exciting japan11

http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10437 Hitachi system engineer busted for stealing online securities passwords 1:57pm Thursday, March 15 A Hitachi, Ltd. system engineer has been arrested for stealing the passwords and the IDs of online securities firm customers, Tokyo police said Thursday. Norihide Nishino, 31, a resident of Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, is accused of violating the Unauthorized Computer Access Law. He admitted to the allegations during questioning. “I wanted to create a program that allows me to automatically log onto Websites without an ID or password,” he was quoted as telling investigators. “I’ve been interested in securities transactions since I was a university student.” Nishino stole the IDs and passwords of nine customers of the Tokyo-based JET Securities, Inc. on Nov. 14 and 15, and used them to illegally access the online brokerage’s server, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) investigators said. Nishino developed software that automatically tries to access computers using various IDs once a single valid password is entered. He is suspected of using the program to access the brokerage’s server 170,000 times over the two-day period and obtaining the IDs and passwords of 26 customers. Moreover, the system engineer allegedly viewed the transaction record of five of them as well as their personal information. (Mainichi) ============================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10438 Dislodged bolt behind ANA plane’s belly-landing 2:32pm Thursday, March 15 A dislodged bolt was behind Tuesday’s belly-landing of an All Nippon Airways plane at Kochi Airport, government inspectors advised. Inspectors from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Aircraft and Railway Accident Investigation Committee visited Kochi Airport to inspect the ANA Bombardier DHC8-Q400 that was involved in Tuesday’s accident. A bolt locking the arm that operates the front-landing gear door had fallen off, causing the door to malfunction. The inspectors will reportedly continue investigating the plane. Investigations said that because the bolt had been dislodged, a steel ring that covers it was moved and blocked the front-landing gear’s door from opening. (Mainichi) =============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10420 Rat curry served to 18 people at train station noodle stand 11:21am Wednesday, March 14 A curry that was boiled up with a rat in the pot has been served to 18 people at a noodle stand at JR Shin-Koiwa Station in Tokyo, the operator of the stand said. Nippon Restaurant Enterprise Co. (NRE), the operator of the noodle stand, has apologized for the incident. “We offer our apologies and will return the money to customers who contact us,” a company spokesman said. Nobody who ate at the stand has so far complained about any health problems. Between 6:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, curry and rice and curry noodles were served to 18 customers at Ajisai Chaya noodle stand at JR Shin-Koiwa Station in Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, NRE officials said. At around 8:30 a.m., an 8-centimeter-long rat was caught by a ladle when the manager stirred the curry in the pot, prompting him to immediately close the stand. NRE officials said it is highly likely that the rat was mixed into the curry when the sauce was put into the pot. (Mainichi) ================================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10416 Number of sexless Japanese couples surges to 34 percent 3:42pm Tuesday, March 13 Some 34 percent of married Japanese couples have sex less than once a month, a government poll has found. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare polled 3,000 males and females — aged between 16 and 49 years old — about their sexual behavior in November last year. Some 51.9 percent responded to the survey. The poll learned that 34.6 percent of married Japanese couples have sex with their partners less than once a month. The Japan Society of Sexual Science defines married couples who don’t have sex for more than one month as sexless. The sexless rate among couples was 31.9 percent in a 2002 poll. Kunio Kitamura, a member of the panel that carried out the poll and director of the Japan Family Planning Association, said, “The ratio of sexless couples has been increasing in recent polls. I think we have to make a connection between the increasing sexless rate and declining birthrates.” (Mainichi) ================================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10409 High school girl busted for poisoning classmate 11:49am Tuesday, March 13 FUKUSHIMA — A high school girl has been arrested for lacing a classmate’s drink with a bleaching agent at their school, causing her to suffer chemical poisoning, police said. The 16-year-old student is accused of inflicting bodily injury and intimidation. She has denied the allegations. Police are poised to send investigation reports to prosecutors, accusing two 16-year-old classmates of involvement in the incident. They admitted to the allegations. “We wanted to punish her,” one of them was quoted as telling investigators. The arrested girl conspired with the two to lace the 16-year-old girl’s drink with a bleaching agent at their school on May 30, 2006, causing her to suffer chemical poisoning for three days, local police said. They also wrote on a note, “You should die. I’ll poison you,” and put it in the victim’s shoe locker at the school on June 15 of that year, according to investigators. The three had got into an argument with the victim over a minor incident. (Mainichi) =============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10403 76-year-old man gets life imprisonment for armed robbery of cash van 4:42pm Monday, March 12 OSAKA — A man under indictment for the armed robbery of a cash delivery van was ordered Monday to spend the rest of his life behind bars. The Osaka District Court convicted Hiroshi Nakamura, 76, of attempted murder, robbery, and violating the Firearms and Swords Control Law. “The defendant ignored the law and endangered the lives of other people as he tried to put his selfish idea into practice,” Presiding Judge Masaki Nishida said as he handed down the ruling. The judge dismissed Nakamura’s not-guilty plea after concluding that the bullet and cartridge left at the scene matched his gun. Nakamura shot a cash van’s guard in the parking lot of the Miyakojima branch of the Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corp. in Osaka in October 2001, injuring him in the left leg, and stole 5 million yen from the vehicle, according to the ruling. He was also found guilty of concealing 10 guns and about 1,000 bullets in a safety deposit box he had rented in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, in 2003. Nakamura was sentenced to life imprisonment for fatally shooting a police officer who had attempted to question him 50 years ago after he planned to rob a bank. He was released on parole in 1976. He was also sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting the guard of a cash van in Nishi-ku, Nagoya, in 2002 and stealing 50 million yen from the vehicle. (Mainichi) ============================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10400 Tokyo Governor Ishihara accused of not declaring 20 million yen donation 2:35pm Monday, March 12 Residents in Tokyo have filed a complaint with prosecutors claiming that Gov. Shintaro Ishihara received 20 million yen from supporters in 2005 but didn’t declare it as a political donation. The accusation was filed against Ishihara and his secretary, who serves as treasurer of his fund management office, accusing them of violating the Political Funds Control Law. The residents claim that Ishihara received 20 million yen in cash from a former House of Representatives member and his associates at a restaurant in the Ginza district of Tokyo in September 2005. The 2005 political fund report for Ishihara’s political office doesn’t mention the donation. Ishihara has admitted that he dined with the former Diet member at the restaurant, but flatly denied receiving the cash. (Mainichi) =============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10372 Associate professor suspended for sexual harassment 3:59pm Friday, March 9 TSU — An associate professor at Mie University has been suspended from duty for one month for sexually harassing a part-time clerk last year, university officials said Friday. The associate professor in his 50s at the university’s post-graduate course on medicine, whose name is being withheld, is the fifth teacher at the institution to be punished over sexual harassment since 2001. He admitted to the allegations. “I’m so sorry for her,” he was quoted as telling university officials during questioning. The associate professor forcibly kissed a part-time clerk and fondled her body in the university administration office in April last year, according to university authorities. The incident surfaced last month after she complained about it to her bosses. (Mainichi)

http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10325 ANA, JAL planes bump wings at airport in China 4:27pm Monday, March 5 The right wing of an ANA jet hit the left wing of a JAL airplane at China’s Tianjin International Airport on Sunday, leading to the cancellation of both flights, government and company officials said. Flights ANA 114 and JAL 788 were set to depart for Central Japan International Airport in Aichi Prefecture. The ANA Boeing 737’s right wing touched the left wing of the JAL Boeing 767 as it was reversing along the runway on Sunday afternoon. Minor cracks appeared on both wings after the contact. The airplanes were set to take off at about 3:20 p.m. (Mainichi) ================================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10367 Imperial Household says various issues behind Empress Michiko’s illness 12:33pm Friday, March 9 Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Shingo Haketa said that a variety of issues involving the Imperial Family is behind the stress that allegedly caused Empress Michiko’s intestinal bleeding. The agency said on Tuesday that Empress Michiko was being treated for bleeding from the walls of her intestines, which appeared to be stress-induced. A doctor for the Imperial Family said that magazine reports about the Imperial Family might be behind her stress. Grand Steward Haketa said on Thursday, “I think that the Emperor and the Empress are worried about a variety of issues involving the Imperial Family, rather than reports in weekly magazines.” Haketa added that he believed that the doctor meant that magazine reports were one of the factors behind Empress Michiko’s stress. But Haketa didn’t specify about the problems facing the Imperial Family. A palace official close to the Imperial Couple said that the issues Haketa mentioned apparently included the health of Emperor Akihito, who has undergone operations for prostate cancer, and those involving the family of Crown Prince Naruhito. (Mainichi) ========================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10362 30 to 40 Fujiya franchise stores to close down after stale cake scandal 6:12pm Thursday, March 8 Some 30 to 40 Fujiya franchise stores will close down following revelations that the confectionery maker used ingredients that had passed their expiry dates to make cakes, company officials said Thursday. Most of the stores that intend to close are located in the Kanto region around Tokyo and the Kansai district that includes Osaka and Kobe. Fujita has some 800 franchise stores nationwide. Many of them were forced to suspend their business because the company had completely stopped producing sweets, and they were urged by the owners of the buildings housing them to move out after they were unable to pay their rent. Some of them have been forced to give up reopening their stores, even though they were previously profitable. The number of stores that will close down may further increase, company officials said. The company is considering financial support for franchise stores that are likely to close. “We’d like franchise stores to do business with us. We’d like to consider assistance for them including compensation for losses they suffer while they suspend their business,” said Fujiya President Yasufumi Sakurai. (Mainichi) ======================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10279 Customs and police show off 3 tons of ivory confiscated from smugglers 4:47pm Thursday, March 1 OSAKA — Local customs and police officials showed the press on Thursday three tons of ivory they had confiscated from smugglers. Osaka Customs and Osaka Prefectural Police released some 608 pieces of ivory measuring 30 to 40 centimeters in length and 17,928 smaller pieces that the smugglers had intended to sell for use as seals. The ivory pieces weigh a total of three tons and are worth about 1 billion yen. The ivory is believed to have been taken from about 130 African elephants, customs officials said. It was the largest amount of ivory to be confiscated from smugglers in a single incident in Japan. The ivory was found in cargo unloaded from a freighter at Osaka Nanko Port in southern Osaka in August last year. Prefectural police arrested two suspects in the case. One of them, 42-year-old Hiroyuki Tada, a company president from Higashi-ku, Sakai, was subsequently indicted on charges of violating the Customs Law, while prosecutors decided not to charge his 28-year-old brother who serves on the firm’s board. Trading in ivory is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, popularly known as the Washington Convention. However, ivory is traded on the black market for more than 100,000 yen per kilogram, according to law enforcers. (Mainichi) ====================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10273 Police officer admits to shoplifting while on duty 1:15pm Thursday, March 1 OITA — Oita Prefectural Police have begun questioning one of their officers for allegedly shoplifting from a store while on duty. The senior officer in his 50s has reportedly admitted to the allegations. Oita police will shortly send documents on the case to prosecutors, accusing the officer of theft. The officer stole seven items worth more than 10,000 yen in total by putting them in his bag. A guard became suspicious as the man left the store, and stopped him. The officer soon admitted to shoplifting the goods. “I was thirsty and went into the store to buy a drink,” he was quoted as saying. Police didn’t arrest the officer because he has already admitted to the allegations and has since paid for the goods. They officer has been suspended from work while the investigation continues. (Mainichi) ====================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10271 Train derails after crashing into truck at railway crossing in Hokkaido 1:17pm Thursday, March 1 SAPPORO — A train derailed after it crashed into a truck at a railway crossing here on Thursday, leaving more than 40 passengers injured, police and JR Hokkaido officials said. The one-car train, with about 60 passengers aboard, crashed into the 11-ton trailer truck between Mihoro and Hiushinai stations on the JR Sekihoku Line in Mihoro at about 8:20 a.m. as it headed for Kitami. The train’s driver, Eiichi Goda, and 47 passengers were injured. The truck entered the crossing after crashing through the gate. “I noticed that the gate was down and applied the brakes but I failed to stop in time,” police quoted the driver of the truck, 45-year-old Hideyuki Kanayama, as saying. He was later arrested for professional negligence resulting in injury. Many of the passengers were local high school students on their way to graduation ceremonies. (Mainichi) ================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10257 Former senior gangster, eldest son sentenced to death for murdering 4 people 6:01pm Tuesday, February 27 KURUME, Fukuoka — A former senior gangster and his eldest son were sentenced to death on Tuesday over the murder of four people in 2004. The Kurume branch of the Fukuoka District Court convicted Jitsuo Kitamura, 63, and, his eldest son, 26-year-old Takashi, of robbery-murder and other charges. The elder Kitamura’s wife, 47-year-old Mami, and their younger son, 22-year-old Takahiro, had earlier been given death sentences over the cases. Kitamura and Takashi conspired with Mami and Takahiro to plan to kill Sayoko Takami, 58, and steal money from her in 2004, according to the ruling. Takashi and Takahiro sneaked into Takami’s home in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, late at night on Sept. 16, 2004, strangled her 15-year-old son, Joji, and stole jewelry from their home. In the predawn hours of Sept. 18, the four strangled Takami and stole 260,000 yen from her. They also murdered her 18-year-old son, Tatsuyuki, and his 17-year-old friend, Junichi Hara, who had witnessed the crime. Throughout his trial, Kitamura had claimed that he committed all the murders by himself. His defense lawyers had asked the court to avoid the death penalty saying that he regretted his crimes and apologized for them. Takashi had pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, and his defense lawyers also denied his involvement in any of the cases. (Mainichi) ============================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10249 Man admits to beating boy who was found murdered in reservoir 2:04pm Tuesday, February 27 CHIBA — A man under arrest for property damage has admitted that he and several accomplices beat up an 18-year-old boy who was found murdered in a reservoir, police said. After the body of welder Yuya Shinozuka was found in a reservoir in Katori, Chiba Prefecture, earlier this month, police arrested scaffolder Atsuo Takagi, 20, and six other people. “We attacked Shinozuka at several deserted places,” police quoted Takagi, from Ibaraki Prefecture, as saying. Police suspect that Takagi and his accomplices abducted Shinozuka on the evening of Feb. 17 or shortly after and drove the victim to several remote destinations, including a local government office compound. They allegedly beat him with steel pipes. They are also suspected of hurling Shinozuka into the reservoir and burning the car in a bid to destroy evidence. “The victim stopped moving after we attacked him,” one of the seven arrested people told police. “We thought he had died and decided to abandon the body in the reservoir.” (Mainichi) ===========================

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401655 81-year-old man arrested for paying 14-year-old girl to have sex with him Friday, March 23, 2007 at 16:39 EST SAPPORO — Police said Friday they have arrested an 81-year-old man for paying a 14-year-old girl to have sex with him in in Sapporo. According to police, the man gave 20,000 yen to the girl for sexual favors on Dec 30 last year. The man admits to the allegations. The man said he first met the girl at a supermarket in January of 2006. He said he offered to buy her dinner and in May, started paying her for “sexual favors” once a month, according to police. He had also given her his cash card. The crime came to light when police found the girl who had run away from home in February and questioned her. ======================= http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401296 Tokyo teacher fired for uploading dead children’s images Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 07:16 EST TOKYO — The Tokyo metropolitan government’s Education Bureau said Monday it has fired a 33-year-old elementary school teacher in police custody for uploading images of children, who had been killed in car accidents, without permission from their relatives. Toshio Watanabe was given a dishonorable discharge from the city-run Shorin Elementary School in Hamura in Tokyo’s western suburbs, effective Monday, it said. According to the bureau’s findings, Watanabe uploaded images of children, who died in accidents and natural disasters, which he had obtained from the Internet, onto a website he opened in April 2001. He attached to the images “inappropriate comments that inflict emotional distress on the bereaved families,” and kept the images and comments posted even after he moved to the western Tokyo suburban city of Akiruno in April 2006, it said. Arrested on suspicion of sending images of naked boys by e-mail to visitors of his website in violation of the anti-child pornography law, he was later indicted on the charge, and was also served a fresh arrest warrant over the uploading of deceased children’s images in breach of copyright laws. The board also said it has fired a 24-year-old teacher, effective the same day, for having sex with his junior high school pupil from November to January. ============================ http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401082 Tokyo gets latest ever 1st snow of season Friday, March 16, 2007 at 10:14 EST TOKYO — Central Tokyo observed its latest ever first snowfall of the season on Friday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The season’s first snow, logged at 7 a.m. in the capital’s Otemachi area, came 73 days later than in the average year and more than a month later than the previous record of Feb 10 in 1960, the agency said. The agency previously said Tokyo experienced its first winter without snowfall since 1876 as the Otemachi observatory point did not record any snowfall from December to February, the period defined as winter in Japan. ================================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401081 FBI searches ANA’s Los Angeles bureau Friday, March 16, 2007 at 10:13 EST LOS ANGELES — The FBI searched a suburban Los Angeles bureau of Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co on Thursday but details of the warrant under which the operation was conducted were not immediately known. The bureau did not respond to phone calls Thursday morning and it was not possible to place orders for flight reservations or ticket issuance with it, according to a travel industry source in Los Angeles. The U.S. Justice Department and the European Commission said in February last year that they have launched a probe of major airlines in many countries, including ANA and Japan Airlines Corp, another major Japanese carrier, in connection with a suspected cartel over airfreight charges. But it is not known if the search has anything to do with the investigation. ANA in Tokyo said, “We have been trying to confirm the aim of the search. It is not related to flight operations or terrorism.” ======================= http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400765 Japan eyes response to international criticism of Abe’s sex slavery remarks Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 16:50 EST TOKYO — Japan is considering publishing counterarguments and taking other measures in response to international criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent remarks on wartime sex slaves, with the top government spokesman accusing foreign media on Thursday of misinterpreting the remarks. “It is our understanding that reports on the prime minister’s remarks were not based on appropriate interpretation,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said in reference to the furor sparked by Abe’s denial of military involvement in the coercion of foreign women into sexual servitude before and during World War II. “We are considering an appropriate response, including publishing rebuttals of media reports and commentaries overseas that are not based on facts or are based on misinterpretations,” Shiozaki told a news conference when asked to comment on a New York Times editorial dated Tuesday that criticized Abe’s “efforts to contort the truth.” ======================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400762 6 Vietnamese women to sue Toyota subcontractor Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 16:53 EST NAGOYA — Six Vietnamese women who came to Japan to undergo industrial training and an internship under a Japanese government-sponsored skills-transfer program will soon sue a subcontractor of Toyota Motor Corp for more than 30 million yen in damages and unpaid wages, arguing their human rights were infringed upon and that overtime allowances were unpaid, their supporters said Thursday. The women, all in their 20s, plan to also name as defendants in the suit the Japanese recipient body of the Vietnamese trainees, which is a union of Toyota’s third-tier subcontractors, and the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization, a body set up by five Japanese ministries to promote the transfer of Japanese techniques and skills to developing countries, they said. ============================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400754 Police recognize record-high domestic violence cases in 2006 Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 10:48 EST TOKYO — Police recognized 18,236 cases of domestic violence last year, up 8% from 2005 and its highest since the survey began in 2002, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The agency attributed the increase to a growing public attention to the problem since recent legislation has encouraged women, who previously tended not to complain, to report cases to police. Of the victims, 99% were women. By age bracket, 38% were in their 30s, 22% in their 20s and 20% in their 40s. Police, meanwhile, recognized 12,501 cases of stalking in 2006, up 2% from the previous year, and issued a warning under the stalker regulation law to 1,375, up 21%. ===========================

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400362 Japan whaling ship to return from Antarctic Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 05:00 EST TOKYO — The Nisshin Maru whaling vessel will end its work ahead of schedule after catching fire in the Antarctic Ocean in mid-February and is expected to arrive at Tokyo port in late March for an inspection to determine the cause of the fire, the Fisheries Agency said Wednesday. The boat was supposed to return home in April after catching a total of 860 minke and fin whales as part of an assignment by the Japanese government to undertake what it calls “research” or “scientific” whaling. The fleet caught 505 minke whales and three fin whales but had planned to catch 850 minke and 10 fin whales. ======================= http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400012 AL reports cracks found in 8 MD-90 planes Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 06:50 EST TOKYO — Japan Airlines Corp said Saturday it has detected cracks in the same part of pipes in eight MD-90 airplanes including one which made an emergency landing at Kansai International Airport last week in safety checks conducted after the incident. JAL said it will investigate jointly with Boeing Co, suspecting that it was a crack that caused the emergency landing incident. JAL said the cracks were found on welds of pipes in the airplanes’ cargo holds and that eight of a total of 16 MD-90s as well as an MD-81 model it possesses had similar problems. The pipes are used to send hot air to the wings from the engines to prevent the flaps from freezing, JAL said, adding all of the cracks have been fixed. =========================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399740 TV Tokyo aired program with fake fitness info Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 07:40 EST [TV Tokyo execs apologize Wednesday.] TV Tokyo execs apologize Wednesday. TOKYO — TV Tokyo Corp said Wednesday it broadcast a program that made false fitness claims. The announcement followed the revelation that Kansai Telecasting Corp also recently aired programs in which it fabricated diet information. In a one-off program that aired on Jan 6, TV Tokyo showed footage of a blood vessel to demonstrate the improvement in blood flow after a comedian took a yoga lesson. In fact, the footage used was of a blood vessel belonging to one of the show’s staff, it said. TV Tokyo President Sadahiko Sugaya apologized at a press conference, and announced that disciplinary measures would be taken against four senior executives, and would include a 20 percent cut in his salary for one month. ======================================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399619 JAL passenger threatens crew with knife, then flees terminal in Kagoshima Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 06:35 EST TOKYO — A male passenger on a Japan Airlines flight brandished a knife at a cabin crew member Tuesday evening when he deplaned at Kagoshima Airport and then ran off, triggering a security alert that caused the cancellation of one flight and delays to a few others, airline officials said. Given the possibility that the man might transfer to another flight at the airport, the authorities tightened security. Two JAL planes on a taxiway were pulled back to parking spots and the passengers had to deplane and have their belongings double checked. The man was on flight JL3736, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81 service from Amami-Oshima Airport in Kagoshima Prefecture, with 146 passengers and crew members, the officials said. The cabin crew member chased the man but lost track of him. The incident, which took place just after 6 p.m., caused the cancellation of one JAL flight and delays to four other flights by 30 minutes to one hour. Passengers are not allowed to take knives or edged tools onto airplanes under the Civil Aeronautics Law and can be punished with a fine of up to 500,000 yen. ==================================

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=10519 Police box worker nabbed for bashing man with bat in argument over dogs 3:37pm Thursday, March 22 NARA — A police box worker who bashed a man in the head with a metal bat during an argument about the noise his dogs were making has been arrested, law enforcers said. Susumu Oya, a contract worker at a police box in Osaka Prefecture, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of inflicting injuries on the 57-year-old victim. Police said the 57-year-old man warned Oya about the noise his three dogs were making on a road outside Oya’s home in Kashiba, Nara Prefecture at about 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, and an argument erupted between them. The man then went home and returned with a metal bat, which he used to hit the police worker. Oya responded by grabbing the bat and hitting the man on the head. The 57-year-old man suffered a head injury requiring about two weeks’ treatment, while Oya suffered a broken finger on his right hand, which he used to defend himself when the man attacked him. Police are waiting for the 57-year-old victim to recover before investigating him on suspicion of assaulting Oya. (Mainichi)

http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10458 Couple arrested for beating 3-year-old boy unconscious 6:30pm Friday, March 16 RUMOI, Hokkaido — A man and woman who hit her 3-year-old son and hurled him across the room of her apartment, leaving him unconscious with brain injuries, were arrested Friday, police said. Arrested were Maki Suzuki, 26, and Daisuke Tsubone, 29, both residents of Rumoi. When questioned by investigators, Suzuki told police that she had gotten angry at her son. “He wouldn’t stop crying and didn’t listen to what I said. I got angry with him,” she was quoted as telling police. Investigators said that between 8 p.m. on Wednesday and 12 a.m. on Thursday, the suspects threw Suzuki’s 3-year-old son onto the veranda of their home and left him there. They also allegedly picked him up by his ankles, swung him around and hurled him onto a sofa and hit him, leaving him with a brain hemorrhage. The 3-year-old remains unconscious in serious condition. City officials said a welfare advisor visited Suzuki’s home at about 9:40 a.m. on Thursday and instructed her to take her son to a hospital after seeing him lying down. An examination at the hospital revealed that he had a brain injury and a doctor alerted police. Officials said that at first Suzuki had lied to the welfare advisor, saying her son was sleeping with a cold. Suzuki had violently treated her son in the past, and the private nursery that he attended contacted city welfare officials in October 2006, saying he had scars on his body. In January this year, officials asked her to spend time apart from her son in an institution, but she reportedly resisted the suggestion strongly, saying, “I want to raise my child myself.” Sources close to the investigation said Suzuki had gone into hospital with her son at the end of October 2006 after being subjected to domestic violence from her former husband. At the beginning of November the same year she divorced her husband. Due to an internal organ ailment she suffered because of violent treatment by her husband, she became mentally unstable, and when she suffered stress she reportedly began acting violently toward the 3-year-old. (Mainichi) ===========================

TAMAGAWABOAT
http://tamagawaboat.wordpress.com/
http://blog.generasian.ca/
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Racist magazine found at Family Mart in Japan
http://gaijindo.com/blog/2007/02/02/racist-magazine-found-at-family-mart/
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Japanese women are poor “baby making machines”
http://gaijindo.com/blog/2007/01/28/japanese-women-are-poor-baby-making-machines/

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Driving in Japan
http://gaijindo.com/blog/2007/01/25/driving-in-japan/
Driving in Japan can be scary in so many ways. The trickiest part is to find the way. With the same style of buildings and same chain stores everywhere it all looks the same. The solution is a GPS-navigator.
All cars here have one, even the very smallest. So renting a car and driving around is not that hard once you have punched in your destination in the navigator. The machine is all in Japanese so that can be difficult. A good thing is that if know the phone number to your destination (land line only) you just feed that to the navigator and it will show you the way.
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http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1398
Nationalism: a hot issue in the
Tokyo gubernatorial election?
March 20th, 2007 by JamesJames

Mainichi Shinbun reports that Shiro Asano, DPJ candidate for the
Tokyo gubernatorial race, has decided to make challenging Gov. Ishihara’s nationalist views a part of his election campaign. Ishihara has stated that he believes all public school teachers should have to stand and sing the Japanese national anthem, which some of them associate with
Japan’s imperialistic past. Asano has a different view:

   “When I become governor of
Tokyo, I will abolish the policy of coercing teachers to stand and sing the ‘Kimigayo,’ and punishing those who do not,” Asano told a news conference.

   The debate comes at a sensitive time in
Japan when Abe is pushing for greater patriotism in national schools and a bigger role for the military at home and overseas. The trend has spurred concern in neighboring Asian countries, which see it as a resurgence of
Japan’s militaristic past.

   Asano said Monday his administration would reverse what he called Ishihara’s legacy of discrimination against “weaker members of society” and his “dictatorial style of governing.”

   “Unless somebody stops Ishihara now, I feel that the situation not only in
Tokyo but in Japanese politics as a whole may get entirely out of hand,” warned Asano, a former governor of
Sendai prefecture in northern
Japan.

Asano’s remarks will probably be looked upon with support from many in
Japan’s foreign community, especially the English-speaking netizens who frequently complain about Ishihara’s views of foreigners, referring to the governor by the derogatory term “blinky” (which mocks the fact that he always seems to be blinking when he talks). Ishihara is also under attack from a group of French, Canadians, and Japanese who have filed a suit against the Tokyo Government because of official remarks in which he called French a “failed international language” because it cannot “be used to count numbers.” Is Ishihara’s end near, or will voters express their support for his policies, and possibly overlook his occasional controversial statement, by re-electing him yet again? ============================