No objections voiced as Japan turns extremist

At least that is what I gather from reading this fine, well-written, and thoroughly researched piece from a professional paid journalist for the Globe and Mail (Canada).*

Somehow, I had missed the significance of the rise of the extreme right in Japan. I have even missed the rise itself, thinking it no more than the usual rightists and fellow travelers rattling off their poison. I never noticed that the anti-foreign sentiment---although always present among some, including the media and gov't---was any worse than it had been under Koizumi and Abe when it seemed that neither the government or the media could resist labeling crime, criminal tendencies, and non-Japanese in the same category. And of course we have heard the old bigot Ishihara and his oral bowel movements for about a million years.

But the Globe and Mail has found that things are turning truly sinister. So sinister that even the Old School extreme right is concerned. Concerned not with the beliefs of the newer more extreme nutjobs, but with the way they express their beliefs:

“These Net right-wingers have no rules, no restrictions … . I’m against this kind of hate speech, these ugly comments. Their thoughts and ideas are okay, but the way they express them is not,” said Mr. Kimura, whose own Issuikai movement made headlines earlier this year by hosting an international gathering of right-wingers...

Noting that some nutjobs reacted to the Senkaku incident by the usual "smokebombs" at an offending foreign consulate; concealed weapons near the residences of non-rightwing-extremist politicians; anti-Chinese demonstrations etc, our fine reporter observed that these run-of-the-mill events:

... highlight a tide of rising nationalism that is just one of the new social ills afflicting a country that 20 years ago was the richest** and most stable** on the planet.

But an even more frightening bit of evidence was uncovered by that sharp-eyed fellow, while watching (?) a demo of 2700 folks organized by the web-based New School extremists with whose ends the Old School agrees:

“Throw illegal immigrants into Tokyo Bay!” he yelled to loud cheers from his fellow marchers and silent stares from shoppers who paused to watch the procession. If anyone disagreed with the sentiment, no one said so publicly. [Emphasis mine]

There it is. I had mostly missed it. I knew of the newer more openly racist*** and extreme groups and their still small but reportedly growing numbers. I knew that many people in a historically xenophobic country exhibited xenophobia to some degree or another. I knew of the anti-Chinese sentiment, especially after Senkaku, but I never had evidence of the silent acceptance of extreme beliefs by the public until I read that last sentence.

Shoppers did not publicly disagree with a large group of noisy nutjobs!!!! What else can one conclude from this but that they must have agreed?

Somehow though, I as a foreign resident do not feel like "other foreigners":

...while other foreigners – including some long-term residents of Japan – say they also feel increasingly unwelcome, and complain of police harassment and rules that prevent non-Japanese from renting homes or gaining professional tenure.

for I don't see anything especially new. I don't feel "increasingly unwelcome." I never felt especially wanted nor loved here to begin with. I will have to keep a closer eye on this evil trend.

I must admit that I learned something about myself from reading this piece. I too, am an anti-foreign extremist, for had I been at the demo, I doubt that I would have publicly disagreed with the goofballs either. Blinky Ishihara, old buddy, lets go out for a few drinks...

*A black sun rises in a declining Japan, by Mr. Mark Mackinnon.

**Huh and double huh?

***The more openly racist (is that possible?) newbees reject the idea that their racism is racist.

Speaking of headlines

In Yokohama, a 15-year old girl was stabbed by a classmate today and taken to the hospital with a serious wound. The classmate has been arrested for attempted murder. Asahi Shimbun (In Japanese and sure to disappear soon as all Japanese language articles do from Asahi.)

Unfinished random thoughts

Offenses committed by people from overseas remain vicious and adroit.* They aim at making crime inconspicuous by cooperating with Japanese Boryokudan** and by conspiring with fewer people for their crimes. Crimes in Japan 2007. Police Policy Research Center, National Police Academy.

It wasn't so long ago---under Koizumi and "Beautiful Country" Abe---that foreigners were being hit so hard with accusations of being near DNA-bound to be criminals that you would have thought we were all members of the Yakuza, or at least adroit enough to cooperate with them. I could barely go shopping back then because every time I reached for my wallet to buy something, I'd slap my own hand away for fear that I was picking my pocket.

One of the things that amazes me about a country in which everyone obeys the rules, in which the crime rate is said to be so low that women can safely walk the streets alone at night, that you can go out and leave your apartment unlocked without fear of being burglarized, a country in which guns are illegal for citizens to own, is the fact that folks don't obey the rules, Japanese women are not so dumb as to think they can walk the streets safely at night***, that only soon-to-be-educated victims leave their apartments unlocked, and where firearms ownership is not illegal. (Oops, apologies for that sentence.)

OK, forgetting the just-off-the-boat myths, I am intrigued by the fact that the rule-obeying, law-abiding Japanese that I see aren't so rule-obeying or law-abiding. That and the fact that the koban-sitters---at least where I live and work---don't seem to be motivated to go out of their way to enforce any laws until after an incident. I guess we could call this reactive law enforcement.

I watch people disobey all kinds of traffic laws (especially cycling laws, and many of these violations I understand to be criminal offenses) right in front of "police officers" who routinely ignore it. I live near a koban and can go outside any evening and watch dozens of people ride by with no lights on their bikes---illegal---and I have yet to see any of them stopped for it. I have seen cyclists blow right through crosswalks against the light and ride within a few feet of a cop standing at parade rest and all he could do was eyeball me. I saw a cop jump up out of his box and run 3 feet outside to yell at two kids riding double on a bike causing them to slow for a few meters before taking off while still riding double as our hero went back to sitting in his box. There is a traffic light about 20 meters from my local koban that folks occasionally run with no fear from the cops. Folks park illegally right in front of their noses---no reaction. I could continue for hours, but of course these are minor infractions, not the viscous stuff of foreigners. Just because folks seem to have little respect for these types of rules, laws, and koban sitters, doesn't mean anything beyond that. I'm sure.

You'll have to forgive me for skepticism when I hear how foreigners disobey Japanese laws more than the Japanese do themselves. And you'll have to forgive me when I start doubting simplistic comparisons of crime rates between countries when the laws are so different, when the enforcement of these laws are so different, and when the rate of reporting of crime by victims is likely different, and especially when the rhetoric of the folks who gather the statistics does not match the statistics.

Back when I was in the USAF, my friends in law enforcement at Yokota AB often remarked on the very high burglary rate in Tokyo. They knew 'cause lots of military personnel were victims of these mostly professional burglars. That was back before the "surge" in foreign residents here and nobody thought to claim that the criminals were non-Japanese. I do not recall ever seeing such a thing in the Japanese press though. The burglaries that most recently became notorious were mostly blamed on Chinese and others of foreign origin. Have all the Japanese burglars retired?

*As opposed to the kinder, gentler, more innocent and naive crimes committed by the natives.

**Yakuza. I'd guess that the yakuza is a Japanese problem and maybe if something more effective were done about that problem, the vicious, adroit, foreign criminals would have to find another way to make their crimes inconspicuous. (Hire Japanese thugs?)

***I have been repeatedly surprised at how much attention Japanese women pay to the lighting of an area, how well-traveled it is, and all sorts of things that I, as a man, pay no mind. Last Saturday, I was walking with a friend through Denenchofu, an expensive, upper-middle class/wealthy area that is notorious for burglaries, and she immediately noticed (at 3PM) what areas would be risky to walk at night due to isolation/ lack of adequate lighting. What's she afraid of, I wonder? This is Japan.

2:15PM: Edited

Crime in Japan: An utterly simplistic view

...crime, especially violent crime, is dependent on external factors (the lack of availability of guns) and cultural factors (emphasis on honor and group harmony.) In the U.S., with the incredible ease of obtaining weapons and the emphasis on people "doing their own thing," a much higher level of violent crime should not be a surprise...

...The ease of obtaining guns also automatically causes crimes to be of a much more violent nature in the U.S. then in Japan... Crime in Japan

Huh?

Folks who are stabbed to death with freely available, razor-sharp, 8 inch-long kitchen knives must die less violently and be less dead than those shot to death. Probably die more honorably and in a more harmonious way too.

Kidnapping the only safe option two internationally-wanted kidnappers say

We've heard and read of the claims by certain folk in the government and elsewhere who have said that most Japanese child abductors fleeing back to Japan do so because of abusive spouses.

Up until now, we've had to take their word for it that such a danger exists. The Japan Times---which recently raised its single issue price to ¥180 for folks with no access to the Internet or perhaps no sense---has given us an example of hard-nosed investigative journalism at its best. Custody or Abduction: Returning to Japan with kids was the only safe option, two mothers say.

As we read through the article, we are given reasons by two ladies of why they chose to kidnap their children. Both had suffered domestic violence, both verbal and physical, and one had also received an alimony award that was so small that, "I realized that my son and I could starve to death if we stayed."

I suppose we'll just have to take the word of the two that this happened as they said. No mention of restraining orders, court actions, complaints filed, or much of anything else in the story. We have to admit that it is not unknown for foreign spouses to be ignorant of the legal system in foreign countries or that they are often not able to fully exploit it to protect themselves and their children. However, we won't learn if that is the case from reading the JT article for no relevant questions were asked. Actually, I don't think any questions were asked.

Hats off to you, Masami Ito for this report. We await your interviews of more than just two of many, many internationally-wanted felons and your follow-up with the hard-hitting questions that you left out this time just to keep us all in suspense. Otherwise, we may ask ourselves why anyone would pay ¥180 for the JT when we can read it for free online. Custody or abduction? WTF does that mean?

English-reading smorkers and dopers be warned!

Denenchofu's new Dada Theque Cafe is not for you!

The neighborhood has apparently gone all to hell since Yukio Hatoyama moved out a few months ago. Two or three years ago, you couldn't even buy a beer in the convenience stores and now it's come to this.

Not sure why this is only written in English---there is a notice for Japanese readers below about no unaccompanied young kids, but no anti-doper warnings in Japanese that I could see. It's an innocent omission, I am sure.


Wonder if they will stock issues of High Times?

Medical help for smorking addressed here.

Tokyo Vice

The author of Tokyo Vice has a website at japansubculture.com which he is now regularly updating. Like the book, an antidote to those who believe that Japan is all purity and light.

Possible shady character busted

....American tourist asked a police officer for directions to the Kinokuniya bookstore in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

The Californian, 74, could never have imagined the officer would reply to his question with: "Do you have a knife?"...Japan Times

And then, Tokyo's finest threw the fellow in the pokey for 10 days, informing his son (who is living in Japan) only the next day. Then, the upholders of all that is right and just; the protectors of society insisted that the son speak to his father in Japanese since they had no interpreter available.

Being a foreigner may have led police to ask the question because Shinjuku is also home to the Kabukicho red light district, which attracts a plethora of shady characters, including foreigners, the two lawyers said.

Nice to see that the Japan Times followed up on the original article with more details. The koban-sitters did not answer any questions about the case, as they don't discuss individual cases if there is any possibility that they would look like what they are.

To paraphrase---and take some license with---what was written about this incident earlier: Japan, where tourists have more to fear from the police or government than from criminals*.

Wonder if they run around asking yakuza such questions? (No, probably not.)

I shan't be bringing my parents here, even if I could convince them to endure the near 24 hours of travel that it would take.

*One should not feel that criminals are not a danger here. I had to add that for fear someone might think that criminals are nice in Japan.

Things ya don't wanna know

With dozens of half-completed posts waiting to be finished, it seems the only thing I can post about is that which I least want to think about.

The first is an article in the usually waste-of-time Letter to Nagatacho section of the decreasingly interesting Japan Times:

On July 2 in Shinjuku, a 74-year-old American tourist walked into a police box to ask directions....

...The American asked where Kinokuniya bookstore was, and the older police officer responded by asking the tourist if he had a pocket knife. The American, being the law-abiding citizen that he is, said "yes" and handed it to the senior officer. After a quick measurement of the blade, the officer arrested the 74-year-old for having a pocket knife 1 cm over the legal limit...

...It's astounding that a tourist in Japan has more to fear from the Japanese government or national police force than the citizenry. Japan Times

Once again, details are lacking. Once again, a Japanese newspaper publishes something with no attempt to investigate the facts. Hey, Japan Times...what are your reporters paid to do?*

If it is accurate, (certainly the last sentence is true) why was the man arrested for possessing a pocket knife? My recollection of the law which took effect on 4 July, is that it outlawed only double-edged dagger-type knives with blades of 5 cm or more in a lazy-assed attempt to convince citizens that clueless politicians and bureaucrats were seriously addressing problems which led to the Akihabara mass murder. Is there another law which restricts the carry of pocket knives? Could one carry a 15cm kitchen knife legally? What if one buys the kitchen knife at Tokyu and is carrying it somewhere to murder someone? Is that OK as long as the koban-sitter is not aware of the murder plans? If he is, would he take action? Why arrest a 74 year-old man? Because he is a foreigner? No, recently, the criminal justice system has been cracking down on the elderly. And to the letter writer---why are you using the term gaijin? (Sorry, noobi question I suppose. Gaijin is a neutral term for non-Japanese of European/Caucasian origin which has now magically expanded to include non-Japanese Asians and others---in theory and fantasy, at least.)

I am now trying to avoid the discrimination area, as there is plenty and it is not hard to find and experience. The longer I live here and the better my Japanese becomes, the more I notice the little subtle things as well as the larger points. However, I have found that dwelling on it tends to make one overly-sensitive and can lead to imagined slights. There's not much that can be done about it anyway at the personal, everyday level. We cannot live our lives for the ignorant.

The other article in the JT, concerns the new immigration reform which the kind, polite, and caring folks in the government created to make life better for bakagaijin.

In your wallet or somewhere at home, do you have a blue or pink card showing that you are enrolled in one of Japan's national health and pension programs? If not, and if you are thinking of extending your stay here, you may want to think about a recent revision to visa requirements for foreign residents. The changes, which the Justice Ministry says were made in order to "smooth out the administrative process," may have major consequences for foreign residents and their future in Japan.

Not so sure I object to this, since it is a Japanese law to be enrolled in health insurance. Some folks have managed to get coverage by private insurance in their home country at reasonable cost and have been able to opt out with evidence of the same in some wards---or so I have heard. Now, they will no longer have that option as Uncle Taro has decided to put immigration in the hands of the national government and remove it from those closest to the needs of immigrants.

The good point---maybe---is that those sleazeball companies which ignored the laws before and had non-Japanese on their payroll while not providing the required insurance may have to quit being sleazeballs that take advantage of workers. We can remember the eikaiwa factories such as Ber....Ber...(sorry, I cannot utter the name or I will vomit) that used various scams to avoid making sure their employees were covered in case of serious illness or injury in order to save a few yen.

*What has made the Japan Times an interesting newspaper in the past was the fact that it is not a member of the so-called press clubs and thus was free to publish articles critical of the sacred cows of Japan's establishment. I remember an excellent full page investigative report in early 1993, I believe, which was extremely critical of the Japan police and its response to rape victims, and non-Japanese victims of crime. I no longer see this type of reporting. Bershitz gets away with a "no comment" in every critical report of its polices. Japan Times investigate no further. We get garbage apparently published under the guise of giving "both sides" of an issue supporting racism and discrimination based on the group one belongs to. I suppose budget cuts may have contributed to this, but it ain't worth my ¥160 anymore, even if it were not available free on the Internut.

3:32pm edited to correct an error. JT is not a member of the press clubs.

Problem solved

Society can rest easier now that this 70-year old lady is securely behind bars:

Presiding Judge Satoshi Miyamoto said the woman had a previous record of shoplifting and other offenses, and the nature of her crime "reflected her experience."

...[Miyamoto] said the woman could not avoid prison. Asahi Shimbun* (English)

The welfare recipient had just been released from the pokey in January, but apparently had not learned the error of her ways. Obviously means other than prison could not have been attempted as they would likely fail. Those soft on crime may say that this 2-year sentence is excessive, but it was not their ¥98 eraser which was stolen.

1114 pm update: I have not been able to find out what the "other offenses" were except for other thefts. According to the original Japanese article*, she stole the eraser to use in writing a letter to her son. Note that this is not the usual suspended sentence that is often given to high-ranking corporate types whose decisions kill people, or e-stalking judges like Yasushi Watanabe, but I'm sure the only difference is that they are not repeat offenders.

*It seems that Asahi links go dead in about 3-5 days, so the links to that news organization above should vanish forever by the 22nd or 23rd of July. My mistake for using them.

(Nothing to do with the above, but the Apollo 11 moon mission is being replayed in "real time" here---assuming it really happened and was not some sort of fakery on a Texas sound stage. Wonder if the DPJ's Yukihisa Fujita and the other conspiracy theory nutjobs believe that too? This could be evidence as it is mostly computer simulation.)

Take a leak for group accountability

Although I have found it to be personally counter-productive to spend much time focusing on discrimination---I know its around, and seeing and experiencing it at times is more than enough without reading about it every day---I can't help but to learn about some of the new tricks that our friends in the government are doing in order to help foreigners behave themselves.

Debito Arudou* has written an article for the Japan Times concerning a "crackdown" in Roppongi in which non-Japanese (and perhaps some Japanese too) are being persuaded to pee for the boys in blue to prove that they aren't dopers. Of course, this seems to go against common sense---how can anyone be non-Japanese without doing drugs?

Naturally people have rights. After all, this is a democracy, not a benevolent police state run by some of the most incompetent goofs on earth. Debito was able to interview a very busy servant of the people (I am maybe going a little too far here by claiming that non-Japanese are people in the same way that Japanese are, or that a bureaucrat is serving anyone except himself or his department, but as usual, I digress.) and in a reluctant response to Debito's questions, our fearless sit-on-the-old-kiester-all-day-in-a-koban fellow clarified our rights should we be asked to whiz for him:

• Urine tests are only done "when necessary."
• Only folks who "look wasted on drugs" will be tested.
• Urine samples are only taken "after persuasion, never under threat." (See your real rights here.)
  

Naturally, we can assume that the urine samples are properly taken and tested and a strict, verifiable chain of custody is followed. Of course, you will be able to challenge these tests, and the police will have to support the procedure in your case in a impartial hearing in a court of law. The fact that you are a foreigner who probably comes from a place where everyone uses drugs, will not be prejudice anything.

I don't really know, but since I used to be very much involved in finding drugs and drug users, some of this seems just a bit questionable. No, not that I doubt that the persuasion will be done without threat: After all, wouldn't a few kind words be enough to get anyone to urinate in a cup? Maybe they could say something like: I'll pee too, if you will. Or perhaps a contest: I bet I can pee more than you! Or perhaps---for men---they'll offer to hold it for you. None of these are threats and there are even more possible ways to politely persuade.

The problem is, what if you are persuaded by the kindness, sincerity, and unquestionable integrity of the investigating officers, and the test comes back positive? A false positive. Whatcha gonna do? Hire a good lawyer who will be able to successfully defend you in court?

Seems the US military went through this sort of thing years ago and got a number of false positives. After they fined, incarcerated, or discharged the "guilty" they found that there had been problems with the testing. Oops! Had to offer to let them back in the military and upgrade discharges to honorable. Things improved as time went by, but those tests have never become infallible. (I am sure the criminal justice system in Japan realizes that and is taking steps to prevent false arrests/prosecutions.)

And really, what does a person who is wasted on drugs look like? Could someone wasted on the drug known as alcohol look and act similarly? Ahh, but the odor of alcohol would be present, and the use of one rules out the other. How about certain medical conditions? Never mind, let's not worry about these things as the police are trained professionals and a mistake here would hurt them more than you.

Unfortunately, I rarely go to Roppongi---especially since the US Embassy warned us about the place. I'd think the best thing to do now is to avoid it entirely (including Roppongi Hills and the other over-priced shopping areas there.) I am sure that the merchants, bar-owners, and massage girls, would prefer not to get money from the type who frequent Roppongi.

Oh, and speaking of competent law enforcement and government, it seems a school boy stabbed another school boy to death on a train platform with a 17cm knife. This was the same day that the ban on double-edged knives with blades longer than 5cm went into effect. Who could have foreseen that?

*I know the fellow is controversial and that he is not perfect. I have even read that he thinks Japan is the US---although not from his writing. However, he is one of the few who are actually trying to do anything about discrimination in Japan. Others write books excusing it.

Murder rate to drop beginning at midnight!

Last year, after the mass murder in Akihabara, the government took swift action to prevent such things from happening again. It outlawed the possession of certain knives---shall we call them assault knives?---with double-edged blades of more than 5cm long.

On July 4, the grace period will run out for those who possess these evil instruments. Failure to turn them in carries a penalty of up to 3 years in prison and a ¥500,000 fine. The knives, that is. The government failed to do anything about the other weapon that the creature used to run down and murder people---a rental truck. These are still readily available for nearly anyone with a drivers license. The much longer than 5cm razor sharp kitchen knives nearly every home has which seem to be used much more often in murders? Not included. Will Michael Moore show up here and do one of his "documentaries?"

This well-conceived law seems to have caused a bit of confusion for those who use double-edged knives for shelling sea critters in Hokkaido, although that is a small price to pay for the increased safety and security it will bring.

Justice delayed, justice denied

A man wrongly imprisoned for murdering a 4-year old has been released from prison. As is commonly the case, he had "voluntarily"confessed to the crime, but later withdrew the confession. Since the criminal justice system had locked up the wrong guy, they have so far missed out on searching for the real killer whom we might assume is still running around free. Since there is a statute of limitations even for murder in Japan, the 17 years that have passed may be very significant if they are counted towards the 25 year limit.

"I'll never forgive the real culprit, even if the statute of limitations expires," Toshikazu Sugaya, 62, told reporters in Chiba after his release. "From now on, I will work to support people who have also been (wrongfully) convicted."

...Manabu Sasamori, a lawyer in Sugaya's defense team, slammed the prosecutors, saying: "It is only natural that he be released. Actually, this step came too late."...The prosecutors will probably admit they forced a confession out of Sugaya once his retrial begins, Sasamori added. [His conviction is expected to be overturned in retrial] Japan Times

Perhaps this sort of thing might be prevented or at least reduced if recording of police/suspect interviews was required. But no, according to confessed terrorist contact Kunio Hatoyama*'s "Justice" Ministry successor, considering that "would be difficult."**

Serving 17 years in prison for nothing is probably just a bit difficult too, but since politicians and bureaucrats very, very rarely ever serve that kind of time none of them are gonna worry too much. And besides, we've often heard those guys who run the system with kobans---I refuse to call them professional law enforcement officers---say that to record those interviews would damage the "trust" that suspects and Japan's finest develop. I wonder what Mr. Sugaya would say about that trust? Imagine just how stupid they must think the public is to even make that kind of statement. (Or perhaps how apathetic/passive the public is?)

Speaking of the boys in blue, in Okayama a 29-year old officer in charge of theft investigations was apprehended by two high school boys after he snatched a purse from an old lady. No word on whether or not he has apologized yet.**

Were I a religious person, I'd be praying for a DPJ victory. However, there is a horribly frightening rumor going around that the friend of a friend of terrorists, Kunio Hatoyama, may be considering going to the DPJ!

* This fellow is still a government minister. Why?

**Both shown on the 6PM news.

A man breaks into a young woman's home

with the intent of satisfying his "abnormal sex desire" by raping her. However, he does not rape her, but abducts her to his apartment, then murders her by stabbing her in the neck, then cuts up her body and flushes parts of her down the toilet.

Later, after he is arrested, he expresses (sincere?) remorse for doing all that.

The murder itself did not meet the Supreme Court standards for a death sentence. Besides, he (only?) premeditated rape but did not actually commit it, and although the unpremeditated murder and dismemberment was "selfish and self-centered," he said that he was sorry.

Because of that expression of remorse there is hope for rehabilitation, said the judge.

There is no hope for the young lady. Story at the Asahi Shimbun/IHT.

On Prisons, Can the US learn from Japan?

Somewhere along the meandering career path that led James Webb to the U.S. Senate, he found himself in the frigid interior of a Japanese prison. A journalist at the time, he was working on an article...

...Webb said the United States could learn from the Japanese prison system. In his book, A Time to Fight, he wrote that the Japanese focused less on retribution. Sentences were short, and inmates often left prison with marketable job skills. Webb said the system was modeled on philosophies pioneered by Americans, who he says have since lost their way. From the Houston Chronical.

OK. If Sen. Webb says so.

Not our fault. The devil made us do it.

I missed this somehow, but it is still a shock.

It should not be, as I remember that it took the police an extraordinarily long time decide whether to make an arrest. I recall that they even had a tough time determining that the teenage victim of the beating had suffered anything other than the normal bruises and injuries of ordinary sumo practice. In fact, his death was initially ruled as due to heart failure.

The three sumo wrestlers who beat the boy to death were given "suspended sentences" and they weren't even company executives.. They were, in effect, let off.

Early last year when the police finally made the arrests---after the family questioned how the bruised battered body of their son did not raise any suspicions of foul play---the father was quoted as saying:

"I do understand that the master's orders are absolute, so maybe they couldn't help it, but if they had reconsidered, this would not have happened."

The judge in this case only half agreed.

Despite the fears of the old boys running sumo, it is not the foreign wrestlers who are ruining the sport.

Woman, 79, slashes two at Shibuya

Female pair wounded; suspect says she fled shelter, is broke, wants police to care for her.

A 79-year-old woman slashed two women with a fruit knife..."I thought police would take care of me if I caused an incident." JTOnline

Well, gotta add fruit knives to the list of knives to ban. Could it be possible that there are other problems that the government of old, never-had-a-new-idea-and-never-will geezers should look in to? Could it be possible that neither making new rules for the type of knives that can be legally sold, nor attempting to return the the "Beautiful Country" imaginary past will solve them? Could it be possible that there will be no perfect solution? Could there be problems with social welfare that should be looked into? Would the country not be better served by the LDP/DJP actually doing something? Will Fukuda et al take action? BAHAHAHAHA! Is this really an increasingly common problem, or does it just seem so because of the juiciness of the stories for the media?

2025: I love blogger. I can change the font size in "compose" mode with the target highlighted and nothing happens. Then I can check in "edit html" and supposedly font size is "normal", but yet when published it is extra large. Blogger does not have not 12/14 point sizes. That's why it's free(?)

Good God Man, where is Inspector Clouseau?

Only about 30 percent of nearly 2,400 stores across Japan selling knives considered highly lethal, including daggers, check the buyer's name, age and other information, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

If we can get the other 70% to do too, it will have a big impact on stabbings and slashings in Japan. Let's say that you are a nut and that you want to die so you decide to kill others so that you will get the death penalty. Wouldn't having to show your ID when you purchase your dagger stop you? Of course it would! Especially if the plan to make certain size and style of daggers illegal becomes law. (Oh. What if you decide to use a regular, freely available at your local grocer kitchen knife as most murders have been doing? Let's not think about that as it would cause confusion.)

The survey [of the shops] included daggers, survival knives, Gurkha knives and other types of blades considered likely to be used as weapons. Everyday tools such as kitchen knives and box cutters, in addition to hatchets, axes and other industrial tools, were not included. Japan Times.

24 August: And they still have not taken any action to restrict the availability of rental trucks. The Akihabara murderer used one to kill several in his rampage through the area.

Nuts with knives

Just last week, in a move meant more to give an impression of being able to actually do something about murder, the government came up with the clever idea of banning daggers of a certain size. This was because the mass murderer at Akihabara used daggers (and a rental truck) to kill his victims.

This was not a serious effort to do anything as it is very easy to predict that if a murderer is going to commit murder, that thing could substitute a kitchen knife for a dagger. That apparently is what happened yesterday in Hachioji as another sleazer (Oh, am I being insensitive to the creature? After all he had job problems and his parents may have been less perfect in his mind than he had hoped.) killed one woman and injured another with a newly purchased knife with a 15cm blade.

Well, if you can't do anything, it is at least good to put on a show of doing something. Could the problems of these types of people be deeper and more complex---and ultimately unsolvable---than the type of knife (or truck) they use?

Hatoyama concerned about insults to the executed

Justice Minister Hatoyama was upset over an article in which he was called the "grim reaper" due to the record number of executions that he has authorized. He was not especially upset over any insults to himself, but was concerned that those whose executions he finalized were insulted by the article.

In defense of Hatoyama, he probably isn't as heartless as it may appear. He is accurate when he says that he is carrying out the law and the will of society in allowing these executions. There is certainly no big public backlash against them, and in fact, there seems to be little debate about whether or not executions are effective in reducing crime or are morally acceptable. He earlier expressed a desire to make the process more automated so that the Justice Minister would not have to be so involved in the final approval. It obviously is not easy for him.

More here.