for sex 11:37am Tuesday, March 20 CHIBA -- A customs official and a high school teacher have been arrested for paying a junior high school girl for sex, police said. Chiba police arrested Masafumi Sakamoto, 44, a customs official from Narita, and Wakamatsu High School teacher Hiroomi Shigemura, 43, from Chiba, for violating child prostitution and pornography laws. Sakamoto allegedly paid 20,000 yen to the girl for sexual services at a hotel in Chiba Prefecture on March 26, 2006, while Shigemura paid her 15,000 yen on April 6 that year. She was a third-year junior high school student at the time. Police officers said that the two men were on a list of customers possessed by an unemployed man in Chiba who introduced them to the girl. (Mainichi) ========================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10485 Tokyo Customs inspector busted for molesting woman near train station 5:25pm Monday, March 19 A Tokyo Customs inspector has been arrested for molesting a woman near a railway station in Tokyo earlier this month, police said. Kazuya Ikeoku, 42, a senior inspector with Tokyo Customs, who lives in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, was arrested for violating a Tokyo metropolitan ordinance prohibiting people from creating a nuisance. He was referred to prosecutors after his charges were upgraded to indecent assault, but released after he admitted to the allegations. Tokyo Customs is set to take punitive measures against Ikeoku. "We are taking the incident seriously, and will take strict measures against him," an official said. Ikeoku hugged a 35-year-old woman who was walking ahead of him on a street near JR Shinbashi Station in downtown Tokyo on the night of Wednesday last week, and fondled her breast, investigators said. He was drunk at the time after drinking with a number of colleagues. (Mainichi) ========================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10484 Death row inmate's retrial request rejected over fatal 1976 bombing 4:35pm Monday, March 19 SAPPORO -- The Sapporo District Court on Monday rejected a death row inmate's appeal for a retrial over the deadly bombing of the Hokkaido Prefectural Government headquarters in March 1976, saying there was no reason to doubt earlier court rulings that sentenced him to death. Lawyers for the 57-year-old inmate, Katsuhisa Omori, had sought a retrial, saying he had been convicted on false charges, but the district court rejected their claims. "It is impossible to accept that rational doubts could arise over fact-finding in a fixed ruling," Presiding Judge Yasushi Handa said in handing down the court's decision. Lawyers for Omori plan to file an immediate appeal. The focus of the retrial request, which began in July 2002, was the credibility of an examination by a Hokkaido Prefectural Police forensic science lab that detected in Omori's home traces of a chemical contained in a herbicide that was used in the bombing. In September 2004, the court responded to a request from Omori's lawyers and summoned a former forensic science lab worker who was involved in the original examination. Lawyers claimed there were differences between the worker's testimony and testimonies given in earlier district and high court rulings, and branded the examination "unnatural and scientifically unfeasible." Public prosecutors, however, said that the worker had merely spoken in concrete terms for the first time in the retrial request hearings, and said his statements did not contradict past testimonies. Siding with public prosecutors, Handa said the original examination could be used as evidence, and did not accept a video from lawyers showing a reconstruction of the examination as important new evidence. Omori remained silent when police questioned him over the 1976 bombing, and consistently denied the charges against him in his trial. However, in 1983 the Sapporo District Court handed him the death penalty. The Sapporo High Court and the Supreme Court rejected his appeals against the ruling, and the death sentence became fixed in September 1994. The deadly explosion occurred at about 9 a.m. on March 2, 1976. The timed bomb was placed in the elevator hall on the first floor of the Hokkaido Prefectural Government headquarters in Sapporo's Chuo-ku, and when it went off two prefectural government officials were killed and 95 other people were injured. Immediately afterwards a note claiming responsibility was found in a locker at a subway station in the city. In September that year, police arrested Omori, who was a left-wing activist, and he was charged with murder. In his trial, Omori was accused of carrying out the bombing with a friend, but the identity of the other person was never uncovered. (Mainichi) ================================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10475 Woman entertained new boyfriend at home of ex she allegedly murdered 11:48am Monday, March 19 A self-styled writer under arrest for murdering her former boyfriend and dumping his body under the floor of his home in western Tokyo dined and bathed at his home with her new boyfriend and her daughter, investigators said. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) views the finding as proof that she murdered the victim in a bid to take over his home. Yoko Kaneda, 40, under indictment for fraud along with her live-in boyfriend, 64-year-old Junichi Kondo, has been hit with a fresh arrest warrant for murdering 66-year-old Tadao Maejima. Kaneda has denied murdering Maejima. Kaneda suggested to Kondo and her 10-year-old daughter on Sept. 30, last year, that they go to Maejima's home in Tama, which she described as "a home that looks like a castle," MPD investigators said. She ordered pizza and ate it at the victim's home as well as took a bath in the house. Investigators suspect that Maejima was murdered and that his dismembered body was dumped under the house and covered with concrete. In late October, shortly before she was arrested, Kaneda confessed to Kondo that she murdered Maejima, a former Tokyo Metropolitan Government official. "I murdered Maejima. I want to live in that home with you and my daughter," Kondo quoted her as telling him. Kaneda often hit her daughter with a stick and assaulted Kondo when he attempted to stop her. Moreover, she killed their pet dog in the presence of her boyfriend and daughter. The murder of Maejima came to light after a terrified Kondo notified police after he feared for his life. (Mainichi) ====================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10472 Narita Airport pours hundreds of bottles of alcohol, perfume down drain 6:11pm Saturday, March 17 NARITA -- Narita International Airport has tipped out hundreds of bottle of alcohol and perfume discarded by passengers because of regulations banning them from taking large amounts of liquids onto the cabins of international flights. On March 15, airport officials poured about 1,600 bottles of wine and other alcoholic drinks and about 350 bottles of perfume and lotion down a drain inside the airport. "It's a waste but throwing them out is the only option," an airport official said. Since a planned terrorist attack was uncovered in Britain in August last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has placed heavy restrictions on the amount of liquids that can be taken into the cabins of international flights leaving from Japan. Since March, it has abided by international standards limiting carry-on liquids to those placed in individual containers with a capacity of up to 100 milliliters, all of which must be stored in a transparent, resealable bag with a capacity of no more than 1 liter. At Narita Airport, many passengers, mainly those connecting to other flights, have been persuaded to voluntarily abandon products such as expensive alcohol and perfumes bought at duty free stores and miniature bottles of drinks handed out on airplanes. (Mainichi) ========================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10466 Man fatally bashes love rival for e-mailing girlfriend 3:00pm Saturday, March 17 MINOO, Osaka -- A man who bare-handedly bashed another man to death because he had e-mailed his girlfriend was arrested for murder Saturday, Settsu Police Station said. Masatomo Nakatsuji, 27, a salaryman from Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, is accused of killing Akira Kamike, a 27-year-old man from Suita, Osaka Prefecture. He admits to the allegations. "We got into trouble over a woman and I punched him," police quoted Nakatsuji as saying. Police said that at about 9 p.m. Friday, Nakatsuji called Kamike and ordered him to appear at a parking lot in Minoo, then he jumped on top of him and punched him repeatedly until he died. Nakatsuji left the parking lot, but after about 3 1/2 hours he was worried about Kamike and returned to find the other man lying where he had left him. Nakatsuji called for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived on the scene, but Kamike was already dead, police said. Officers were alerted and they rushed to the scene and arrested Nakatsuji. "I saw Kamike had sent an e-mail to my girlfriend and I thought they were playing around on me. I questioned him about it but he didn't admit to the affair, so I got into a rage and bashed him," police quoted Nakatsuji as saying. Nakatsuji and Kamike had not previously been acquainted before Friday night. (Mainichi) ============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10465 Professor defamed over sex video claims 2:06pm Saturday, March 17 KYOTO -- Shukan Shincho weekly magazine has been ordered to pay 3.3 million yen compensation for defaming a Doshisha University professor in a story saying he annoyed his students by showing them a sex video, a court here ruled. The Kyoto District Court ordered the weekly's publisher Shinchosha, the magazine's managing editor and another member of staff to pay Doshisha University Prof. Takesato Watanabe over a story run under the headline "Adult videos were teaching materials." "There were no facts in the entire story and no overall reason to believe it," Presiding Judge Yoshinori Tanaka said as he handed down the ruling. Watanabe hailed the decision. "I'm glad my argument was recognized and for that I appreciate the verdict," the 62-year-old academic said. Shukan Shincho, however, slammed the decision. "It's a verdict that's hard to believe," a spokesman for the magazine's editorial department said. "We will immediately appeal." Court records showed Shincho ran a story saying that during July 2005, Watanabe gave a class where he showed a video from the Nihon Ethics of Video Association that featured sexually explicit scenes that raised the eyebrows of students. "A Nihon Ethics of Video Association video was shown, but it did not draw derision from students, so the story was hyperbole," Presiding Judge Tanaka said. (Mainichi) ================================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10447 Ex-Livedoor President Horie handed 2 1/2 year prison term for securities fraud 4:50pm Friday, March 16 Former Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie was sentenced Friday to 2 1/2 years in prison for securities fraud. The Tokyo District Court convicted Horie, 34, the founder of the Internet giant, of spreading false information on the stock market about his company in a bid to manipulate share prices and of making false entries in its securities report in violation of the Securities and Exchange Law. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office had demanded that Horie spend four years behind bars. "The defendant lacked awareness of his responsibility as president of a listed company," Presiding Judge Toshiyuki Kosaka said as he handed down the ruling. "He made his company appear as if it had enjoyed rapid growth and misled investors. His responsibility is grave. He should be imprisoned (instead of being handed a suspended sentence)." The judge dismissed Horie's not-guilty plea and determined that he played an important role in the case. Horie conspired with former Livedoor board member and chief financial officer Ryoji Miyauchi, 39, and other defendants to report 3.767 billion yen in proceeds from the sale of its own company as earnings in its consolidated account in September 2004 even though it was against the law, according to the ruling. The judge pointed out that Horie and his accomplices set up a dummy investment fund to make it look as if it had sold Livedoor shares and falsely reported its proceeds as Livedoor's earnings. He also reported 1.58 billion yen in false earnings, thereby padding Livedoor's earnings by about 5.3 billion yen, the court found. To jack up the share prices of Livedoor Marketing, an affiliate, the defendant spread false information regarding its takeover of a company and its business performance in October and November 2004, the ruling said. The focus of the trial was whether statements made by former board member Miyauchi to the effect that the former president instructed him and other executives to window-dress its accounts, were trustworthy and whether Horie masterminded the crime. Four other former Livedoor executives including Miyauchi and two certified public accountants who audited Livedoor's accounts are under indictment over the case. (Mainichi) ============================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10443 Victim of Osaka school massacre remembered as classmates graduate 6:30pm Thursday, March 15 IKEDA, Osaka -- A victim of a school massacre was remembered here as his sixth-year classmates took part in a graduation ceremony at Ikeda Elementary School, the site of a brutal stabbing attack in 2001 that left eight children dead. The ceremony on Thursday was for 119 children who were first-year students at the time of the massacre. During the ceremony students held up a photograph of Takahiro Totsuka, one of the eight victims who was a first-year student at the time of the attack, as the school announced his graduation along with other graduating pupils. The children who graduated were the final group of students at the school with direct knowledge of the 2001 attack, in which a knife-wielding attacker stormed the school and started stabbing children at random. About 600 people including the graduating students, their parents, and other fourth- and fifth-year students at the school took part in the ceremony. Among those present were Totsuka's parents. As the graduation certificates were handed out Totsuka's name was read out, and three students who had been good friends with him walked onto the stage on his behalf and accepted his graduation certificate. In a message at the ceremony, the school's principal, Tatsuo Shiraishi, said, "I think Totsuka wants everyone to value life, to become strong and sturdy, and to become leaders in society with kind hearts. I sincerely hope that you always think of him, especially as a friend." On behalf of the remaining students at the school, a fifth-year student gave a farewell message to the graduating students, saying, "By looking at everyone who has helped out and cooperated, we've learned the importance of being compassionate toward other people." A 12-year-old student representing the graduating students then said, "We will never forget the friends we've studied with, the seven older girls who died in the attack, and Totsuka." After the ceremony ended, graduating students and their parents visited a monument set up to remember the children who died in the massacre. The school will continue to hold memorial services on June 8, the day the attack occurred, to remember the victims. In the incident, knife-wielding attacker Mamoru Takuma stormed into the elementary school at about 10 a.m. on June 8, 2001, and began stabbing students. In addition to the eight children who died, 13 students and two teachers suffered injuries. Takuma was eventually pinned down by teachers and arrested. He was sentenced to death by the Osaka District Court and the execution was carried out in September 2004. (Mainichi)