Man fires 9 shots from Machida apartment after shooting gangster to death in Kanagawa

A man armed with a handgun locked himself in an apartment in suburban Tokyo and fired nine shots out into the open around noon Friday apparently after shooting a gangster to death several kilometers away in Kanagawa Prefecture across the prefectural border, police said.

One of the shots hit a police patrol car which rushed to the apartment in the city of Machida, around 30 km southwest of central Tokyo. No one has been hurt so far and no hostages appear to have been taken, the police said.

The Metropolitan Police Department has deployed a contingent around the site while the Tokyo Fire Department has mobilized five ambulances to prepare for possible emergencies.

Investigators are positioned on both sides of the apartment building.

Education authorities have instructed primary and junior high schools near the scene not to allow students to leave until safety is ensured.

Residents around the apartment were evacuated on the instruction of the police.

Police said the armed man is the occupant of the apartment and has been identified as Yuji Takeshita, a member of a gang affiliated with the Kyokuto-kai underworld syndicate.

While a senior member of the gang group has continued efforts via mobile phone to persuade Takeshita to surrender to police, he was quoted as telling the senior member that he would kill himself in a sign of apology, according to police.

Earlier, a man was shot in the head at around 11:30 a.m. near a Family Mart convenience store in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards at a hospital.

He was identified as a 37-year-old member of a gang also under the Kyokuto-kai syndicate.

The man who shot the gangster fled from the scene in a car to the apartment in Machida, a few kilometers to the northeast, police said.

The registered owner of the car is the same as the occupant of the apartment unit in Machida, police said.

A total of 44 primary and junior high schools near the apartment in the cities of Machida and Sagamihara closed their school gates and kept students inside, local government officials said. School guards are patrolling the school premises, they said.

Funeral held for slain Nagasaki mayor

A private funeral was held Thursday for Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito, who died after being shot by a gangster, in the Nagasaki prefectural capital.

Relatives, friends, supporters and city officials attended the funeral to mourn for Ito, who had worked for the abolition of nuclear arms and to help atomic-bomb victims as head of a city devastated by the 1945 U.S. atomic-bombing in World War II, participants said.

Ito's murder sparks anger among politicians; Abe calls it challenge to democracy

The murder of Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito prompted outrage among politicians Wednesday, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling it a challenge to democracy. "We have to eradicate this kind of violence," Abe told reporters. "I want a stringent investigation to be conducted by investigative authorities and for the truth to be discovered."

Ito's predecessor, former Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima, who was shot and seriously injured by a right-wing extremist in 1990 for his remarks about the late Emperor Hirohito's war responsibility, said: "We have to renew our vow that violence is wrong, first and foremost."

The 85-year-old said he could barely sleep last night. "I was lucky because I was only injured...I feel terribly for his wife. I would like to pray for him from my heart and offer condolences to his family," he added.

Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, expressed outrage at the incident, noting that Ito had worked to have nuclear weapons declared illegal and had appealed for world peace.

"It's extremely regrettable and I feel very outraged at the fact that such an outstanding person has lost his life," he told reporters in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The DPJ's acting leader, Naoto Kan, said freedom of speech should never be taken away. He also criticized Abe's remarks. "Prime Minister Abe only mentioned a stringent investigation. We cannot feel any sense of crisis from such a comment about the shooting of a political leader."

Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima had similar words for the incident. "This is very shocking to me. I can never condone a short-sighted act that takes away the life of a municipal leader with bullets and obstructs political activities," she said, offering her condolences to the late mayor's family.

Nagasaki Gov Genjiro Kaneko also offered condolences to Ito's family in a statement after his death was confirmed and expressed his anger at the shooting, in which a local gangster allegedly shot Ito twice in the back outside his election campaign office on Tuesday evening.

"This is the most painful thing of all because I was praying for his recovery, and I feel a strong sense of outrage at the vicious, violent act of shooting a mayor," he said.

The incident represents "a challenge to freedom and democracy" given that it took place during an election campaign period, he said, expressing hope that it will be investigated thoroughly.

Other municipal leaders, including Fukuoka Gov Wataru Aso, Saga Gov Yasushi Furukawa and Okinawa Gov Hirokazu Nakaima, also offered condolences to Ito's family and vowed not to tolerate any violence against politicians.

Nagasaki Mayor Ito shot in back while campaigning outside train station; in serious condition

Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito was shot twice in the back by a gunman at 7:50 p.m. Tuesday in front of Japan Railway's Nagasaki Station and is in a serious condition with his heart not moving, local authorities said. The alleged shooter, Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, police said, adding he is believed to be a member of a gang affiliated with Japan's largest organized crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi. The motive is unknown.

Ito, 61, was shot twice in the back while campaigning for his fourth four-year term in Sunday's mayoral election in the western Japan city. He was immediately taken to a hospital past 8 p.m., a hospital official said.

Ito was shot near his campaign office and fell on his stomach.

Ito, formerly a Nagasaki city assembly member and Nagasaki prefectural assembly member, has made a number of statements and remarks to promote peace since he was first elected in 1995 as mayor of Nagasaki, which was devastated by an atomic bomb dropped by the United States in 1945 in World War II.

Debate on constitutional referendum bill begins in upper house

The House of Councillors on Monday began debating a bill setting procedures to amend Japan's pacifist Constitution, which has been unrevised since coming into force in 1947. The governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito party called for an early enactment at a plenary session of the upper house, while opposition parties stressed the need for thorough deliberations.

The governing coalition's bill, revised in March in the course of deliberation, proposes that the referendum be held only for the purpose of constitutional revision and with eligible voters being Japanese citizens aged 18 and older. One of the focal points in a revision is Article 9, which says, "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes."

U.S. asks Japan to relax beef import conditions with deadline

The United States has requested that Japan consider softening a condition it has attached to importing beef from the United States by setting a concrete deadline by which Tokyo should abide by, sources informed on bilateral relations said Sunday.

The request, which the sources said includes a hint that Washington would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the matter, could put pressure on Tokyo ahead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the U.S. capital for summit talks later this month. Japan, which banned beef imports from the United States following the discovery, resumed the imports in December 2005 on the condition that the beef be limited to those from cattle aged up to 20 months and that dangerous parts be removed completely.

Washington has since been asking Tokyo to soften the age restriction and is now threatening to take the matter to the WTO, the sources said. Those who have referred to the move are senior officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, they added.

North Korean female agent linked to abduction of 2 kids ordered terror attack, police say

Japanese police have learned from testimonies that a woman believed to be the leader of North Korean agents involved in a 1974 abduction case in Japan allegedly ordered another agent to carry out a terrorist attack in South Korea in the 1970s, investigative sources said Saturday.

In the alleged abduction case of two children born to a Japanese mother and Korean father who went missing in 1973, the police have found a high possibility that a husband of the 59-year-old female agent knew of the kidnapping plan, the sources said.

The sources said the police obtained the testimonies from people related to Universe Trading — a now-defunct trading company in Tokyo's Shinagawa believed to have served as a base for covert North Korean operations in Japan. The woman also worked there.

Police believe the terrorism order was based on an instruction from North Korea, and came shortly after the failed assassination attempt in August 1974 of then South Korean President Park Chung Hee.

According to the testimonies, the female agent ordered a male agent who worked under her to "do something like that" after the failed assassination incident, the sources said.

The male agent left Japan in 1978 after disappearing from the company because of what was then explained as his increasing distrust of the female agent.

In the assassination attempt on Aug 15, 1974, Mun Se Gwang, a South Korean resident of Japan, shot at the president and his wife at a ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the liberation of Korea from Japanese occupation. Park survived, but his wife and a female high school student died. Mun was sentenced to death and executed later that year.

The male agent is believed to have been involved in the suspected killing of Hideko Watanabe, the Japanese mother of the two children who went missing together in 1973.

The man had allegedly told acquaintances about circumstances before and after the killing, the sources said.

The sources said the husband, who married the female agent after the abduction incident occurred in 1974, had told workers of Universe Trading and other people about the kidnapping.

The man told them of such abduction circumstances as the children being given sleeping pills but waking up in the middle of being taken to North Korea on a spy ship, and the children having bad motion sickness, the sources said.

Given such testimonies from related people, police suspect the man was either directly involved in the abduction or received detailed reports.

The female agent and the man were allegedly in an intimate relationship before their marriage, the sources said. They left Japan in 1979 and there are no confirmed records of their return, leading the police to believe that they are now living in North Korea, the sources said.

The female agent is suspected of ordering her group of agents to abduct the two children in 1974 after receiving instructions in North Korea where she went after leaving Japan with the passport of another person, the sources said.

On Thursday, police designated two children as having been abducted by North Korean agents, and set up an investigation headquarters to start a full-fledged probe into the case.

The two children are Ko Gyong Mi, then a 6-year-old girl whose Japanese name is Kiyomi, and Ko Gang, then a 3-year-old boy whose Japanese name is Tsuyoshi.

They were born to Ko Dae Gi, a pro-Pyongyang Korean resident in Japan, and his Japanese wife Watanabe, who was 32 when she went missing.

Watanabe is suspected of having been murdered before the children were taken to North Korea.

Ko Dae Gi, who had gone missing earlier, worked for Universe Trading, and is believed to have led the group there before the female agent took over the leading role.

Abe hosts 11,000 guests at garden party; pledges to create 'beautiful Japan'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted the government's annual cherry blossom viewing party at Shinjuku Gyoen park on Saturday and told the 11,000 invited guests that he would work hard to create a "beautiful Japan." Speaking under clear skies, Abe mingled with guests invited from the business, sporting and entertainment worlds. Since coming to power last year, Abe has vowed to create a more assertive Japan under his favorite campaign phrase "a beautiful nation" and made revising the 1947 constitution the top item on his political agenda.

"We have fair weather today with the cherry flowers in full bloom because your wishes reached up there, I believe," Abe told guests.

Wen meets farmers, plays baseball with students in Kyoto

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Kyoto to add a human touch on the final day Friday of his three-day visit to Japan, chatting with local farmers and enjoying baseball with university students. When asked about the outlook for bilateral ties, Wen said, "I can't say all the problems have been solved. We need more time."

In Kyoto, he visited a farmer's house, toured historic spots and took part in baseball and other exchange programs with Ritsumeikan University students. Wen will have a meeting in Osaka on Friday night with government and business leaders in the Kansai region.

Man arrested for groping woman cop on train

A man was arrested last week for groping a woman who happened to be a police officer, police revealed Thursday. The incident happened on JR's Yamanote Line on April 6, they said. The 20-year-old police officer felt her coat lifted and her buttocks touched between Kanda and Akihabara stations, they said.

The officer immediately grabbed the man and hauled him off at Akihabara. The suspect, a 39-year-old construction worker, has denied the allegation. The police officer was in plain clothes at the time.

Wen calls for Sino-Japanese friendship, but urges Japanese leaders to face up to history

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday called for friendship and cooperation to "thaw the ice" of years of strained relations, while urging Japanese leaders to act in line with past apologies for Japanese wartime aggression.

In a speech in the Diet aimed at wooing the Japanese public as well as subduing anti-Japanese sentiment back home, Wen laid out China's vision for developing closer, forward-looking strategic ties with Japan through building mutual trust and working on common interests.

Stressing that both Chinese and Japanese people were victims of wartime suffering that should be blamed on "a handful of militarists," Wen acknowledged Japan's repeated apologies over its deeds before and during World War II.

But he added, "We sincerely hope that Japan will demonstrate its past statements and promises with actual concrete actions."

The premier avoided reference to specific issues, but his remark was apparently made in connection with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent denial of the Japanese military's involvement in wartime sex slavery.

Wen's remark was also an apparent warning to Abe not to visit Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine like his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi did, which angered Japan's neighbors.

Wen was clear in speaking about Taiwan. He reiterated that China would "absolutely not tolerate" Taiwanese independence, urging Japan to understand the sensitivity of the issue, deal with it cautiously and uphold its one-China policy.

In the background of Beijing's concerns is the fact that Japan and its ally the United States included the Taiwan issue as part of their common strategic objectives in a security alliance statement in February 2005.

Citing the more than 2,000 years of "friendly exchanges" between the people of the two nations — albeit disrupted by "painful and unfortunate" rancor in the postwar decades — Wen called for future-oriented friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people "with history as the mirror."

"For the sake of friendship and cooperation, it is necessary to sum up and remember the lessons of the unfortunate past history," he said.

The premier, on the first Japan visit by a Chinese leader in nearly seven years, also noted that the Chinese people will never forget the "support and assistance" from the Japanese government and public of China's reform and modernization.

The speech, broadcast live nationwide in both countries, was made at a time chilled relations are recovering with the resumption of top-level political dialogue following Abe's Beijing visit last October.

Wen, as the first Chinese leader to speak at Japan's parliament in 22 years, made the speech not only in hopes of dispelling negative feelings and anxiety toward China among some Japanese, but also to deliver the message to the Chinese public to calm anti-Japanese sentiment that developed into riots two years ago.

The speech was well received by the Japanese side, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki describing it as "very positive" and House of Councillors President Chikage Ogi saying, "I believe the ice has melted here right now."

Later in the day, Abe described Wen's visit as "the first step of a major breakthrough." Asked by reporters if he felt the "ice" has melted, Abe said, "The cherry blossoms were in full bloom at the Iikura guesthouse where we took a commemorative photo just now. I believe the season has already arrived."

In building a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship, Wen called for more mutual trust and to work for common interests without dwelling on differences.

He also expressed China's understanding of Japan's desire to play a larger international role and said China is prepared for more dialogue with Japan on international affairs including U.N. reforms, hinting at a softening of Beijing's reluctance toward Japan's desire for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat.

Describing bilateral economic cooperation as a "win-win relationship," Wen expressed a positive attitude toward resolving the bilateral dispute over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea, stressing it is important to realize the agreed joint development project.

"Economic development on both sides is an opportunity, not a threat, to both sides," he said, dismissing concerns that China's rapid growth threatens the Japanese economy.

Wen emphasized that China will stay on the path of peaceful development, in words apparently meant to dissipate Abe's concerns a day earlier of the lack of transparency in China's military buildup.

The Chinese premier, who arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday and held talks with Abe, was the first Chinese leader to address the Japanese Diet since Peng Zhen, then chairman of the Standing Committee of China's parliament, delivered a speech in 1985.

Abe, Wen meet to build strategic ties

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met in Tokyo on Wednesday evening to seek concrete steps to build mutually beneficial strategic ties and underscore a steady improvement in relations, highlighted by the first visit to Japan by a Chinese leader since 2000. Abe praised Wen's visit as "a big step forward" toward nurturing the strategic relationship and Wen responded by saying the trip "will lead to significant achievements and reflects both sides' desires."

Despite a drizzle, Abe hosted a welcoming ceremony for Wen in the garden of the prime minister's residence and told his counterpart he looked forward to talks in "a relaxed atmosphere," their third in just half a year. Abe and Wen are expected to issue a joint document confirming cooperation in areas of common interests as well as separate documents on collaboration on environmental and energy issues. Enhancing economic dialogue is also a main item on the agenda.

Japan extends economic sanctions on N Korea for 6 more months

The government decided in a cabinet meeting Tuesday to extend the economic sanctions Japan imposed on North Korea after Pyongyang's first nuclear test last October, officials said.

The sanctions prohibit North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports, ban imports of all items from North Korea, and block all North Korean people from entering Japan. Japan imposed more limited sanctions after North Korea conducted missile tests last July. These sanctions banned a cargo-passenger ferry link between the two countries and barred North Korean officials from entering Japan.

GSDF camp's internal info leaked from PC via Winny

The layout of an arms dump and other internal information from the Ground Self-Defense Force's Matsudo garrison in Chiba Prefecture was leaked onto the Internet in late March from a personal computer of a sergeant who used to work there via the Winny file-sharing software, Defense Ministry sources said Monday.

Although the data leaked did not include confidential information, the Defense Ministry plans to punish the officer ranked sergeant first class as he has not complied with the ministry's ban on storage of professional data on any privately owned PC.

Murder suspect Ichihashi living on 50,000 yen

Two weeks after the murder of English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, prime suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi is still on the run, most likely living on 50,000 yen in cash, police said Monday. Further investigations have revealed that Ichihashi, 28, ran off with 50,000 yen in cash he had withdrawn from a bank ATM after getting away from police who came to his apartment on March 26. Police said they are watching his account and said he had made no cash withdrawals since then.

Police also said that Ichihashi's bicycle had been left at nearest station to his home before the murder, refuting rumors that he had used it to make his getaway from the area.

No. of homeless people down 6,700 to 18,500

The number of homeless people in Japan decreased from about 25,300 four years ago to about 18,500 as of January this year apparently due to economic recovery and welfare, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Friday. "It is apparently a result of employment due to economic recovery and state assistance measures," a ministry official said.

The ministry conducted the survey in January following the first of its kind in 2003, by consigning the project to prefectural governments across Japan with prefectural officials visually counting the number of homeless people living at parks, riversides, roads, stations or other public facilities. By prefecture, the homeless population was largest in Osaka at 4,911, followed by Tokyo at 4,690, Kanagawa at 2,020, Fukuoka at 1,177 and Aichi at 1,023.

Abe eyes allowing Japan forces to defend U.S. in missile attacks

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is leaning toward allowing Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense — currently banned in line with an official interpretation of the Constitution — in a limited number of cases such as a ballistic missile attack against the United States, a government source said Saturday.

The government is expected to form a panel of handpicked experts later this month to conduct detailed discussions on four situations in which Japan could mobilize its forces when an ally comes under attack, with the aim of reaching a conclusion possibly this fall on whether to lift the self-imposed ban under those limited circumstances, according to the source.

The panel, chaired by former Japanese Ambassador to Washington Shunji Yanai, is expected to examine employing Japan's missile defense shield to intercept a ballistic missile targeted at an ally as well as staging a counterattack when a warship of another country sailing along with a Japanese Self-Defense Forces vessel comes under attack on the high seas, the source said.

These two cases are subject to a ban under the Cabinet Legislation Bureau's interpretation of the pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution on the grounds that either of them is tantamount to exercising the right to collective self-defense beyond the necessary minimum self-defense.

But calls for reviewing the interpretation for limited cases are growing around Abe, who is keen on bolstering Japan's lesser role in its bilateral security arrangement with the United States, the source said.

Abe may be hoping that mentioning such a move, even just for consideration, could help attenuate bilateral discord generated by his or other ruling lawmakers' remarks downplaying the Japanese military's role in running wartime brothels, ahead of his very first official trip to the United States in late April, observers said.

Critics say moves to expand the scope of Japan's missile defense and to enable Japan-U.S. joint vessel operations in the high seas may alarm other Asian countries, particularly China.

The two other cases are Japan staging a counterattack when another country's military units in multinational forces including Japanese troops working for a shared objective are attacked, and Japan using arms to eliminate obstacles to implementing duties as part of U.N. peacekeeping operations.

The government has said Japan inherently has the right to collective self-defense under international law but is prohibited from exercising it under Article 9 of its Constitution.

Reinterpretation of the article is a sensitive subject that may generate heated debate even within the governing coalition of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner the New Komeito party, which is highly cautious about Japan exercising the right to collective defense, and will also likely be a focus in the House of Councillors election slated for July.

Article 9 renounces Japan's right to wage war or to maintain armed forces.

Abe proposed in his first policy speech in September studying which specific cases of cooperation with an ally may be prohibited under the Constitution.

In a book published in July when he was chief cabinet secretary under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Abe questioned the ban on exercising the right, saying of the ban, "I wonder how long it can remain valid in the context of norms in the international community."

Japan and the United States agreed in a summit in November that they will reinforce and accelerate bilateral cooperation for building missile defense systems. Last month, Japan installed a land-to-air interceptor system north of Tokyo.

Ishihara leads rivals in Tokyo gubernatorial race

Incumbent Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara is one-up on his main rival, former Miyagi Gov Shiro Asano, in the April 8 gubernatorial election, Kyodo News analyses showed Sunday.

Ishihara, who is seeking a third four-year term, has secured sufficient support from the affiliates of the ruling parties — the LDP and the New Komeito party — as well as from parts of the DPJ supporters. Asano, on the other hand, has not yet solidified the support base in the DPJ, which backs him, according to the analyses. The other two major candidates — architect Kisho Kurokawa and former Adachi Ward mayor Manzo Yoshida — have failed to expand their support base, according to the analyses.

U.S. student becomes world sudoku champion

Harvard University student Thomas Snyder become the world sudoku champion in Prague on Saturday when he beat Japan's Yuhei Kusui in the head-to-head final round.

Snyder, 27, who was runner-up in the first world championships of the popular numerical logic game last year, scored 162 against Kusei's 135 points in the final session of the three-day event in which 141 of the world's best players took part.

"I was really disappointed not to have won last year," Snyder, who is also the reigning U.S. world puzzle champion, said. "I do not think people were surprised to see me in the play-offs."

Snyder, a chemistry student who expects to finish his post-graduate studies this year, said the secret of his success was playing "lots of logic puzzles, not just sudoku."

"I started doing mathematical and logic puzzles when I was four or five at the time between crawling and walking," he said, adding that the interest was nurtured by his mathematics teacher mother and his father, a university science professor.

Japan won the world team competition, which was held for the first time this year, with 4,490 points. The United States took second place with 4,328 points, followed by the Czech Republic with 3,690 points.

Sudoku, a sort of numerical crossword where contestants have to fill a nine by nine grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine three by three internal squares contains only the numbers from one to nine, was revived at the end of the 1980s and has recently enjoyed a worldwide boom in popularity.

Organizers of the second world championship said they choose to mix classical sudoku puzzles with logic brain teasers for this year's world championships in a move welcomed by the finalists.

"That was my aim this year," one organizer, Vitezslav Koudelka, said. He added that the game's popularity has now leveled off following its rocking success.

"As the players said, it gets a bit boring filling in gaps with missing numbers in the same way," he explained.

Tokyo gov't punishes 35 teachers over anthem

The Tokyo metropolitan board of education on Friday punished 35 public school teachers for refusing to stand up and sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem in front of the "Hinomaru" flag during graduation ceremonies this month, board officials said.

Of the 35, three were suspended from school for one, three and six months, respectively, and 12 others received pay cuts, while the remaining 20 faced admonitions, the officials said. The move has brought the total number of teachers in Tokyo reprimanded over the Kimigayo and Hinomaru issue to 381 since the education board in 2003 notified teachers at public schools that they could face punishment if they refuse to give respect to the flag and the anthem during school ceremonies.

Blackman says 'great shame' Hawker suspect got away from police

The father of slain British hostess Lucie Blackman said Friday that it was a "great shame" that the key suspect in the Lindsay Hawker murder case had managed to get away from police when they first visited his home.

Tim Blackman said that there were comparisons between this apparent police blunder and elements of the investigation into his own daughter's death.

In that case, police initially failed to search the suspect's home, despite the fact that he was dirty, anxious, and detectives could glimpse pieces of concrete and a sack of bulky objects when they questioned him on the doorstep. At the time, Joji Obara, who is now accused of raping and fatally drugging Lucie Blackman, claimed that he was "retiling his bathroom." Prosecutors claimed the sack contained Blackman's body parts. Obara denies the charges.

Blackman said, "We are all very upset. Not just for Lindsay, but for Lucie. It brings it all back hugely. I just know how devastated these people are and what a terrible problem it is going to be for them. It's just a great shame that the guy (suspect in the Hawker case) got out the back door."

The body of English teacher Lindsay Hawker, 22, was found in a bathtub full of sand on the balcony of an apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, on Monday.

Police said on Wednesday that Hawker may have suffocated. Her body was bruised and tied with synthetic-resin cord often used in gardening.

Detectives are hunting Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, who fled barefoot from the apartment when several police officers - as many as nine according to some reports — called at the condo on Monday.

According to British reports, officers asked Ichihashi for his name but then gave him time to pick up a bag, which he later dropped, before he managed to flee from the apartment via a fire escape.

Japanese police have defended their actions saying that, at that time, they had not seen the body and so were not sure exactly what had happened.

However, this has not stopped some British newspapers from describing the operation as "bungling" and drawing comparisons with the Lucie Blackman case.

Blackman, who worked in a Tokyo hostess bar, went missing on July 1, 2000. Seven months later, her dismembered remains were found in a beachside cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Her severed head had been encased in concrete.

But police had in fact visited Obara's home on the evening of July 6, 2000, after neighbors complained about noise. Obara, who appeared anxious and dirty, did not allow the officers inside and they were told by their superiors to leave the address.

There was also concern over the fact that the cave where Blackman's remains were found had been searched by police in October 2000, but nothing had been found.

Tim Blackman has been critical of his daughter's investigation in the past, and has said that his very open relationship with the media and frank comments often conflicted with advice from the Foreign Office and British police. He said he did not want to be seen to be criticizing the handling of the Hawker case and hoped the suspect would be apprehended quickly.

Blackman said, "I'm sure that the profile of Lucie's case will make sure, or underpin, the police's enthusiasm to make as much progress as they can in Lindsay's case.

"It's a different case. The police know they are investigating a murder whereas, when Lucie went missing, they didn't even accept that a crime had been committed because she had not arrived home. The fact that Lindsay left information about where she was, made a huge difference."

Blackman said that he had not received any requests for help from Hawker's father, William, but would be willing to assist if needed.

In the meantime, Hawker's family need to keep Lindsay in the public eye until Ichihashi is apprehended, Blackman suggested.

"This man needs to be found and I think that any appeals that he (William Hawker) can make personally, or ways he can keep Lindsay's picture on the front of the newspapers will be useful," he said.

"Someone must be renting an apartment to him, or giving him some casual job. Someone is in touch with him although they don't know it and everyone needs to look carefully at the people around them."

Following his daughter's death, Blackman established a trust which advises young people on personal safety, particularly when traveling overseas.

"Lucie's death went a long way to making people think very carefully, or prepare carefully before traveling but, for want of a better expression, "shit happens." Unfortunately, Lindsay has been the subject of that and it's a terrible thing."

Hawker, who comes from the city of Coventry in central England, had been working as a teacher at the Nova Co school in Koiwa, east of Tokyo, since October.

Ichihashi first got in touch with Hawker on March 21 on the street in front of JR Nishi-Funabashi Station. Ichihashi, who is still missing and is on a nationwide wanted list on suspicion of abandoning her body, asked Hawker to teach him English. He then followed her home and managed to persuade Hawker to give him an English lesson, the first one taking place on Sunday.

Her father, William, and boyfriend, Ryan Garside, traveled to Japan this week and made an emotional TV appeal. Hawker's body has been released to the family which is due to return to Britain.

Cabinet OKs bill to instill patriotism in classroom

The cabinet on Friday approved a bill to revise the School Education Law featuring a provision aimed at instilling patriotism in the classroom and another bill designed to reinforce the power of the education minister in management of schools.

Placing top priority on education reform in the current Diet session, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is aiming to enact the two bills along with another, approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, to strip teachers of life tenure and require them instead to renew their licenses every 10 years.

Yasukuni OK'd enshrining Class-A war criminals in 1969

Yasukuni Shrine gave a green light in 1969 to the idea of its enshrining Japanese Class-A war criminals from World War II, nine years before it actually did so, and the government was more closely involved in discussions regarding whom the shrine should honor than currently believed, a book released by the National Diet Library Wednesday suggests. The book with the English title "A New Compilation of Materials on the Yasukuni Shrine Problems" contains 808 items, including nearly 180 documents that the Shinto shrine in Tokyo disclosed on Wednesday for the first time.

Among the 808 documents is a group of lists dated Jan 31, 1969, presented at a meeting of officials from the shrine and the then Health and Welfare Ministry. The lists name people who could potentially be enshrined at Yasukuni and indicate that the shrine and the ministry shared the view that "Class-A" war criminals "able to be honored." The ministry and the shrine also agreed to refrain from making public the idea of Yasukuni honoring such war criminals, apparently due to political sensitivity surrounding the separation of state and religion.

The issues of government involvement in Yasukuni's honoring of war criminals and Japanese leaders' visits to the shrine have been a source of diplomatic disputes mainly with other Asian countries such as China and South Korea.

British media give extensive coverage to teacher's death

The British media covered the death of English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker prominently Wednesday, with some reports claiming she had recently been followed home by a Japanese man and was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the country.

According to The Sun, a popular tabloid, one of Lindsay's friends revealed that she was planning to come home next month because she found Japanese men "creepy."

Toby Wheeler, 30, who worked with Lindsay in Tokyo, said, "She found Japanese men weird. Some made inappropriate gestures and sexual remarks."

Several newspapers contained extracts of messages Hawker, who was 22, had sent to her family since she arrived in Japan last October. They were posted on a social networking site.

On March 20, she wrote, "Don't worry about the guy who chased me home, it's just crazy Japan."

Further messages from her family show their growing frustration as they tried in vain to contact her.

In an email just before her body was found, her friend Ryan Garside e-mailed, "Get in touch you fool! Why do you never email?"

Lindsay had recently graduated from Leeds University in northern England and had been working in Japan since October last year.

The Daily Mail tabloid said colleagues said Hawker had been dating Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, a Japanese man wanted on suspicion of abandoning the woman's body.

But the newspaper reports this may well have been because her contract with Nova Co, where she was an English teacher, prohibited teachers from taking private lessons.

Her family said they had no knowledge of Ichihashi and denied any relationship. Japanese police also denied they were dating.

According to The Times, Hawker had not known Ichihashi for a long time. The Japanese police said they got to know each other only several days before her body was found.

Hawker's case has unhappy echoes of the death of another British woman, Tokyo club hostess Lucie Blackman, 21, whose dismembered body was found encased in concrete in a cave in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2000.

The Tokyo District Court plans to hand down a ruling in April on Joji Obara, who has denied charges of raping and fatally drugging Blackman.

According to The Sun, her father Tim Blackman, 52, said, "Lindsay's death has upset me greatly. Elements are frighteningly similar."

Slain British woman was being stalked by suspect; father holds news conference

A 22-year-old British woman found dead Monday in a condominium in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, had been stalked by the man who is the primary suspect in her death, police said Wednesday. Lindsay Ann Hawker was stalked by Tatsuya Ichihashi, a 28-year-old Japanese who has gone missing and is wanted on suspicion of abandoning her body. He had visited her home and given her a note in which his name and phone number were written, according to the police.

Police are searching for the Ichihashi on suspicion that he had a hand in the death of Hawker, who worked as an English teacher for Nova Co.

In Tokyo, Hawker's father, William, was enraged and tearfully vowed to see justice is served in connection with the death of his daughter, who finished her university last year and came to Japan in October.

"My daughter did not come here to be murdered. She came here to help people. She came here to teach," he said in a shaking voice, tears rolling down from his eyes. "I will not rest until the man who killed my daughter is caught."

Hawker explained tearfully how he had believed that Japan was a safe place and that Lindsay, who was teaching English at a language school, was "tricked" into going to the suspect's condominium where her body was found Monday "under the pretext of giving an English lesson."

"My daughter was a lovely girl. She would help anybody and it was because she would help anybody she is where she is now," he added.

"I believe this man was a loner...some sort of social misfit who targeted my daughter and he must be caught," Hawker said, and called for the public for any information related to the case.

Hawker also said he believed there was not "any sort of relationship" between his daughter and the suspect.

Lindsay's boyfriend Ryan Garside also attended the press conference and said how they loved each other and wanted to get married, but the tragedy had "ruined" their plans.

Meanwhile, Chiba prefectural police said Wednesday an autopsy showed Hawker may have died of suffocation. There were bruises on her face and elsewhere on her body, they said.

One of her friends, a 27-year-old American man, said that Hawker had planned to give Ichihashi a private English lesson on Sunday, the day before her body was found buried in sand in a bathtub on the balcony of his fourth-floor condo unit on Monday night.

The friend said he does not know how she came to offer such a lesson or how they got acquainted.

Police said that Hawker and Ichihashi apparently came to know each other several days before her body was found. They denied rumors that the two had been dating.

Meanwhile, in England, Hawker's two sisters paid an emotional tribute outside the family home. Lisa and Louise Hawker fought tears as they read prepared statements in Coventry, central England.

"Our sister Lindsay was our best friend. She was extraordinary in so many ways," said Lisa Hawker, 25. "Like so many people our age she wanted to see the world, and for some reason felt safer in Japan than in this country.

"We are all made constantly aware of the dangers on our own streets. Thousands of young people go abroad each year, and for some reason the dangers of home seem to be forgotten.

"If Lindsay's death can make at least one young person abroad be more vigilant, then perhaps one more family can be spared the pain, the devastation, and the despair we are all experiencing."

Louise Hawker, 20, said: "Our family are so close and we have been torn apart by what's happened. "You never think a thing like this could happen to you. We are normal people, and it does, and it hurts more than you can imagine."

Dead British woman's family shocked at murder and suspect's escape from police

The family of the British woman whose body was found in Chiba Prefecture are "deeply shocked and upset" by the news of her death and the fact that the suspect escaped barefoot from the scene despite the presence of police officers, local media reported in England. The naked body of Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, was found buried in sand in a bathtub on the balcony of a fourth-floor condominium unit in Chiba Prefecture on Monday night.

Police obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday for Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28, who fled from the condominium in the city of Ichikawa when police officers visited on Monday.

Police were alerted on Monday afternoon after staff at the English language school where Hawker taught were unable to get in touch with her.

Hawker came from the city of Coventry, situated in the middle of England, about 130 kilometers northwest of London, where her family was being comforted by police.

Speaking after visiting the family home, which lies just outside the city, Inspector Dale Pritchard, from Warwickshire Police, said the family was "deeply shocked and upset" and wished to be left alone to come to terms with the news they had received from Tokyo.

In a televised statement he said, "They are in a terrible position, one in which no one would ever want to be."

Police later issued a photograph of Hawker on behalf of the family.

Hawker was employed as an English teacher at the Nova English school in Koiwa, also in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo.

A spokeswoman from Nova in London said, "She graduated from university last year and she began working with us on Oct 25, 2006. Lindsay was very well liked by her colleagues. She took her job seriously and was a very hard worker and she was adapting to life in Japan.

"The company would like to express its shock, upset and regret at such a tragic incident and the company is cooperating with all the investigations in Japan."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the family was receiving consular assistance and the department was happy with the police investigation.

Ichihashi, who escaped from the scene despite the presence of several police officers, is being sought on a charge of abandoning her body.

The bathtub contained a large amount of sand that completely covered the body except for part of a hand, and she had what appeared to be several assault wounds to the face and arms, according to investigations. The exact cause of death is unknown at this stage.

Nova denied some media reports that Ichihashi was a student with Nova and was dating Hawker.

Police officers found a note at Hawker's residence which contains Ichihashi's name and contact details. They also found clothes that appeared to have been worn by Hawker in Ichihashi's condominium. A bag and ID belonging to Hawker were also discovered. They said that Ichihashi had visited Hawker's residence a few days earlier.

Hawker arrived in Japan in October last year and lived in a residence in Funabashi city adjacent to Ichikawa with two other women — one from Australia and the other from Canada.

Ichihashi, whose profession is unknown, is said to be around 180 centimeters tall and weighing around 70 kilograms. He was wearing a red sweater at the time of his escape.

Ishihashi lived with three other family members in the apartment and moved to Gifu Prefecture when he was a child, according to nearby residents. He reentered the apartment several years ago when he joined a university and has since been living in it alone.

Residents nearby heard sounds of striking metal and something being dragged between Sunday night and early Monday, the sources said.

Washington Post criticizes Abe's handling of sex slave issue

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign to roll back Japan's acceptance of responsibility for the abduction, rape and sexual enslavement of women during World War II is "odd" and "offensive," the Washington Post said in its editorial on Saturday.

In a piece titled "Shinzo Abe's Double Talk," the U.S. daily criticized Abe's attitude over the so-called "comfort women" issue while comparing it with his enthusiasm in resolving North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals and refusing discussions with Pyongyang until it provides information on abductees certified by the Japanese government. "If Mr. Abe seeks international support in learning the fate of Japan's kidnapped citizens, he should straightforwardly accept responsibility for Japan's own crimes and apologize to the victims he has slandered," the editorial said.

No Japan military involvement in running wartime brothels: official

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hakubun Shimomura on Sunday denied that the Japanese military directly recruited women to work in brothels providing sex for Japanese soldiers before and during World War II.

"There were military nurses and embedded journalists but no 'embedded comfort women.' It is true that there were 'comfort women.' I believe some parents may have sold their daughters. But it does not mean the Japanese army was involved," Shimomura said in a program on Radio Nippon. Shimomura was referring to the controversial issue of whether the Japanese military was directly involved in forcing women, especially those from other Asian countries, into sexual servitude. Such women are euphemistically called "comfort women" in Japan.

Japan welcomes additional sanctions on Iran

Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Sunday welcomed the U.N. Security Council's approval of additional sanctions on Iran for its refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment program. "We appreciate the step as demonstrating the international community's firm stance on the Iranian nuclear issue," Aso said in a statement.

"Our nation thinks a resolute response to the Iranian nuclear issue is necessary in view of the maintenance of the nuclear nonproliferation system, its relationship to the North Korean nuclear issue and stability in the Middle East, which has a large influence on energy supply," he said, adding Japan will urge Iran to return to the negotiating table.

American man served fresh arrest warrant for murder of ex-wife

A former U.S. airman who was arrested three weeks ago for allegedly damaging and dumping the body of his divorced Japanese wife in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, was served with a fresh arrest warrant Friday on suspicion of strangling her last July.

William Scott Omari McAllister, 25, was indicted the same day on charges of transporting the body of his ex-wife, Naomi Kimura, 33, in a car and setting fire to her body before abandoning it in the trunk.

Local police, meanwhile, did not file charges against his 29-year-old girlfriend, who had earlier been arrested on suspicion of providing the police with a false alibi for the suspect, and released her.

McAllister, who is currently facing trial on a separate case of fraud, was arrested March 2 but has denied any involvement in the murder or abandonment of his ex-wife, who was running a bar in Misawa.

The former U.S. serviceman, who worked at the U.S. Air Force's Misawa base in Aomori until December 2005, is alleged to have strangled her around July 20 last year.

Investigators had been provided with information that the victim had a quarrel with a "foreign" man at her home in the early hours of July 20.

McAllister was earlier arrested last August on suspicion of using another person's credit card to purchase a car navigation system.

Japan calls for more stringent beef product checks by U.S.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka said Friday that the ministry has demanded that Washington step up beef quality checks when beef is being shipped from designated U.S. meat-processing facilities authorized to export to Japan.

The minister spoke in connection with beef from the Lexington, Nebraska plant of Tyson Fresh Meats Inc, which was exported to Japan in February without any U.S. certificate identifying the age of the cattle from which the meat was produced. Japan had resumed American beef imports last July on condition that the United States limits beef exports to Japan to meat from cattle aged up to 20 months to safeguard against mad cow disease.

81-year-old man arrested for paying 14-year-old girl to have sex with him

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.

Abe urges N Korea to return to negotiations

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged North Korea on Tuesday to engage seriously in ongoing six-nation nuclear talks and to fulfill its promise to denuclearize, warning that Pyongyang would otherwise continue to face severe problems.

Asked to comment on North Korea's refusal Tuesday to attend the second-day session of the six-way talks in Beijing, Abe told reporters, "For as long as North Korea adopts this kind of attitude, it will not be able to change the circumstances it is currently facing."

North Korea urges Japan to stop talking about abduction issue

North Korea is urging Japan to stop talking about North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals and sincerely implement a six-party talks deal promising to supply North Korea with aid in return for denuclearization steps, the Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.

"The DPRK strongly demands Japan stop talking about the 'abduction issue' but redeem the crimes committed by it in the past which are more horrendous than the issue," KCNA said, referring to Japan's wartime acts, such as forcing Korean women into sexual slavery for the Japanese military. KCNA said the abduction issue is already resolved.

Shinzo Abe tells SDF cadets Japan seeks stronger U.S. security ties

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that Japan should strengthen its security alliance with the United States, citing North Korea's abductions, nuclear program and missile launches as well as other challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. "There is a need to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance while steadily upgrading our country's national security platform in order to protect the people's lives, health and property," Abe said in an address to Self-Defense Forces cadets at a graduation ceremony at the National Defense Academy in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

As for the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the premier said, "There exist various challenging problems, ranging from North Korea's abductions, nuclear development and ballistic missile launches to regional conflicts stemming from complex and diverse factors and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." The speech was made for this year's 421 graduates, including 30 women and 10 students from Indonesia, Mongolia, Thailand and Vietnam. Of the graduates, 10 have declined to join the SDF.

Masked wrestler Sasuke to run in Iwate gov election

MORIOKA — Iwate prefectural assemblyman and professional wrestler The Great Sasuke announced his plan Sunday to run in the April 8 Iwate gubernatorial election as an independent candidate. Sasuke, 38, said in a press conference at a hotel in the Iwate capital of Morioka that he intends to continue wearing his mask even if he is elected as governor.

The Great Sasuke, his ring name under which he has served as a prefectural assembly member, is known for establishing the first local wrestling organization in Japan, Michinoku Pro Wrestling (Northeastern Wrestling), in 1993. His wearing a mask at assembly sessions had incurred criticism from some of his fellow assembly members after he was elected to the assembly in the spring of 2003. His four-year term as an assembly member is about to expire.

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U.S. ambassador says sex slaves were raped by Japanese military

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer has said that women, who were engaged in providing sex to Japanese soldiers throughout Asia before and during World War II, were rape victims of the Japanese military, the New York Times reported in its electronic edition Saturday.

"I think they were coerced to engage in prostitution. That means they were raped by the Japanese military at that point in time," Schieffer said, according to the dispatch from Tokyo. "I think that happened, and I think it was a regrettable, terrible thing that it happened." Schieffer described former comfort women who testified last month in Congress about being coerced into prostitution by the Japanese authorities as "credible witnesses."

LDP group to reinvestigate sex slave issues

A group of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers agreed Wednesday to a government request that they reinvestigate the facts that gave birth to a 1993 official statement apologizing for the Japanese military's forced recruitment of women to provide sex for servicemen during World War II.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the group's chair, Nariaki Nakayama, have differed over which side should conduct the investigation, but ultimately the group conceded to the wishes of Abe and his aides, who are hoping to act in a "cautious" manner ahead of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's planned visit to Japan in April, group members said. The move to reinvestigate the so-called "comfort women" comes amid Abe's recent controversial remarks disputing the Japanese military's role in wartime sexual slavery as well as arguments by some LDP lawmakers that the 1993 statement should be retracted because the military did not force foreign women into sexual slavery.

Curry tainted by dead mouse sold at Tokyo noodle stand

A JR East-affiliated restaurant operator said Tuesday that curry tainted by a dead mouse has been used in some of the food products sold at a noodle stand inside JR Shinkoiwa Station in Tokyo.

Nippon Restaurant Enterprise Co said 18 meals sold at the noodle stand, including "curry soba" (buckwheat noodle) and "curry rice," for about two hours since its opening at 6:30 a.m., were made with the tainted curry.

Empress visits flower arrangement exhibition

Empress Michiko viewed flower arrangements on exhibit at a Tokyo department store on Thursday. It was her first official duty outside the Imperial Palace since the Imperial Household Agency said on Tuesday that she has shown symptoms of bleeding from the walls of the intestines several times. The exhibition was held in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Sogetsu school of flower arrangement.

6 Vietnamese women to sue Toyota subcontractor

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.

Japan, N Korea blame each other for breakdown of talks

Japan and North Korea ended two days of talks on normalizing diplomatic relations without progress on Thursday, blaming each other for their failure to solve thorny bilateral rows and falling short of setting the next date for the negotiations.

Koichi Haraguchi, Japan's chief representative at the talks, and his North Korean counterpart Song Il Ho said major differences remained over bilateral issues, including a bitter dispute over Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. "I find it regrettable that specific solutions were not reached for the progress of Japan-North Korea relations during the current talks," he said. At a separate news conference, Song also said that "a big gap" remains between the two sides and that was the reason "nothing was reached" in the negotiations.

Japan eyes response to international criticism of Abe's sex slavery remarks

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."

Emperor best person to repair damage over sex slaves: LA Times

A major U.S. newspaper suggested in its editorial published Wednesday that Japan's Emperor Akihito "go one step further and offer a more forceful apology for all the crimes committed in his family's name," commenting on the ongoing controversy over the so-called "comfort women."

The Los Angeles Times' editorial said, "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempt to finesse the Japanese government's role in forcing about 200,000 Asian women to work as sex slaves during World War II is worse than unfortunate. It is counterproductive — and the best person to repair the damage is Emperor Akihito himself," the Times said. "The person who could do the most to reconcile the people of Japan and their neighbors with the past is Akihito, the son of wartime emperor Hirohito. He is also the one person who could lift this issue above the political fray."

apan-N Korea talks to continue despite snag over abductions

Japan and North Korea are set Thursday to meet for their second day of talks on normalizing diplomatic relations, after their bitter row over past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents triggered a stall on the first day. Koichi Haraguchi, Japan's delegate, and his North Korean counterpart Song Il Ho are due to meet at the North Korean Embassy in Hanoi to discuss both the abduction dispute as well as issues linked to Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea boycotted the afternoon session of the first day of the normalization talks, in objection to Tokyo's demands that it reinvestigate past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents. Pyongyang eventually agreed to return to the negotiating table Thursday after informal consultations with Japan, according to Japanese diplomats. In Wednesday's talks, Japan urged North Korea to reinvestigate the cases of 12 abduction victims on Japan's official list, or all of the listed victims except the five who returned to Japan in 2002.

Japan-North Korea normalization talks begin

Japanese and North Korean diplomats began two-day talks on Wednesday with both sides calling for a solution to thorny bilateral issues that have prevented them from normalizing diplomatic relations.

Koichi Haraguchi, Japan's representative at the talks, and his North Korean counterpart Song Il Ho met at the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi in the morning for talks that are first expected to focus on a bitter row over past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents. "We plan to work...under the policy of aiming for the normalization of diplomatic ties based on a comprehensive solution to the abduction, nuclear and missile issues as well as the settling of the unfortunate past," Haraguchi said at the outset of the talks, which was open to the press.

S Korea's Song raps Abe's remarks on sex slaves

South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Song Min Soon criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday for disputing that the Imperial Japanese Army forced foreign women into sexual slavery during World War II, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"Anyone who doubts the sexual slavery by Japanese imperialism during World War II has to squarely face the truth," Song said after giving a speech in Washington, according to Yonhap. "Such remarks do not help to forge healthy and future-oriented relations between the two countries." Song is the first member of the South Korean cabinet to lash out at Abe for his reported remarks on Thursday that there is no evidence to prove that women were coerced into working in brothels run by Japan's military during the war.

Japs won't give 'even 1 yen' to N Korea unless abductions resolved: Aso

Japan will not give North Korea "even 1 yen" in aid unless the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by the North is resolved, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Saturday before the two countries hold normalization talks next week. He added that Japan is ready to maintain economic sanctions on Pyongyang including the ban on port calls in Japan by the North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92.

The remarks come before the two countries restart talks on normalizing diplomatic relations in Hanoi on Wednesday under the framework agreed during last month's six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear development programs. While experts are voicing concern that Japan may be isolated in the nuclear talks by sticking to the abduction issue, Aso flatly denied this, saying, "Japan will never be isolated."

U.S. lawmaker disputes Abe's contention that evidence of sex slaves doesn't exist

A U.S. lawmaker spearheading legislation urging the Japanese government to "officially" apologize for pressing women into sexual servitude during World War II cited an "overwhelming historical record" of the practice, following reported remarks by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe disputing that such evidence of coercion exists.

Abe is reported to have said Thursday that there is no evidence to prove that women were coerced into working in brothels run by Japan's military government during the war, in apparent contrast to a 1993 government statement acknowledging and apologizing for the forced recruitment of so-called 'comfort women' in places such as China and Korea.

Following Abe's remarks, Rep Mike Honda said in a statement that "the overwhelming historical record makes it clear that the Japanese Imperial Army forced as many as 200,000 women into sexual slavery during the Second World War."

Honda urged Tokyo to offer an "official" apology for what he called "undeniable past wrongs," saying it would "only increase Japan's standing as a member of the community of free, democratic nations."

Honda, along with a group of powerful House Republicans, is sponsoring legislation calling on Abe to offer an official apology to former victims of sexual slavery. Prospects are high that the legislation will pass the Democrat-controlled Congress after four similar bills failed to come to a full lower chamber vote in past years under the Republican majority.

The resolution has drawn sharp protest from the Japanese government both in Tokyo and Washington, with Foreign Minister Taro Aso calling the legislation "extremely regrettable and definitely not based on facts."

Japan's Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato has also argued against passage of the bill, saying his country has already apologized and cautioning it could harm otherwise sound U.S.-Japan relations.

In his statement Honda also cited the 1993 statement, issued by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, as evidence of Japan's admitted culpability in the comfort women practice.

While Tokyo has said it stands by the statement — Abe indicated last month that he had no intention of revising it — a group of senior ruling party lawmakers is demanding it be reviewed.

Underscoring the momentum of the most recent congressional attempt to prod Japan on the issue, a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee recently held a hearing on the comfort women resolution, hearing testimony from three women who said they were forced to provide sex for the Japanese military during World War II.

Honda has argued that passing the legislation has become urgent given the advancing age of the former victims of Japan's sexual enslavement, who are mostly in their 70s and 80s.

Top court rules principal's order to play national anthem constitutional

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that says it is constitutional for a public school principal to order a music teacher to play the piano to accompany Japan's "Kimigayo" national anthem at a school ceremony.

This is the first ever decision by Japan's top court on a series of lawsuits over teachers rejecting the national anthem in various ways such as declining to stand up or sing it on public occasions.

The top court upheld the Tokyo High Court's ruling in July 2004 after telling relevant parties last week it is handing down a decision on the case without listening to arguments by the plaintiff.

The suit was filed by a 53-year-old elementary school teacher in the suburban Tokyo city of Hino who sought to repeal a reprimand the Tokyo metropolitan school board issued to her for refusing to play the piano during an entrance ceremony in 1999.

Like other teachers, she cited a violation of freedom of thought and conscience when refusing the order. The Tokyo school board issued the reprimand on the grounds of a violation of the Local Public Service Law.

The Tokyo District Court ruled in December 2003 that "public servants must serve the whole of society and their freedom of thought and conscience are subject to restraint from the point of public welfare," and concluded the principal's order was constitutional and the reprimand was lawful.

The Tokyo High Court upheld the decision in July 2004.

In August 1999, the government instituted a law defining the Kimigayo as Japan's national anthem.

Since fiscal 2000, some 875 public school teachers across Japan have been reprimanded in various ways for actions against the national flag and the Kimigayo, such as refusing to stand up and sing the anthem in front of the flag.

A series of lawsuits have been filed by some of those teachers. While many of them have lost their cases in lower court rulings, the Tokyo District Court last September judged it unconstitutional for a local government to force teachers to stand up for the flag and sing the song in school ceremonies.

The court noted the Hinomaru flag and the Kimigayo have a history of being used as pillars of militarism and they are therefore not value-neutral and penalizing those who refuse to stand for the flag and the song is an action which violates freedom of thought and conscience under the Constitution.

Amnesty attacks Ibuki's human rights remarks

Amnesty International Japan on Tuesday harshly attacked recent remarks by Bummei Ibuki, the education minister, in which he said too much respect for human rights would give Japan "human rights metabolic syndrome." In a letter sent to Ibuki, Amnesty demanded the minister retract the remarks, saying they "ignore the human rights of citizens."

Ibuki's remarks mean he has neglected his obligations and is trying to restrict people's human rights, Amnesty said. Comparing human rights to butter, Ibuki said Sunday, "No matter how nutritious it is, if one ate only butter every single day, one would get metabolic syndrome...Human rights are important, but if we respect them too much, Japanese society will end up having human rights metabolic syndrome." Amnesty also sent the same letter to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has downplayed criticism over Ibuki's remarks.

Residents near Kadena base say they are suffering mentally, physically

Many residents of Okinawa's town of Kadena where a U.S. military air base is located said in a recent survey they are suffering both mentally and physically from the base's existence, mainly due to noise problems.

Of those people living in homes which are across the road from the Kadena Air Base and face its runway, 95% of them complained of their sufferings, with 43% citing ear ringing and 28% hearing loss, according to the survey conducted by the Kadena town government.

The survey was conducted on 300 households between last May and December.

The complaints particularly centered on noise in the early morning and at nighttime at the largest U.S. air base in East Asia, with some residents saying they have to wear earplugs in order to sleep and they are unable to get back to sleep once they are awakened by the noise.

The survey also showed that 90% of the residents are worried about a possible aircraft crash, 78% about explosions of fuel tanks and other things, and 67% about getting involved in a war.

The Kadena city government has repeatedly expressed concerns about the temporary deployment from this month of 12 state-of-the-art F-22A stealth fighters at the base.

Michiaki Tokashiki, who heads the town's external affairs section related to the base, said the deployment could make the noise problems worse because F-15 fighters have also returned to Kadena after taking part in training drills in the United States.

In February 2005, the Naha District Court awarded residents near the Kadena base a total of 2.8 billion yen, the largest amount of compensation the state has ever been ordered to pay in a noise pollution suit involving a military base or airport.

But the court turned down a request by some of the residents to ban nighttime flights at the Kadena base and did not establish a causal link between the noise pollution and hearing problems, thus leading the plaintiffs to file an appeal.

Abe meets victims of 2004 Niigata quake

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday visited Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, where a powerful earthquake hit in October 2004, with some of its victims still forced to live in temporary housing after two years and four months.

"I understand that you are having a hard time in spending a third winter in temporary housing," Abe told the victims. "We will do our best so that you can celebrate the next New Year holidays at own home." After hearing from the people that a major difficulty they face is that many of them need to frequently take out new bank loans on top of existing ones when building or repairing homes, Abe said the government should help them to find sources of income.

Japan successfully launches satellites to complete spy system

The government successfully launched an H-2A rocket to carry a second radar satellite and an experimental third optical satellite into space Saturday from a launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture to complete its spy system for full global coverage. The two satellites were placed into orbit about 20 minutes after the rocket's launch at 1:40 p.m., the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

If completed with the second radar functioning, the four-satellite system will enable the photographing of any point on Earth once a day for intelligence gathering with two sets of a radar satellite and an optical satellite, it said. In the spy project, two optical satellites and one radar satellite have already been placed into orbit. They are reportedly capable of detecting objects as small as about 1 meter.

LDP, DPJ lawmakers to study Nanjing Massacre from Monday

LDP, DPJ lawmakers to study Nanjing Massacre from Monday: "A group of lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties will start examining the 1937 Nanjing Massacre from Monday with the aim of countering descriptions of it in the late Iris Chang's bestseller 'The Rape of Nanking,' the group members said Thursday.

The lawmakers said they have decided to hold three study sessions because they are concerned that anti-Japanese campaigns could begin at a time when 10 films, many based on the book, will be produced around the world to mark the 70th anniversary of the atrocity."

Lawyers demand teachers not be forced to sing anthem

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations said Wednesday it has urged the government and the Tokyo education board not to force teachers to stand and sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem in front of the Hinomaru national flag and not to reprimand them for refusing to do so.

The federation, the country's sole organization of lawyers, also said it issued its gravest admonition to the Tokyo education board on Tuesday for violating the human and educational rights of five public schoolteachers by reprimanding them for not showing respect to the flag and the anthem during school ceremonies in 2004 and 2005. The move comes amid a series of lawsuits filed over the controversial notice the Tokyo metropolitan government issued Oct 23, 2003, demanding that teachers show respect to the flag or face reprimands.

Cheney stands with Japan on abduction issue, gets support on Iraq

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney agreed Wednesday to boost bilateral alliance and cooperate to resolve the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese citizens, while Tokyo gave reassurances over its support for U.S. policy on Iraq and its commitments to promoting missile defense and U.S. military realignment.

Cheney's visit to Tokyo came at a time when some concerns have recently arisen between the two close allies over policies on North Korea and Iraq in an otherwise strong bilateral security alliance.

The United States is in need of Japan's continued cooperation in Iraq under the new strategy adopted just weeks ago by the administration of President George W Bush. But Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma recently irked Washington with comments critical of U.S. policy.

In Tokyo, meanwhile, concerns persist that Japan may face isolation in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs due to its policy of not joining in providing energy aid to North Korea unless there is progress on the abduction issue. Under an agreement reached last week at the multilateral talks, Pyongyang is to receive energy aid in exchange for taking steps to abandon its nuclear programs.

In a brief photo session prior to his talks with Abe, Cheney said the United States wants to see a resolution to the abduction issue, and praised Tokyo for having played a "very important part" in the six-party talks.

Cheney reaffirmed "unwavering commitment" to the security of Japan and said the two countries are cooperating to deal with the proliferation of nuclear arms and ballistic missiles, while Abe stressed the need to "strengthen the bilateral alliance and mutual trust."

In separate talks earlier with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Foreign Minister Taro Aso, Cheney expressed his understanding of Japan's policy of not joining energy aid due to the abduction issue.

"I explained Japan's policy and he expressed understanding over it," Shiozaki told reporters after a breakfast meeting with Cheney, the vice president's first meeting in Tokyo during his three-day visit that began Tuesday.

Cheney will meet with the families of Japanese abductees on Thursday, a move Aso told Cheney would underline steadfast U.S. commitment to helping Japan resolve the abduction issue following Bush's White House meeting last April with Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted in 1977 at age 13 and remains missing, Japanese officials said.

Both Shiozaki and Aso thanked Cheney for arranging the meeting. The vice president has fitted the meeting with the abductees' families into his tight schedule even through he is not holding talks with defense chief Kyuma.

While agreeing to deepen bilateral unity to press North Korea to implement the six-party accord on "initial" steps such as shutting down and sealing its Yongbyon nuclear complex, Cheney and the Japanese leaders also shared the view that China's role is important in the multilateral talks that also involve South Korea and Russia, the officials said.

Cheney and the Japanese leaders also agreed on the need to continue to seek stability in Iraq and Afghanistan and to promote cooperation on bilateral missile defense and realignment of the U.S. military presence in Japan, the officials said.

Aso told Cheney that Japan "understands and supports" the new U.S. strategy on Iraq, the officials said.

Shiozaki said he told Cheney that Japan will continue to make a "proactive contribution" over efforts to seek stability in Iraq and Afghanistan, referring to Japan's continued commitment to assisting in Iraq's rehabilitation, including the ongoing airlift operations by the Japan's Air Self-Defense Force.

Cheney explained the new Iraq policy, especially the plan to boost deployment of U.S. troops by more than 20,000.

Earlier in the day, Cheney visited the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Speaking before about 4,000 U.S. military personnel as well as dignitaries from both countries, Cheney said the United States will keep on with the fight against terrorism.

"We know that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. We know that if we leave Iraq before the mission is completed, the enemy is going to come after us," he said.

"I want you to know that the American people will not support a policy of retreat," he added.

During an audience later with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, Cheney conveyed appreciation on behalf of the U.S. government over Japan's contributions on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cheney last visited Japan in April 2004 and is holding his first meeting with Abe since Abe became prime minister last September.

The visit to Japan is part of a two-nation trip that also takes in Australia. Officials in Japan see the trip as highlighting Washington's interest in forging stronger cooperation with its two close Asia-Pacific allies.

So far, Cheney's itinerary includes no meeting with Kyuma, who about a month ago said Bush's decision to invade Iraq as "wrong" and later said the United States lacks understanding regarding talks with Okinawa Prefecture over the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within the prefecture.

Kyuma explained away the fact he wasn't meeting Cheney by saying it was due to the difference in rank between himself as defense minister and Cheney as vice president.

Aso has also made controversial remarks, describing Bush's policy on Iraq as "very naive."

China gives cool response to news of Nanjing massacre film by Japanese nationalists

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman hit back Thursday at a Japanese director who says he will shoot a documentary film that denies tens of thousands of people died during the Nanjing Massacre. Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said there is "ironclad" evidence, supported by the international community, that proves Japanese troops massacred soldiers and civilians when they captured what was then the Chinese capital in 1937.

Japanese director Satoru Mizushima, who has the backing of a number of conservative lawmakers and academics, announced Wednesday he is going to make the film, called "The Truth about Nanking," according to reports. "This will be our first effort to correct the errors of history through a film," Mizushima is reported to have said at a press conference in Tokyo to launch the film project.

It will be based on testimony from Japanese war veterans, archive footage and documentary evidence that proponents said will show the massacre is "nothing more" than Chinese propaganda.

U.N. human rights commissioner to visit Japan Jan 25-27

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour will visit Japan on Jan 25 to discuss with Japanese officials how to address international human rights issues, including North Korea's past abduction of Japanese and other foreign nationals, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

During the three-day visit, Arbour is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Taro Aso and other Japanese officials. They are also expected to discuss how to go about dealing with the U.N. Human Rights Council, the ministry said.

Visitors to Japan top 8 million for 1st time in 2006

The number of visitors to Japan in 2006 reached 8.11 million in preliminary data, up 8.8% from the previous year and topping 8 million for the first time, the Justice Ministry said Friday.

The ministry attributed the figure, which marked a record for two years in a row, to increases in the number of tourists mainly from other parts of Asia following the Japanese government's efforts to attract foreign tourists plus a series of visa waivers. Of foreign visitors, the largest number came from South Korea at 2.37 million, followed by Taiwan at 1.35 million and China at 980,000.

Defense Agency upgraded to ministry

The Defense Agency was upgraded to full ministry status Tuesday for the first time since its inception in 1954 amid persistent concerns over effective civilian control of Japan's defense forces. Along with the upgrade, the Self-Defense Forces' overseas international peace cooperation activities — including disaster relief, U.N.-led peacekeeping and logistical support in regional contingencies — were redefined as main duties rather than subordinate ones.

Critics say the development has made it possible that Japan's defense policy may see a conversion from its exclusively defense-only posture to a more internationally proactive one. Against this backdrop, they are calling for tougher civilian control of the SDF, given the expectation that discussion will intensify on such issues as whether to stipulate a permanent law to make SDF dispatches overseas easier and whether to allow Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense.

Suspect tried to cover up dismemberment of sister's body

The 21-year-old cram school student arrested on suspicion of dismembering the corpse of his sister at their home in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward appears to have tried to cover up his deeds by wiping off bloodstains from the crime site, police sources said Friday.

Traces of bloodstains, having been wiped off in his room and on the hallway walls in the three-story house, indicate that Yuki Muto killed his 20-year-old sister Azumi in his room and dragged her body into the bathroom for dismemberment, the sources said.

Severed into more than 10 pieces, the victim's head, limbs and other body parts were found packed in four plastic bags in a closet and cabinet in Muto's room on the third floor on Wednesday.

Having placed an empty aquarium on top of the cabinet, Muto was quoted as telling his father that there could be a bad smell because a shark he had been given by a friend had died.

The saw and kitchen knife, believed to have been used for the dismemberment, were family utensils and were apparently placed back to his room and kitchen with the bloodstains wiped off after the crime, according to the sources.

Azumi's head had bruises that indicate she had been hit with a blunt instrument or had hit her head as she fell over, the sources said, adding that Muto has admitted to using force in handling her.

After being arrested Thursday, Muto confessed to killing her, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Both were living with their dentist parents and a 23-year-old brother in the building housing a dental clinic on the first floor and a residential space on the second and third floors.

Police have yet to ascertain how many days the victim had been dead, but believe her body was dismembered last Saturday.

The mother has told the police she spoke with her daughter Saturday afternoon through the intercom at the front entrance of their house.

The mother then left for a trip with her elder son on Saturday afternoon and the father left home Sunday night to join them. The three returned home Tuesday night.

Muto was also quoted by the sources as telling his father that he did not know where Azumi was when asked where she was.

Muto was quoted by the police as saying he killed his sister because she had accused him of "having no ambition."

Azumi lived in the three-story house with her dentist father Mamoru Muto, 62, her mother, 57, who is also a dentist, and two brothers — a university student aged 23 and the suspect.

The younger brother left home Sunday afternoon for Kanagawa Prefecture to take part in a cram school program for those planning to enter medical school slated to last through Jan 11, according to the police and other sources familiar with the case.

The mother and the elder brother left for a trip together Saturday afternoon and the father left home Sunday night to join them, according to the police. The three returned home Tuesday night.

Congressman to press for resolution to force Japan to acknowledge sex slave issue

A Californian congressman is planning to pass a resolution in the new Congress calling for Japan to formally acknowledge and accept responsibility for sexually enslaving women during World War II, the Hill newspaper reported Tuesday.

Japanese-American Rep Mike Honda says he will be prompting intense lobbying activities from the Korean-American community, which last year rallied behind the resolution sponsored by Evans, and from the Japanese government, which opposed the legislation.

The House International Relations Committee passed the controversial resolution last fall. Even though it did not have the force of law, it put the Japanese government on the defensive. Japan argues that it has already apologized and atoned for the treatment of what Tokyo calls "comfort women."

During its occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of WWII, Japan used as many as 200,000 young women from Korea, China, the Philippines and in some cases Western Europe for sexual servitude, a program designed to increase the efficiency and morale of the Japanese soldiers.

Honda's office is determined to reintroduce the resolution as soon as possible in the new Congress. "I look forward to seeking the justice the comfort women deserve," Honda, chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said.

Rep Tom Lantos (D-Calif), incoming chairman of the panel, supported the resolution last year and is expected to do so again.

A source close to the Korean-Asian community said that Honda, as a Japanese-American taking on the issue, could attract even more support. Honda has been known to take on human-rights issues related to Japan. Honda is not a member of the International Relations Committee.

In 1999, while still in the California state legislature, Honda was successful in passing an assembly joint resolution urging Japan to formally issue a "clear and unambiguous apology for the atrocious war crimes committed by its military during World War II," the Hill reported.

According to materials sent by the Japanese Embassy, the Japanese government has extended official apologies on several occasions. One came in 1994 from then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama during the 50-year commemoration of the war's end.

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sent personal letters to former comfort women to extend Japan's apology and remorse, according to the embassy.

A so-called Asian Women Fund was established in 1995, but supporters of the House resolution said that the fund is private and not a government fund. Tokyo argues that the fund was established with cooperation from the government and the Japanese people, and that the government contributed funds for the organization's operating costs as well as its medical welfare support projects.

Some of the former comfort women accepted compensation from the Asian Women Fund, but many have rejected it and have held protests in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

Some critics of the congressional action say that such a resolution goes beyond asking for an apology. It puts Japan on the defensive and creates tensions between the United States and Japan, America's top ally in Asia.

"This is not just about comfort women but also about Japan's alliance responsibility in the international community," said the source close to the Korean-American community.

J-Gov't to drop plan to allow for female monarch

The government is set to drop its plan to review imperial succession rules that bar women from succeeding to the throne, given the birth last year of the first boy in 41 years to the world's oldest hereditary monarchy, the Sankei Shimbun reported Wednesday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is paying little attention to a proposal that a government panel made in 2005 that included a recommendation to revise the Imperial House Law in order to give priority to firstborns, regardless of gender, the national daily said.

But the newspaper also said the government will continue necessary discussions on whether Japan can maintain a stable imperial succession relying only on the births of male heirs.

The panel, organized under the initiative of Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, to study ways to ensure a stable succession, was seen as paving the way for Princess Aiko, 5, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, to ascend the throne.

The Imperial House Law, enacted in 1947, stipulates that only male heirs who have emperors on their father's side can ascend the imperial throne.

The Sankei said that the situation changed after Princess Kiko gave birth to a boy in September.

The boy, named Prince Hisahito, is now third in line to the throne, following Crown Prince Naruhito, 46, his uncle, and his father Prince Akishino, 41.

Japanese fishing boat, crew return from Russia after detention

The skipper and crew members of a Japanese fishing boat returned home Monday from Russia after a 2-month-long detention for illegal fishing in Russia's exclusive economic waters in the Bering Sea.

The captain of the Gyokuryu Maru from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, told reporters after arriving at Kushiro port in eastern Hokkaido that the crew members have no health problems but declined to comment further. Russian authorities released the boat and the crew after the skipper paid a fine.

Abe enjoys 'Letters from Iwo Jima'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday enjoyed "Letters from Iwo Jima" at a Tokyo movie theater with his wife Akie and mother Yoko. After watching the movie that depicts the 1945 Battle of Iwojima, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, from the Japanese perspective, Abe told reporters that the last scene, in which letters left by Japanese soldiers for their families are dug out many years after the battle, was the most memorable.

"Love for families was put into the scene," Abe said. "It was a very good film." The movie is one of Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood's two films about the monthlong battle for the Pacific island. The other — "Flags of Our Fathers" — opened in Japan in late October and chronicles the stories of the six U.S. soldiers who raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi as a symbol of victory.

Shinzo Abe resolves to pass referendum for revising Constitution

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed determination in a New Year's statement on Monday to have legislation for a national referendum passed during the upcoming parliamentary session to pave the way for realizing his political goal of rewriting Japan's pacifist Constitution.

"I will ensure that the flame of reforms will keep on burning," Abe said, promising also to implement concrete measures to overhaul the education system and to carry out his reform plan to transfer surplus road-related tax revenues into general revenues available for a wider range of purposes.

Gifu firms illegally hired Brazilian immigrants' children

Two temporary-job placement agencies in Gifu Prefecture had hired 12 children of Brazilian immigrants of Japanese origin for factory work in violation of Japan's labor regulations, officials of the labor ministry's Gifu bureau said Friday.

The detection highlights the problem that many children among an increasing number of immigrant workers in Japan choose to work, rather than attend school, due to language problems and hardships in their families' livelihoods, experts say.

A local labor standards inspection office has already told the two firms to stop the violation and the children are no longer at work, according to the officials of the Gifu Prefecture Labor Bureau.

The two firms hired a total of 12 boys and girls aged 13 to 15 from around February at an hourly wage of 850 yen at the lowest, and sent them to factories of several companies in Gifu, including parts manufacturers, with which it has such service contracts, they said.

The Labor Standards Act bans employment of any children aged up to 15, regardless of their nationality, from the viewpoint of child protection.

Receiving a tip about the child labor, the Gifu labor standards inspection office checked the firms and detected the practice in November, the officials said.

The children were supposed to attend junior high school but were not going, saying they wanted to supplement family income rather than go to school as classes given in Japanese are difficult to understand and boring.

The firms involved have said they knew the ages of the children but hired them at the request of their parents who were struggling to make a living, they said.

Japan in 1990 began accepting immigrant workers of Japanese descent, mostly Brazilians, who had swelled to around 350,000 as of the end of 2005, many of whom are working at factories in manufacturing-oriented regions such as in central Japan.

There are about 20,000 foreign children of elementary, junior high and senior high school age who need to be provided with Japanese lessons, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry said.

But many of the children do not go to school because of language problems. International school, meanwhile, is expensive to attend, costing tens of thousands of yen a month, according to the experts.

Nearly 20% of children of immigrant workers are believed to stay away from school, aside from enrolled children who have stopped going to school, said an official of Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, which is an organizer of a meeting of local governments with large immigrant populations.

There are worries that illegal employment of immigrants' children might increase if the school attendance problem remains unaddressed, the official said.

Many immigrants used to go back to their home countries after working in Japan for a certain period, but have begun to settle in the country although it is generally still closed to immigration.

Record 44 sentenced to death in Japan in 2006

A record 44 people were sentenced to death in Japan this year, while capital punishment on 21 defendants was finalized, bringing the number of death row inmates to 94, also a record high, according to the Supreme Court and other sources.

The 21 defendants include Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, 51, who was convicted of masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and other charges, and Kaoru Kobayashi, 38, who murdered a 7-year-old girl in Nara Prefecture in 2004.

Watanabe eyes tougher 'amakudari' rules by end of Jan

Newly appointed administrative reform minister Yoshimi Watanabe said Friday he intends to formulate the framework of a bill to toughen rules on "amakudari," or the hiring of retired government officials by companies, possibly by the end of January.

"I will make a report to the Council on Fiscal and Economic Policy by the end of January or in early February at the latest," Watanabe told reporters after taking part in a TV talk show. Watanabe referred to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's initiative to eradicate a form of amakudari in which government entities give favors such as awarding contracts to effectively force companies to hire retired senior government officials.

Japanese man given death sentence in China for drug smuggling

A Japanese man has been sentenced to death by a court in Dalian, northeastern China, on charges of trying to smuggle 1.5 kilograms of stimulant drugs to Japan in 2003, Japanese officials said Friday. The man, only identified as a person in his 40s, pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal the ruling, according to the officials of the Dalian Branch Office of the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang.

The defendant was detained at Dalian airport in July 2003 over alleged possession of the drugs when he was about to board a flight to Osaka, they said. He was quoted as saying somebody asked him to carry them and that he did not know they were stimulant drugs.