Wa

Was going to write something about this, but Thomas Dillon at the Japan Times beat me to it. He's a bit too kind in his assessment.

You don't really walk with your feet here. You walk with your ears. For sharp hearing will alert the careful pedestrian as to what lies around the bend...

...Pedestrians do not squeal. Most of them anyway. So ears are of no help. To avoid being bumped or cut off you have to rely on your eyes.

But much of the pedestrian horde appears to be blind. Or only focused on their own destinations. Many march on impervious to the fact that between them and their goals walk other people.

We refer to this behavior as "group harmony" or "good manners" or something like that. And, Good Lord, we haven't even considered the negligent homicide-inclined mama-chari-ist cum (recently) road cyclist.

A Sunday stroll through the neighborhood

On Sundays the wife goes off to play tennis and with her friend, The Firefighter's Wife, and probably afterward to badmouth both The Firefighter and me at some izakaya. This leaves me plenty of time to do other things. One which I enjoy is picking some nearby area in Tokyo/Yokohama and walking around aimlessly. Reminds me of one of my jobs.

Today I decided to avoid anything to do with train/subway travel and stayed close to home. Although I have lived in the area for about 3 years now, I still haven't seen it all.

I had barely walked 10 minutes when I met a very kind man in "downtown" Denenchofu. I knew that he was a kind man because he stopped for me as I waited at a crosswalk. At first I didn't trust him, having had much experience in crossing streets in the area, and thought he was tricking me and would suddenly accelerate and run me down as soon as I stepped off of the curb. However, since he was not driving a city bus, or a silver Mercedes, or a dark blue BMW coupe with Shinagawa tags, I decided to risk my life. Amazingly, he waited patiently while I crossed and did not enter the crosswalk until I was out of it. Hmmm. Must not have been from around here.

As I walked toward the Tama River via a route that I had not traveled before, I began to sense from the near monopoly of JCP campaign posters that I was in a heavily Communist-occupied area.

One might assume that such an area would force even more folk to obey the rules---this being Japan and all too---and I found this to be true. Folks here obey the rules as much as or more than everywhere else in Tokyo/Kanagawa.

I waddled in true Tokyo style on down to the river and observed a lovely Sunday afternoon scene that one could see only in Japan. Folks were relaxing and having fun while being concerned with others and naturally observing all the rules and laws as this sort of thing is in Japanese DNA.

I wouldn't know since Japanese is too Japanese to be understood by non-Japanese, but I think that sign reads: Please barbecue here. It could not say that barbecuing is prohibited.

I continued my walk, enjoying the unique and well maintained nature of the river side and soon passed under Maruko Bridge. I suddenly came upon a large number of parked cars in the area near the bridge where I noticed some men changing clothes. Had I not been in Japan I would have sworn a few of these fellows were about to do a Kusanagi except for small, somewhat strategically placed towels. Now I once heard from a Japanese gal who had never been to the US, but had visited Canada, that people could walk down the street nearly naked in the States, but I could not believe that the traditionally conservative and modest Japanese would be sitting around naked in an open, crowded, public area. I was tempted to hang around in the interest of research to see if any women would join the display, but had to move on. Unfortunately, I didn't have the courage to snap a few nudie pix, but since this sort of thing doesn't happen here, I could not have taken them anyway.

Resuming my stroll I went down a newly opened walkway, dodging mamachari and their morons. Fortunately, there are rules about riding these high-tech machines where I was walking.

The signs apparently say: Please feel free to ride your clunker like some sort of drunken idiot along this path and see how many people you can run down.


Then I began to head home. I took my time as I walked through Tamagawadai Park, pausing often to listen to the cicadas. Of course I was unable to do so, because as the great intellektual, Masahiko Fujiwacko, informed us, only Japanese enjoy insect sounds or some horsepooky like that. Frustrated at my racial/ethnic/national origin inferiority, I gave up and left.

Not long afterward, I reached Denenchofu eki. (That's a real Japanese word. No need for it here, but I threw it in just to show that I am a member of an in-group. Watch this: 駅. Oooohhhh, kanji!) Denenchofu has been referred to as the Beverly Hills of Tokyo, apparently by folks who have never been to Beverly Hills. Most folks here are successful in some way, or else descendants of people who owned land in the area years ago. People do not become successful in Japan unless they obey the rules. Which rules, I don't know, but I guess they do.
I had mixed emotions as I returned to my mansion. Why can't the rest of the world be as polite, law-abiding, and rule-obeying as we are in Japan? You'd have to try really hard to find anyone other than a non-Japanese breaking rules or laws here. It's all part of the unique uniqueness of the country. I aspire to be able to do as the folks I saw today, but I haven't the guts, for I don't think the koban-sitters would understand.

WTF does blogger preview have no resemblance to the actual post? Why do I have to play around in HTML? OK, back to the old editor. It wasn't perfect, but it's better than the new and improved version.

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.

Government to restrict large knives?

In response to yesterday's attacks:

At a news conference on Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said the government was considering tightening restrictions on large-bladed knifes in response to the attack.

"We need to think of the possibility of discussing tightening the control of guns and knives," he said. (BBC)

I think so too, since it is simple and easy and makes it look like something is being done about something for which nobody has answers or solutions. Wonder if it will include the large kitchen knives which are often used in knife assaults? Since nearly every household in Japan has them, it may be tough. Perhaps it will only apply to non-kitchen utensils.**

It should work though, just like it has in Britain even though the causes may differ:

...This explosion in knife crime is the most astounding symptom of Britain’s broken society. The government has been slow to recognise and even slower to act to deal with this plague on the streets of our towns and cities,” said Davis.

Richard Garside, director of the CCJS, said ministers had taken the wrong approach to tackling the problem. “The government has embarked on endless law and order initiatives, yet knife-related robberies appear to be increasing, if the latest figures are to be believed,” he said.

“This challenges the notion that there is a policing or punishment solution to this problem. Success in tackling knife-related violence will require a concerted strategy to deal with the causes of violence...

...Critics have accused the government of lacking a coherent strategy to tackle the problem and of resorting to knee-jerk legislative responses...(That can't be said about the Japanese government!) Times Online.

**This still does not address the fact that a rental truck was used to injure/kill some of the victims. Are there going to be additional controls on rental vehicles to prevent vehicular assault/homicide?

Note added: There are already restrictions on the ownership of certain knives over 15cm in length.

Japan's John Gotti

After about the unluckiest day of the last 12 years or so---my 3-day old Canon G90 electronic dictionary blew up; I was stranded 30 minutes from home with no money because UFJ bank & ATMs were closed yet again; and my Canon printer suddenly stopped working---it was refreshing to read an article on the y*k*za. Like the mafia, there is romanticizing about them by some. Others fear them very much.

About 20 years ago, there was a book published by 2 American journalists which was appropriately titled The Y*k*za: Japan's Criminal Underworld. I read the original and the updated version too, but always wondered just how accurate it was. The journalists were based in the US and had access to US law enforcement officials as well as some in Japan, but I wondered how much they could really do working from what appeared to be even more outside than the norm for non-Japanese reporters.

A former reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, that sometimes surprising right-wing newspaper---it actually published a decent book on Japan's WW2 responsibilities---has written an article about the y*k*za in the Washington Post. He was the first non-Japanese to work for the Yomiuri.

Most Americans think of Japan as a law-abiding and peaceful place, as well as our staunch ally, but reporting on the underworld gave me a different perspective...

...In Tokyo alone, the police have identified more than 800 yakuza front companies: investment and auditing firms, construction companies and pastry shops. The mobsters even set up their own bank in California, according to underworld sources...

...In the good old days, the yakuza made most of their money from sleaze: prostitution, drugs, protection money and child pornography. Kiddie porn is still part of their base income -- and another area where Japan isn't acting like America's friend...

[On the relatively recent law banning producing and selling child porn, but not possessing it] The ban is so weak that investigating yakuza who peddle child pornography is practically impossible. "The United States has referred hundreds of . . . cases to Japanese law enforcement authorities," a U.S. embassy spokesman recently told me. "Without exception, U.S. officials have been told that the Japanese police cannot open an investigation because possession is legal."

...talk in Japan of criminalizing simple possession, but some political parties (and publishers, who are raking in millions) oppose the idea...

[US law enforcement officials] can't even keep the yakuza themselves out of the country. Why? Because the national police refuse to share intelligence...

I knew that child porn had been made "illegal" several years ago, but I did not realize that Japan did not ban the possession of child porn. I did know that the Japanese police have always been very, very reluctant to share its information with foreign police.

The reporter then goes on to describe what he calls the biggest story of his life: The deal that the FBI made for the "John Gotti of Japan" to be flown to the USA for a liver transplant.

He had to drop that story and resign from the Yomiuri Shimbun due to pressure from some very kind folks with an unusually small number of fingers. The Japanese police themselves were, of course, very helpful.

The author ends the article with a confession of bias:

Of course, I'm a little biased. I don't think it's selfish of me to value the safety of my family more than the personal privacy of crooks. And as a crime reporter, I'm baffled that the Japanese don't share intelligence on the yakuza with the United States.

And I am baffled that the US, and other governments, tolerate that.

Is it safe in Japan to even refer to this article? Well, its only being done here in order for someone in the know to "debunk" it so as to to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. After all, this is not the Japan of temples & shrines, geisha girls, tea ceremonies, sake, and onsen that we all know.

Full article at the Washington Post here.

Why do the Japanese Police go after non-Japanese?

'Cause if they mess with Japanese school girls, they will get a can of whup ass opened on them:

A pair of patrolmen were attacked that day — by three teenage girls. It started when one of the officers admonished two of the girls for riding double on a bicycle.

But the females were in no mood for complying. One shoved the cop, prodding him in the chest, screaming, "There's nothing you can do about it!" Then her friend kicked him in the leg. As the other cop collared the girls, a third girl arrived at the scene and spat in his face.

A few months ago a young teenage boy and girl were riding double on their bicycle in front of the police box near my apartment. A law enforcement professional who had been inside sitting on his already chair-shaped buttocks sprang into action! Leaping out of his box he yelled, "Don't ride double!"

The young couple replied "OK" and slowed for a few yards, then returned to normal speed and completely ignoring Dirty Harry continued to wobble down the street riding double. Tokyo's Finest slunk back into his box without a whimper.

I thought this was the usual dereliction of duty until I read this article. Now I understand that he feared for his safety and perhaps had a sudden attack of Abe-itis---bowel trouble.

(Need I say it? Nobody was speaking English---it's my translation into what likely be said in English in this situation. It is not a literal translation.)

10:49pm: I had to correct the title as I forgot to write "police" in it.

Can't be true, everyone in Japan is too polite for this

Secret film will show slaughter to the world
Covert operation finally exposes Taiji's annual dolphin horror
By Boyd Harnell
From the Japan Times

For the first time ever, graphic feature-length footage of the annual slaughter of some 2,500 dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, has been captured during a unique yearlong covert operation.

...local police warned the whalers and their supporters off any repeat of violence or threats of violence such as had happened before. In fact, Nigel Barker, a former Australian resident in Taiji, says he was threatened with bodily harm for providing The Japan Times with details of the whalers' brutal methods. In another incident, [photographer] Psihoyos said he, too, was threatened by whalers, who said, "We will kill you."

This can't possibly be true in Japan. Now were it a non-Japanese threatening to kill someone, I could believe it. As far as the supposed depiction of the slaughter of dolphins goes, how could that be true with the uniquely unique relationship with nature? And if this is true, why haven't we seen stories and film of the dolphin kill on Japanese TV? (At least I haven't seen it.)

3 April: It is not that killing an animal for food is wrong. I heard one guy criticize the Japanese because many think the dolphin or whale is just another animal. Aren't they? I think the question is whether or not the species is threatened or endangered; whether or not they are killed as humanely as possible and whether or not the meat is actually used for food. (It is, although heavily contaminated with mercury.) Arguing cuteness or intelligence is going to be a tougher sell.

You don't wanna be arrested in Japan

as the chance of time in the slammer is very, very high. Arrested=guilty in most cases. Unless, perhaps, you are a rapist:

Crimes by women and crimes against women in Japan receive uneven coverage in the press. Female suspects, particularly those charged with serious offenses, are so thoroughly skewered in the media that defense attorneys often complain that a fair trial is near impossible. Crimes against women receive little attention unless, for example, the woman is a well known figure, Caucasian, or the perpetrator is a U.S. serviceman charged with a sexual crime.

Nobody knows this better than Masako Hirano. Her world changed abruptly in the wee hours of June 13, 1995...

and in another sexual assault:

...Since the perpetrator had shown "remorse," the incident was recorded as "a minor molestation." The assailant was released and no indictment was filed. ..Japan Times article by Michael H. Fox here.

I am sure that someone can explain this sort of thing away by saying similar things happen in every country. Even if so, it does not excuse the Japanese criminal justice system.

It was a nice day until

I went to debito.org. There I found an entry on a story that I had read in the Japan Times last week.

It seems that a wealthy U.S. citizen lost his life to homicide in a bar in Tokyo. His killer is reportedly expected to get a light sentence because after a thorough, professional investigation by the Tokyo police, it was discovered that the foreigner was being troublesome.

Now I don't know the true details of the homicide, so I can't really say whether or not the killer deserves a harsh or lenient sentence. Friends of the deceased---both American and Japanese---seemed to be shocked by the whole thing.

But the thing I do wonder about is: Why has this not been all over the TV and in newspapers since it happened? Why was there not endless, sensational, emotional coverage? A cynic might claim that there are double standards here. Perhaps even pure hypocrisy. Perhaps open discrimination. Or it could be because so many non-Japanese are killed by Japanese that it isn't news while a Japanese citizen being killed by a non-Japanese is rare and therefore is news.

Me, I don't know. I am confused. I know non-Japanese are generally the ones at fault in any confrontation. Just watch TV programs or even ads. Or ask someone here. But still....

Oh, the debito.org article is here with the Japan Times reports as well as the victim's (Scott Tucker) hometown newspaper report. Ask around. See how many people are aware of this and then ask why they think that coverage has been so sparse compared to what one could expect had a wealthy Japanese been killed by a non-Japanese. Or by a member of the U.S. military.

Thinking of getting drunk in Roppongi? Justice in Unique Japan

Hatoyama: As the Japanese place so much importance on the value of life, it is thought that one should pay with one's own life for taking the life of another, whereas Europe is a civilization of "chikara to tousou" ("force and strife"). So, conversely, things are moving against the death penalty. This is an important point to understand. The so-called civilizations of "chikara to tousou" are the opposite of us. From incipient stages, their conception of the value of life is weaker than the Japanese. Therefore, they are moving toward abolition of the death penalty. It is important that this discourse on civilizations be understood.

...the philosophy here espoused by Hatoyama and other senior Liberal Democratic Party conservatives, including former Education Minister Ibuki Bunmei (now LDP secretary general), is heavily influenced by the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, and affiliated scholars like environmental archaeologist Yasuda Yoshinori and comparative economic historian Kawakatsu Heita. “Yasuda is the most prolific proponent of the environmental determinist school of thought, according to which Japan is a "civilization of beauty and compassion," in contrast with Judeo-Christian and Islamic states, and even China,” writes Wetherall. “His books are standard reading for romantic nationalists.”

Well, then folks in Texas must place more importance on life than most others on earth if you consider the number of executions. So must China. An old quote from someone whom many non-Japanese consider an idiot, but I suspect is not an especially uncommon belief in Japan.

Those UN [from the UN Committee on Torture] comments echo earlier reports by the Japan Bar Association, Human Rights Watch, the International Bar Association and other UN panels that say Japan’s treatment of criminal suspects is unfair and leads to coerced confessions. In about 99% of criminal trials, defendants are found guilty, and in the bulk of cases, the defendant has confessed to charges. Lawyers are not allowed to be present during interrogations, either before or after indictment. Suspects often allege psychological and sometimes physical abuse.

You don't want to be arrested in Japan. You want no trouble with the police. There ain't no innocent until proven guilty. You are screwed as soon as you are arrested. So is your lawyer it seems:

....lawyers – the last line of defense in this potholed legal landscape – are not immune from harassment. Tokyo lawyer Yasuda Yoshihiro was arrested in 1998 and held for 300 days...

but the judges will make sure justice is upheld:

...Takano Takashi, a lawyer and professor at Waseda University’s school of law. “I’ve seen many judges sleep during trial.”.... after 25 years practicing law, just five of his clients have been completely exonerated. “Some lawyers go their whole lives without winning a case,” he explains.

If you get arrested, guilty or not, just bend over and kiss your own ass goodbye. Now you know one reason Japanese crime is relatively low. You also know why people are so reluctant to involve the police or other authorities in matters, even relatively serious ones. Now do you really want to take any chances here?

All quotes from Certain Justice. Japan’s Detention System and the Rights of the Accused by David McNeill. Japan Focus.

Thank goodness that we have strengthened gun laws

An 18-year-old was arrested Thursday after his mother and two siblings were found dead following a fire in their apartment....Stab wounds were found on the 43-year-old woman, her 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, they said.

The oldest son, who had several knives, was initially arrested on suspicion of violating the Firearm and Sword Control Law but faces murder charges, police said

Story here.

It is amazing what reactions and emotional over-reaction the extremely rare murder by a firearm causes, but the common murder by knife causes barely a blip in the news and nothing from the political class. Do you think Fukuda will comment on this? Let's see.

Shinagawa Slasher

Another violent attack. Fortunately, nobody was killed. Fortunately, the criminal suspect did not use a firearm, but a knife. That's why this was not huge news. A mere stabbing which is unusual only because it was in public. Much more Japanese and much less foreign than using a firearm I suppose.

A 16-year-old high school boy armed with two kitchen knives slashed several people on a crowded shopping street in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Saturday afternoon, injuring two and terrorizing dozens of new year shoppers near Togoshi Ginza Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line, police said...

Perhaps we can claim that his motives were foreign as no Japanese would think like this:

"I wanted to kill everybody. I did not care who they were," police quoted the youth as saying after his arrest.

Full story here.

Stop China!

As in many countries, the media have focused on recent safety issues with some Chinese-made products and food. Some have gone into hypocritical hysterics over it. It's about normal for the media I guess since it is primarily interested in scandal and entertainment (unless the scandal is from within the media.)

A week or so ago I noticed a new magazine in the cooking magazine area of the book store near Denenchofu station. The title is Prohibit China (中国禁止）. On the cover it warns "don't eat", "don't buy," and "dangerous China." Inside it covers about every kind of real or imagined danger in China. Filthy, dangerous food, dangerous products, fake brand name products, bird flu, AIDS, etc.

It is published by Oak Mook (#169) which appears to publish a lot of similar stuff and looks to be part of the revisionist right wing nutjob fringe. (There is no evidence that the suddenly-resigned PM Abe is on the staff. ) More of their mags here.

Meanwhile, the repeated food safety scandals in Japan have faded from view. Nobody seems concerned about how the government addresses the Meat Hope scandal. (Meat Hope is yet another Japanese company caught using old food and relabeling it as new, labeling pork as beef, and much more. More recently, a famous candy maker in Hokkaido was caught using out-of-date ingredients.)

This happens enough that I am very concerned about buying frozen foods or foods such as milk which seem to be close to the printed use by date. Whereas the press and most consumers seem to have forgotten about Japan's own food safety issues to go nuts over China's, I cannot. I can avoid imported Chinese food (provided that I can trust the Japanese importer to properly label it---which may or may not happen), but I cannot avoid Japanese food. What do the nutjobs do, I wonder?

Food Safety

Recently the news (both here and in the USA) has been filled with problems with Chinese food. The Japanese media has especially loved this, taking us into China and showing just how poor Chinese food hygiene can be among the poor in China (while showing the program panelists making faces of disgust). Some Japanese whom I have talked to---actually many---are quick to point out yet another problem with China. One went through a long explanation of why this sort of thing is a result of Chinese selfishness. They don't want to follow the rules for the rest of the world, you see. They only think of themselves. He is a very nice, pleasant guy who is fun to be around. It's just that he, led by Japan's media and gov't elites, distrust and dislike China. In some societies, one could view some of the comments and stereotypical beliefs as bigotry at the best. But, Japan is different. We are all pure here.

The strange thing is that while this has been going on there has been yet another serious food safety scandal in Japan. These seem to crop up at least once per year---old food relabeled as fresh etc. Meat Hope is interesting as it was a Hokkaido-based Japanese meat processor which, after first denying any wrongdoing, admitted to: relabeling out-of-date products; labeling beef as pork; labeling imported chicken as Japan-raised (a very big sin here); mixing guts into ground meat and forgetting to label it; mixing barbecued pork into ground pork; using meat "unfit for human consumption." and much more. At least 18 serious violations. The last is especially appetizing. Supposedly, they took spoiled meat, sterilized it, and added fresh blood to it to make it appear red and used it in its products. Most of Meat Hopes products were sold to convenience stores and restaurants. What's more, the government knew about this long ago after whistle-blowers from the company informed it and even provided sample and evidence. Nothing was done until it became public. Article HERE.

Mmmm. Sounds great. I am becoming as concerned with Japanese processed food as with Chinese. I know the the use-by dates are quite shaky. If you are looking for skim milk, for example, at Tokyu, and it is within 3-4 days of its use-by date I'd be suspicious. That milk is first sold with around a 10 day use-by date. It is sold at the expensive Precce branches of Tokyu, (Denenchofu, for example) and it all seems to disappear and be replaced by fresh milk within 2-3 days. I remember at Kajigaya Tokyu though, all the skim milk would arrive with only 3-4 days left. Still safe to drink, not illegal or even particularly deceptive. It's just not fresh.

Quick Japan news update

Japan "buys whaling support" It can buy US elected representatives, so Laos is a piece of cake.

Mental illness growing in Japan. Would it be unfair to say that this explains Masahiko Fujiwara and his popular book refuting logic?

Couple in Japan arresting on baby dumping. Abe's beautiful country falling a little short? Thank god he and his ilk are fighting that by denying WW2 actions. However, this will give the nutjobs more ammo to return to a more authoritarian government.

Gunman allegedly kills policeman in Japan One of the officers has died. This will not cause much of a long term crack down on the yakuza and its rightist allies.

Cop sent up for post office robberies. Other countries have crooked cops too, so it's ok.

Father's retrial may never come: Nepalese family standing a lonely vigil. Guilty or not, it seems that Japanese courts will accept circumstantial evidence to convict a suspect. Just not in the Lucie Blackman murder. I am sure there is a logical explanation---or maybe not. After all, Masahiko Fujiwara the mathematician, more or less claims logic doesn't really fit Japan.

Today's news in Abe's Beautiful Country

Boy hacked off mother's arm as well as head.
Decapitated mother's arm put in a flower pot

2 Osaka restaurant workers arrested for raping customer

Boy, 3, left in "baby box" for newborns

As I write this, there is an incident on TV, apparently a shooting of some type.

18 May. The incident was just another shooting by a "ex" yakuza/rightwing type. Shot 2 of his kids and 2 police officers. I can see why Abe wants more gun control in a country in which handguns are already banned. Except those who want them can get them illegally. The yakuza has no problems and since they have a glut, I am sure their rightwing buddies can get them too. Make guns more illegal, it's better than actaully doing something. Story HERE.

Deriliction of duty

would be what the type of police work done in the Obara case. (Obara was acquitted of the murder of Lucie Blackburn last month.) Another victim's---Carita Ridgeway---mother, Samantha, talked about police "professionalism" in the investigation of another murder by Obara. There seems to be a pattern of incompetence in law enforcement here. If they can't force a confession, they have a hard time getting coping with suspects.

From a Japan Times Online article byBy Eric Prideeaux and Jun Hongo:

...despite repeated pleas for an inquiry into Nishida, the family said police ignored, and even harassed, them, meanwhile apparently never seeing fit to arrange an autopsy following 21-year-old Carita's death. Local and municipal police, prosecutors and hospital officials refused to speak to The Japan Times about the case, citing privacy concerns.

...two detectives instead began accusing Samantha's boyfriend of dealing drugs and Carita of overdosing on drugs he provided.

Find article HERE

With handguns banned, Japan increases gun control

Huh? How, you may ask, can you make gun laws stricter when handguns are already banned and rifles and shotguns and ammunition licensed. If you do, what good will come of it since the recent spate of shootings and assassinations have involved the yakuza as usual? These guys always get guns. They don't buy them legally. Last year I recall reading about the police confiscating a machine gun---a real machine gun, not a semi-auto---and I believe an anti-tank gun from one of the local thug groups.

Well, anyway, if we pass stricter gun laws, it will look like we have done something to address the yakuza problem without really doing much. Supposedly, the police will also increase surveillance of these crooks. We'll see. Shouldn't be hard as they operate a lot right out in the open. Go to Oimachi a few blocks from the station and you can see them quite often having their meetings. Sometimes, there will be a couple of cops parked nearby in some tiny little girly-car watching guys driving Mercedes and Hummers. Impressive show of police power.

And we surely could not do anything about their right-wing nutjob sound-truck-driving thugs. Why, the LDP would have to take action against some of its strongest supporters.

Story at http://www.theglobeandmail.com

Suspect acquitted in Lucy Blackman murder

No details yet, but the Japan Times Online has a bulletin which should be updated eventually as they get details. Lucy was a young British woman murdered in Japan about 6 years ago.

A related story at the JTO site by Jun Hongo and Eric Prideaux describes some of the problems/mistakes/incompetent screwups the Japanese "police" had during the investigation.

Asked by telephone about the report [a 2001 article in Time magazine which claimed that the police were reluctant to investigate a crime against a hostess because she was a hostess], a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesman refused to comment, because, he said, "Those events occurred in the past." (Japan Times Online.)

In the more recent murder of a young British woman (Lindsay Ann Hawker), the suspect is still at large after escaping barefoot from the police while being questioned and as his apartment either was being or was about to be searched.

In another related story from ABC News Online (Australia) the family of an Australian woman who died from drugs given to her by the suspect in the Blackman case (Obara) has urged a probe into Japanese police actions during the early part of the investigation:

"We'd like to know why when we went to the police, that our concerns and suspicions were ignored and laughed at," Ms Foster said... http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1905918.htm

Nagasaki mayor assassinated

The mayor of Nagasaki was assassinated by a yakuza thug last night. It is suspected that the thug killed him because of some sort of problem he had with the city/mayor and an auto accident he was involved in when he drove his car went into a ditch at city construction site. (One report says he had hit a pothole.) The mayor, Itcho (? not my spelling of the name, but from an article) Ito, is survived by his wife and two daughters.

As I recall, another Nagasaki (or near there) mayor was shot by a rightist, but survived, in the late 80s (1990 according to one article) because he hinted that the late emperor Hirohito bore some responsibility for WW2. Reports here, and here and everywhere.

Handguns are banned for normal people in Japan, but rifles and shotguns are permitted in rural areas. The yakuza has firearms of all types and has few problems acquiring or using them.