News On Japan

Osaka association offering gangster reasearch services busted for fraud

Tokyo Reporter — 2012-05-17 03:34:07

To be filed under "Who can you trust nowadays?" Shukan Jitsuwa (May 24) reports on the bust of an organization offering consulting services regarding organized crime. For its November 3 issue, the weekly tabloid profiled the Osaka-based Nationwide Organized Crime Relationship Certification Association, which performed background checks on firms or entities to expose any possible ties to crime syndicates. It seems, however, that the association was up to a fair bit of criminal activity itself. (Tokyo Reporter)

Man gets 17 years for child porn

Japan Times — 2012-05-16 22:02:37

The U.S. Federal District Court in Riverside, California, has sentenced a Japanese man to 17 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for conspiracy to advertise child pornography on the Internet, the Justice Department said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Imperial couple set out for British queen's fete

Yomiuri — 2012-05-16 21:55:42

The Emperor and Empress departed for an official visit to Britain on Wednesday morning to attend events celebrating the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne. (Yomiuri)

Japanese lesbian can't wait for Disneyland 'wedding'

Reuters — 2012-05-16 21:43:58

Like many Japanese women, Koyuki Higashi adores Tokyo Disneyland. So it was only natural that she would want to hold her wedding there, as many other couples have done. (Reuters)

3-yr-old boy, left home alone, falls to death from 11th-floor balcony

Japan Today — 2012-05-16 06:49:57

A three-year-old boy fell to his death from the balcony of his 11th-floor apartment in Adachi Ward on Tuesday after his parents left him home alone. (Japan Today)

Fukuyama tragedy spurs fire safety hints for hot-sheet hotels

Tokyo Reporter — 2012-05-16 03:10:15

Last week, the Hotel Prince in Fukuyama City caught fire. Of 12 customers on the premises, seven died due to carbon monoxide inhalation. The hotel, a combination of wood and steel-reinforced concrete, was constructed back in the 1960s. But Nikkan Gendai (May 16) warns readers that a similar fate might await anyone who frequents a love hotel that fails to meet basic safety standards. (Tokyo Reporter)

Self Defense Force members suspended for ironing subordinate's rear end

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-15 21:12:30

Five members of the Japan Self Defense Force were disciplined for assaulting a subordinate by setting an iron to his rear end. (NewsOnJapan.com)

Woman in consultation with Sapporo police over stalking abducted and molested

Mainichi — 2012-05-15 21:00:11

A woman who was in consultation with police over a stalking case was abducted and molested by an unknown suspect, it has been learned. (Mainichi)

Cherry blossoms in Fukushima

New York Times — 2012-05-15 20:35:58

The Hideyo Noguchi Memorial, a small brick building nestled by the limpid waters of Inawashiro Lake in central Fukushima prefecture, is dedicated to the extraordinary life and achievements of the region's most revered son. (New York Times)

Japan unlikely to land Watson despite arrest in Germany

Japan Times — 2012-05-15 20:33:37

The arrest of Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson in Frankfurt on Sunday is unlikely to lead to his arrest by Japan for a combination of reasons, one being that Tokyo does not have an extradition treaty with Berlin, according to Toru Chochi, a Japan Coast Guard official. (Japan Times)

Shops selling legal drugs have now spread to 29 prefectures

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-15 07:38:32

Places selling legal herbs which have similar halucinagenic properties to marijuana have increased to 29 prefectures in Japan as of March, which is a much wider spread of an area in comparison to last January. (NewsOnJapan.com)

6-yr-old girl dies after car plows into schoolchildren in Osaka

Japan Today — 2012-05-15 07:18:04

Police said Tuesday they have arrested the driver of a car that plowed into a group of elementary school children, killing one girl, as they crossed a road in Osaka on Monday.

(Japan Today)

Japan's first police cat rats out criminals

inventorspot.com — 2012-05-14 05:50:04

In Kyoto, Japan, the long arm of the law ends in a paw! Meet Iemon (Ee-eh-mon), Japan's first police cat, an abandoned stray who unofficially joined the force at the tender age of two weeks. He now spends much of his time atop the service counter at Yoro Station, adding a kinder, gentler, dare we say "human" touch to the local cop shop. (inventorspot.com)

Missing kindergarten teacher's body found

Yomiuri — 2012-05-13 21:13:04

The body of a kindergarten teacher has been discovered in a forest a week after she went missing in Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture. The body of Yoko Matsui, 40, was found Saturday morning with a stab wound in the chest, according to police. (Yomiuri)

Lady Gaga shows off Tokyo ring bling: Is she engaged?

celebrity-gossip.net — 2012-05-13 21:00:19

While backstage during her performance in Tokyo, Japan, Lady Gaga took some time to show off a new rock adorning her left ring finger. (celebrity-gossip.net)

Married women as abuse victims

Japan Times — 2012-05-13 10:54:37

A recent Cabinet Office survey has found that 32.9 percent of married women have experienced domestic abuse. This percentage has remained unchanged from the two previous surveys in 2005 and 2008, indicating that little help has been provided for the ongoing tragedy in one-third of Japanese households.

(Japan Times)

Fire at Hiroshima hotel kills seven, injures three

Japan Times — 2012-05-13 10:40:00

Seven people were killed and three others injured after a fire broke out Sunday morning at the Hotel Prince in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, police said. (Japan Times)

Whopper dildo gives gal good gyrations

Tokyo Reporter — 2012-05-12 01:32:18

"My boyfriend is a real straight arrow, and after he spent the night at my place, the next morning as I had not been satiated, after I saw him off at the door I went back to bed, got out a rotary adult toy and began titillating myself - while thinking of him of course. Just as I was about to reach orgasm, I heard a male voice, saying 'Hey, what are you doing?!' I turned to the doorway and there he was. He’d come back to my pad to retrieve something he'd left behind." Fee, fi, fo, fum and yummy yum, yum. Here cums a tantalizingly turgid tale from the March issue of the woman’s masturbatory magazine Renai Tengoku, as replayed in Shukan Bunshun. (Tokyo Reporter)

Lack of babies could mean the extinction of the Japanese people

Fox News — 2012-05-11 23:27:10

Japan has a problem, a lack of children, and it seems likely there will be even fewer in the future. Japanese researchers have now warned of a doomsday scenario if it carries on this way with the last child to be born there in 3011 and the Japanese people potentially disappearing a few generations later. (Fox News)

Man held in Chile in scholar slaying

Japan Times — 2012-05-11 23:11:39

A 25-year-old man has been arrested in Chile on suspicion of robbing and murdering a Japanese professor in Santiago, a senior police official said. (Japan Times)

AKB48 out, mamas in

Tokyo Reporter — 2012-05-11 01:33:00

Is AKB48 over? Probably not, but we're definitely in the midst of a "mature lady" boom, declares Shukan Bunshun (May 3-10). Known in Japanese as the jukujo, mature gals are finding solid footing as models, porn actresses, and club hostesses. "Comedians Udo Suzuki and Yuji Ayabe have already publicly declared their interest in older women," a photo book producer tells the tabloid. "The peak was three years ago and interest has been steady ever since." (Tokyo Reporter)

Massage roller strangles woman

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-10 23:41:52

A 60 year old woman has been strangled to death after her clothes got caught in a home massage machine. (NewsOnJapan.com)

12 Japanese, Filipinas held over marriages

Yomiuri — 2012-05-10 23:23:58

The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested 12 Japanese and Filipinas in Tokyo over fake marriages, the MPD said. The MPD on Tuesday arrested Isao Tanaka, the 45-year-old owner of a bar in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, and another man on suspicion of violating the Adult Entertainment Businesses Law. (Yomiuri)

Family to sue over suicide after Japan tsunami, nuke meltdown

MSNBC — 2012-05-10 22:58:21

The family of a 58-year-old Japanese woman who set herself on fire after the 2011 quake and tsunami will file a lawsuit against the operator of a nuclear plant that went into meltdown after the giant wave hit, local media reports say. (MSNBC)

Sendai construction boom uncovers corruption and AV star Minako Komukai

Tokyo Reporter — 2012-05-10 01:05:37

High-end hostess clubs jammed nightly, call-girl girls not meeting demand, and a top adult video star booked at a popular strip club - that's the Sendai nightlife scene amid the current reconstruction "bubble," reports evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai (May 6). A little more than one year after the devastation of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, Miyagi Prefecture's biggest nightlife quarter of Kokubuncho is booming as construction firms target, oftentimes through collusion, the government's second supplementary budget for the reconstruction of stricken areas. (Tokyo Reporter)

Emperor, Empress meet Peru leader

Japan Times — 2012-05-09 23:59:19

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko met with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his wife at the Imperial Palace Wednesday, the Imperial Household Agency said. (Japan Times)

Low incomes drive surge in number of never-marrieds

Japan Times — 2012-05-09 23:50:43

The percentage of men who have never been married by age 50 topped 20 percent for the first time on record in 2010, coinciding with another societal trend that finds more males are living on reduced incomes, according to a government survey. (Japan Times)

Japanese professor found dead in Chile

Yomiuri — 2012-05-09 23:40:15

A 58-year-old Japanese astronomy professor died after he was found with a head injury early Monday near his house in Santiago, according to local media reports. (Yomiuri)

Lonely end for popular Ginza guide

Yomiuri — 2012-05-09 23:40:15

The body of a man who had been a popular English-language volunteer guide in Tokyo's Ginza district for decades was found in his apartment in March, apparently after dying at least six months ago, a revelation that has stunned his acquaintances. (Yomiuri)

Jewel thieves net 30 million yen

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-09 07:36:35

About 200 pieces of jewelry worth over 30 million yen ($350,000) were stolen on Wednesday from a Jewelers store in Ishioka, Ibaraki. (NewsOnJapan.com)

100 kilo wild boar rips up town

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-09 07:25:54

A wild boar weighing about 100 kilos ran riot in Sasebo City, Nagasaki, on Tuesday night, ramming a moving car and knocking over bicycles. (NewsOnJapan.com)

Peruvian man arrested over fatal stabbing of Russian girlfriend

Mainichi — 2012-05-08 22:46:48

A Peruvian man has been arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing his Russian girlfriend, whose body was found at her apartment here last month, police said. (Mainichi)

'Suicide forest' helps skew Yamanashi's statistics

Japan Times — 2012-05-08 22:40:24

Suicides nationwide topped 30,000 last year for the 14th consecutive year, but by prefecture Yamanashi has had the worst rate for the past five years, according to statistics by the National Police Agency. Yamanashi had 36.1 suicides per 100,000 people in 2011, compared with 23.7 for Tokyo and 21.7 for Osaka, the agency figures show. (Japan Times)

Japanese diplomat in S.F. charged with wife abuse

sfgate.com — 2012-05-08 22:25:35

Japan's vice consul general in San Francisco has pleaded not guilty to 16 domestic violence charges after prosecutors say he stabbed his wife in the hand with a screwdriver and knocked her teeth out during their brief marriage. (sfgate.com)

2 buried alive on golf course, 1 dead

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-08 10:40:17

Two employees at a golf course in Ikeda, Osaka, were buried alive Monday while excavating. (NewsOnJapan.com)

Man arrested over Osaka hit-and-runs says he was high on legal 'herb'

Mainichi — 2012-05-08 10:34:41

A man arrested in connection with six hit-and-runs here, which left two women injured, has told police he does not remember striking people with his car as he was under the influence of a legal herb. (Mainichi)

Woman bites off purse snatcher's finger

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-08 07:42:09

A woman broke her tooth Monday while biting off the finger of a man who was trying to steal her purse in Sapporo city, police said. (NewsOnJapan.com)

Japanese royalty to visit England

UPI — 2012-05-08 07:34:01

Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will travel to Britain this month for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, the Japanese government said Tuesday. (UPI)

Low autopsy rate seen abetting murderers

Japan Times — 2012-05-07 22:47:46

Kanae Kijima, recently sentenced to hang for killing three boyfriends, may have been arrested before the second and third murders if police had conducted an autopsy on the first victim, Takao Terada, who was found dead in his Tokyo home in 2009. (Japan Times)

Tornados damage more than 2,000 buildings

Mainichi — 2012-05-07 22:40:11

Tornados that ripped through eastern Japan on Sunday, and left a teenage boy dead and dozens of others injured, had damaged at least 2,000 homes and other buildings in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba prefectures as of Monday, according to a Kyodo News tally. (Mainichi)

Cameras catch driver hitting 2 women

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-07 14:05:53

Security cameras caught a driver hitting two women at a shopping center in Osaka on Monday, before speeding away without stopping. (NewsOnJapan.com)

8-year-old girl run over, killed by bus; driver arrested

Japan Today — 2012-05-07 08:13:50

Police said Monday they have arrested a bus driver in Tokyo over the death of an eight-year-old girl who was fatally struck by his bus in Edogawa Ward. (Japan Today)

Sex shop worker 'falls' from Tokyo building

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-07 08:02:08

A sex shop employee was found dead early Monday morning in front of a multi-story building in Shinagawa ward, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. (NewsOnJapan.com)

Yakuza gangs and cops continue battle for Fukuoka

Tokyo Reporter — 2012-05-07 05:52:08

At around 7 a.m. on April 19, a gunman on a motorbike fires and strikes the left hip and thigh of a man in a business suit walking to work through a residential neighborhood in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. An office lady looks on in horror, and then quickly dials for help as the injured man leans up against a wall, his face exhibiting obvious pain. The victim is 61-year-old Yasuo Hiroishi, a former detective with the Fukuoka prefectural police. His injuries are expected to require one month for recovery. Friday (May 11-18) reports that the incident is just the latest in the ongoing battle between police and organized crime. (Tokyo Reporter)

Lady Gaga cup raises $75,000 for Japan quake relief

BusinessWeek — 2012-05-07 05:32:50

Singer Lady Gaga raised 6 million yen ($75,000) as part of a U.S.-sponsored effort to support Japan's recovery from last year's earthquake and tsunami by auctioning off a tea cup with her autograph and a lipstick kiss. (BusinessWeek)

Woman found dead in multiple hit-and-run

NewsOnJapan.com — 2012-05-06 14:39:26

A 70 year old woman's body was found Sunday on a street in Sagamihara city, Kanagawa prefecture, showing the remains of multiple tire tracks on it, police said. (NewsOnJapan.com)

Weeklies take a look at faiths, (misplaced) hopes and charities

Japan Times — 2012-05-06 03:46:01

Which religious groups were most successful in raising funds for earthquake victims in the devastated parts of Tohoku? In its Golden Week double issue, Flash (May 8-15) ran an article about the heretofore unreported nexus between last year's disaster and religion. (Japan Times)

Japan now spends more on bread than rice

ottawacitizen.com — 2012-05-06 03:38:33

For thousands of years, it has been a staple ingredient in Japan's daily diet and a symbol of the nation's connection to nature. But now rice has been eclipsed by the rise of bread with consumers spending more on the western import last year for the first time. (ottawacitizen.com)

Snowstorm in Japan's Alps kills eight climbers

AFP — 2012-05-06 02:36:36

Eight elderly mountaineers who went missing in Japan's Northern Alps following a snowstorm were confirmed dead on Saturday after some of them were evacuated by helicopter, police said. (AFP)

Gal's catching kid brother with pants down initiates invitation to incest

Tokyo Reporter — 2012-05-06 01:42:58

"My younger brother, who's three years younger than me, has become a close companion, and these days we talk with each other about everything. That's why I know he's a bit flaky. Sometimes I would hear him making strange noises from his bed that sounded like ragged breathing, and afterwards found porn mags under the bed. (Tokyo Reporter)