Ozawa retracts resignation offer

Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa expressed his intention Tuesday to retract his earlier offer to step down and remain in his post as head of the largest opposition party, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said.
Hatoyama told reporters after meeting with Ozawa for a second day to try to convince him to stay in his post that the DPJ leader told him, "I feel as if I've embarrassed myself somewhat, but I would like to give it one more go." The development came just after Ozawa's aides said no conclusion had been reached following the talks between him and Hatoyama as well as acting presidents Naoto Kan and Azuma Koshiishi.

Shiga man, 69, arrested for threatening to bomb bullet train

Shiga Prefectural Police on Monday arrested temp-staff worker Takahiro Murakami, a 69-year-old resident of Omi-Hachiman, for allegedly threatening to bomb a West Japan Railway Co shinkansen. According to police, Murakami called JR West's customer center from his home on July 21, and threatened "Do you want me to blow up the shinkansen?" As a result, JR West conducted a search for any unusual objects between Shin-Kobe and Hakata stations.
Initially, Murakami called JR West to complain about its handling of a derailment accident on the Fukuchiyama Line in April 2005 that left 107 dead and more than 500 people injured. But, frustrated with the railway's response, he began to say he would blow up the shinkansen, according to police.

Book author ordered to compensate Nanjing Massacre victim for libel

The Tokyo District Court on Friday ordered the author of a book examining the Japanese military's atrocities in Nanjing in 1937 and its publisher to pay a combined 4 million yen in damages to a woman for discrediting her by giving readers the impression that she is not a witness to the incident despite her claiming to be so.


In handing down the ruling to Asia University Professor Shudo Higashinakano and publisher Tendensha, Presiding Judge Michiyo Miyokawa said that the book's description left a strong impression that the plaintiff, Xia Shuqin, only pretends to be a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre.

Miyokawa continued, "Its interpretation of materials is inappropriate, bringing about no valuable academic results, and the court cannot recognize any truth in the book or any reasons that can be believed as truth."

After receiving the decision, Higashinakano said, "It is extremely disappointing. I am planning to appeal the ruling."

About 13,000 copies of the book have been sold in Japan, and English and Chinese translations have been published.

According to the ruling, Xia claims to be the 8-year-old girl whose family was killed during wartime atrocities by the Japanese military referred to in a document written by an American priest and she is well-known for relating her experience.

However, the book argued that Xia was not the girl referred to.

In August last year, a Chinese court ordered Higashinakano and another Japanese author, and their publisher Tendensha to pay a total of 1.6 million yuan (23 million yen) in damages to Xia.

Fukuda orders legal review to ensure safety of food, others

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told his cabinet ministers Friday to implement a thorough review of Japan's laws and policies to ensure people's safety following a series of falsification incidents of food and other products, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said.
The ministers are urged to report soon after any review and if inadequacies are found, the government will consider legal revisions in the next Diet session, which convenes in January. If any areas require urgent attention, the government will work out concrete steps to handle them by the year's end under the direction of State Minister Fumio Kishida, who is in charge of quality-of-life policy affairs, Machimura said.

Nova to decide on support by next week; shows president's luxury office to media

OSAKA — Nova Corp, the collapsed largest foreign language school chain in Japan, wants to make a decision by next week on the selection of a supporter for its rehabilitation, a court-appointed Nova administrator said Tuesday. The administrator, Toshiaki Higashibata, said Nova has started negotiations with companies willing to support it, although he did not disclose their names.

Nova held talks in Tokyo with a company on Monday and in Osaka with two companies on Tuesday, Higashibata said at a news conference, adding there are some other firms that have offered support or showed willingness to take over part of Nova's operations.

Higashibata also said former Nova President Nozomu Sahashi, 56, sold all his shares in two firms under his effective control to one person around the time Nova filed for protection from creditors.

One of the two companies is an Osaka-based firm from which Nova purchased language school materials for sale to students, Higashibata said.

He said the Osaka company sold such materials to Nova at prices far higher than their original procurement prices. Nova had paid a total 8.2 billion yen to the Osaka company in the five years since 2002, he added.

"We understand there was a scheme to funnel money" to the Osaka company, Higashibata said.

He said there is a possibility that criminal charges could be brought against Sahashi for aggravated breach of trust.

The whereabouts of Sahashi, dismissed from the Nova board last Thursday, remains unknown.

Higashibata also allowed the media inside the Nova president's room at the company's administrative headquarters in Osaka. "We show this as an example of his (Sahashi) calling the company his own," he said.

At the back of the red-carpeted reception room of the 330-square-meter executive suit on the 20th floor of the building is a luxury private space including a dining room with a large-screen TV, a bathroom with a sauna, a Japanese-style tea room and a room with a double bed.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ordered Nova in June to suspend some of its operations as it judged the school's TV commercials were exaggerated.

Since then, Nova's student enrollment, which peaked at 480,000 in fiscal 2005, has declined rapidly and the company has delayed payments to employees.

Motorist arrested for throwing hot coffee over woman on street in Ibaraki

Police on Wednesday arrested a man for throwing hot coffee over a woman pedestrian from his car. According to police, Kenichi Hosoi, 30, is suspected to have thrown coffee from his car over the woman on the street around 7 a.m. on Oct 17. The woman was not injured. Hosoi has admitted to the allegation, saying, "I've been stressed out because of work."
About 10 similar cases, in which juice and urine were thrown over women from a car, have been reported since the beginning of October. Police are investigating Hosoi's involvement in those cases, as well. He was picked up for the Oct 17 incident after the victim gave the police a description of his car and license plate number.

Defense Ministry admits to mishandling of oil data error

The Defense Ministry admitted Monday to having mishandled an error in underreporting the amount of oil Japan provided to the United States in a 2003 refueling mission in the Indian Ocean — a fiasco that angered cabinet ministers as it had led them to make false public statements.

In a report submitted to both ruling and opposition parties, the ministry said it will set up a committee headed by Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba later Monday to deal with the problem and consider reprimanding relevant people, describing the matter as "a very serious problem concerning civilian control." The report said Maritime Self-Defense Force officers were aware on May 9, 2003 of the data input error regarding the controversial Feb 25, 2003 refueling mission, but failed to immediately report it to their superiors.
The amount of oil the MSDF supply ship Tokiwa gave to a U.S. oil tanker was first recorded in an MSDF document as 200,000 U.S. gallons. Top officials of the MSDF and the Defense Agency prepared statements on the refueling missions based on that figure.

Woman arrested for dropping 10-month-old son from 6th-floor apartment in Shiga

Police said Monday they have arrested a 32-year-old woman on a charge of attempted murder after she dropped her 10-month-old son from the 6th floor corridor outside their apartment Sunday night. Neighbors found the baby, Jinichi, lying near the building and called an ambulance. The baby survived the fall but remains unconscious with a broken neck in hospital.
The woman, identified as Kaoru Otani, was quoted as telling police: "I was stressed out from looking after him."
According to police, Otani lives with her husband and Jinichi. She told police that after the family returned home from an outing on Sunday, she had a sudden impulse to throw the baby off the 6th floor. She accompanied Jinichi to hospital, where police took her into custody.

sudoku

4 U.S. Marines suspected in gang rape of Hiroshima woman

Japanese police have started investigating four U.S. Marines from the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture on suspicion of gang raping a 19-year-old Japanese woman in Hiroshima earlier this month, police said Friday.


The four are suspected of assaulting the woman in a parked car early Sunday in the city's Naka Ward after they met her at an event hall in the same ward and took her out by the car, the Hiroshima prefectural police said.

The four had taken part in a dancing event at the hall late Saturday that had attracted about 300 to 400 people, according to the hall.

Hiroshima police are planning to request that the four men be transferred into their custody from the U.S. military, based on the provisions of a bilateral agreement that governs matters related to the U.S. military including its personnel.

Iwakuni Mayor Katsusuke Ihara said, "It is very regrettable if it is true. We will protest after confirming the facts."

The incident is likely to stiffen the opposition of Iwakuni residents to the Iwakuni base, although Ihara, who had been opposed to a relocation plan for U.S. carrier-based aircraft to Iwakuni air station, proposed to the government on Tuesday starting discussions on an agreement.

Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a news conference Friday, "Investigations are under way, but if it is true it is extremely regrettable."

The Iwakuni base released a statement saying it is aware of the allegations, is conducting its own investigation, and will fully cooperate with the relevant local authorities.

The U.S. Embassy in Japan issued a statement saying, "The U.S. Embassy and the U.S. forces in Japan are cooperating fully with Japanese authorities on this case."

"The U.S. forces in Japan and the U.S. government are committed to maintaining the highest standards of discipline for U.S. military personnel in Japan. We take reports of this nature very seriously," the statement said.

Koizumi fell to his knees before Bush at 2002 summit, book says

Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fell to his knees and prostrated himself before U.S. President George W Bush in a playful show of customary Japanese bowing during the 2002 summit of the Group of Eight major powers, a French photographer has written in a recently published book. Pascal Rostain relates this anecdote in the tell-all book "Scoop," which he co-authored with another renowned French photographer, Bruno Mouron.
The book, which gives the inside story of their news coverage, says Jacques Chirac, a well-known Japanophile, spoke of the different ways of bowing in Japan depending on who one is facing. Koizumi then came up in front of Bush and said the way to bow before you is this, and fell down on both his knees and prostrated himself. Rostain took a photograph of that moment but is not making it public saying it could shock the Japanese public.

Doctor questions initial police actions over sumo wrestler's death

A forensic doctor who performed an autopsy on a teenage sumo wrestler who died in June apparently from hazing questioned Sunday initial police actions for failing to suspect foul play.


Aichi prefectural police "returned the body without conducting an autopsy after accepting without question what the stablemaster and others had to say," said Koji Dewa, an associate professor at Niigata University who performed an autopsy at the request of the family of the wrestler, 17-year-old Takashi Saito. "I suspect they failed to miss some basics of investigations," said Dewa, who specializes in forensic medicine.

Saito, who had the ring name of Tokitaizan, was hospitalized in critical condition on June 26 after training at the Tokitsukaze stable in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, and was declared dead the same day.

The hospital determined that he died of heart failure, and police returned the body to the stable apparently without suspecting foul play or the possibility that fellow wrestlers and others at the stable may have been involved in the death.

The family of the dead wrestler, dissatisfied with the stable's explanations that bruises on the body stemmed from "regular training," asked the university to conduct an autopsy, and it was carried out June 28.

The autopsy raised suspicions over the death and the police are now working to build a criminal case against the stablemaster and some senior wrestlers of the stable on suspicion they were involved in the deadly hazing.

Dewa said, "Even if the clinical doctor who confirmed the death had not taken notice, a medical examiner from the prefectural police should have immediately noticed the suspicious nature of the death when they had a chance to see the bruises."

The autopsy found extensive internal bleeding in the shoulders, hips and other parts of Saito. The cause of his death was determined to be multiple traumatic shocks.

Dewa said a lack of doctors and investigators may have also contributed to what he calls the failure by police. "What with a lack of forensic medicine experts or complex procedures, a clinical physician may conclude a person has died of natural causes and the authorities tend to accept that view."

LDP's Nakatani calls opponents of refueling mission 'terrorists'

Gen Nakatani, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's security policy panel, enraged the opposition camp Sunday by calling opponents of Japan's antiterrorism refueling mission "terrorists" in criticizing the camp dissenting against the mission.
"Only terrorists would oppose this," Nakatani, chairman of the LDP Research Commission on Security, said on a Fuji TV talk show, emphasizing a view that it is significant for Japan to continue refueling ships of countries taking part in the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.

Commuters get free access after glitches hit ticket gates at over 400 train stations

Automated ticket gates at more than 400 railway and subway stations in the Tokyo area failed to work Friday morning, forcing operators to give commuters free access at major stations, the operators said. It was the first major glitch involving more than one rail system since the Pasmo rechargeable IC fare cards debuted and became interchangeable with the Suica card of East Japan Railway Co in March.

Since service at the gates was restored by severing them from the computer servers for Suica and Pasmo, the glitch is seen as stemming from a networking problem. Though the gates failed to operate after the power was turned on at the start of the day's service, no train services were disrupted. All gates were restored on the Tokyo Metro subway at around 9:20 a.m. and JR East stations at around 10 a.m. JR East said the trouble occurred at about 150 JR stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including Omiya in Saitama Prefecture, Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture and Utsunomiya in Tochigi Prefecture.

About 100 stations in the subway system run by the Tokyo metropolitan government and 48 stations of Tokyo Metro Co were affected, as well as some of the stations operated by Tokyu Corp, Seibu Railway Co, Tobu Railway Co, Keisei Electric Railway Co and Tokyo Monorail Co., they said.

Sexual experience among girls on the rise, but abortions decline

Amid a flood of biased information about sex, an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and increases in sex crimes, the Japan Society of Adolescentology is tackling the problem of teenage sex and how to protect their health.

In a survey about the sexual behavior of young people conducted by the Japanese Association for Sex Education since 1974, Kazuo Katase, a professor at Tohoku Gakuin University, said, "Since the 1990s, girls have been more sexually active, narrowing the gap between men and women."

"This is chiefly because of social influences such as the popularization of the Internet and mobile phones," he said at a recent meeting of the society at Jikei University in Tokyo.

The association has been conducting surveys of 5,000 junior and senior high school and university students across the country every six years, and the most recent survey was conducted in 2005.

The rate of sexual experiences among senior high school and university students has increased from 1974 to 1999, with the rate among boys higher than among girls. But the rate among male university students, which stood at 63% in 1999, declined to 61% in 2005, and the rate among male senior high school students was 27% in both years.

On the other hand, the rate among female university students went up from 51% in 1999 to 61 percent in 2005, and among female senior high school students from 24% to 30%.

The 2005 survey also found that the increased use of cell phone emails has led to more sexual activity.

Yukihiro Murase, a lecturer at Hitotsubashi University, said, "The pattern that boys are active and girls are passive in sexual behavior remains unchanged. The importance is the changes in the consciousness of boys, who are likely to get biased information about sex from adult videos and other sources."

Shoichi Onodera, a professor at Jikei University, reported on the conditions of sexually transmitted diseases and said, "There are many asymptomatic people who do not visit medical institutions."

In a survey of about 5,000 senior high school students, 13% of girls and 7% of boys were infected with asymptomatic Chlamydia.

According to a survey by a research team at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there were requests such as "I want to check at home," "I don't want my parents to know" and "I want a consultation by mobile phone."

Onodera said, "It is necessary to have medical institutions in each area that young people can easily visit for checkups, and a contact point, where they can consult about checkup methods, including consultations by email."

Meanwhile, the abortion rate among teenagers appears to be decreasing. Since the peak year of 1955, when there were about 1.17 million cases of abortion domestically, abortion has been decreasing.

But abortion among teenagers began to increase sharply in the mid-1990s. In 1995, the rate of abortion among girls aged 15 to 19 was 6.2 per 1,000, but it more than doubled to 13.0 in 2001. However, since 2002 the rate has been decreasing and was 9.6 in 2005.

Kunio Kitamura, director of the Japan Family Planning Association Clinic, and others carried out a survey of about 800 obstetrics and gynecological facilities across the country in January this year, and 72% of them replied that the rate of abortion has decreased among women under 20 years old.

The decrease was attributed to the popularization of emergency contraception, popularly known as the morning-after pill which can be taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse to avoid pregnancy, and the "effects of sex education."

Kitamura said, "To decrease the rate of overall abortion not limited to teenagers, the popularization of low-dose birth control pills, or oral contraceptives, and emergency contraception is necessary." (Kyodo News)

Man sprays tear gas on train from Tokyo after fight; several injured

A man became involved in a fight with another passenger on a Japan Railway train to a Tokyo suburb Wednesday evening and used what is thought to be a tear gas spray before fleeing when the train stopped, leaving several passengers in need of hospital treatment for sore eyes and throats, police said.

The incident took place at around 9:15 p.m. when the JR Tokaido Line train from Tokyo was traveling on a section between Kawasaki and Yokohama stations, both in Kanagawa Prefecture, police said. (Kyodo News)

All opposition parties to vote for Ozawa in PM election

Japan's four opposition parties agreed Thursday to vote for Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa to become the country's next prime minister, when a runoff election is held next Tuesday in the House of Councillors.

But the opposition move is not expected to threaten the chances of the new Liberal Democratic Party president succeeding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and forming a new cabinet on Tuesday, as the LDP holds a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives. In the event that the choice of the two houses differs, a joint committee of will be held — for the first time since 1998 — and if no agreement is reached, the choice of the lower house will prevail under Japan's Constitution. (Kyodo News)

Fukuda, Aso campaign in Osaka, with emphasis on resolving abduction issue

Two candidates seeking to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took to the streets in Osaka Monday to kick start their campaign in local cities for the Sept 23 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, with both Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Aso stressing their will to resolve the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals.

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda, known for his dovish stance on diplomacy, reiterated his call for a flexible approach in resolving the issue, while the more hawkish LDP Secretary General Aso defended the pressure-oriented approach as the correct way and that it has achieved results.

Referring to the 2002 landmark summit between Japan and North Korea that resulted in the return of five abductees to Japan, Fukuda said the issue has been deadlocked ever since and he is willing to make further progress in negotiating with North Korea.

"Five of the abducted people have returned, but, unfortunately, we have seen no progress since then," he said.

"I am willing to resolve the issue with my full determination. We will be able to normalize diplomatic relations with North Korea when all of the abducted people have returned and North Korea's nuclear and missile issues have been resolved," he said.

Meanwhile, Aso said the past and current pressure-oriented approach has worked, referring to the U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution after North Korea conducted its nuclear test in October 2006 and the subsequent resumption of the six-party nuclear talks and the launch of a Japan-North Korea working group on normalizing ties.

"The abducted people still remain in North Korea but the situation is not seeing any setbacks," he said.

"We hear the need for a "dialogue" all the time, but we've never arrived at negotiations without a certain amount of pressure. We have to learn from the experience."

In the wake of North Korea's missile firings and nuclear experiment last year, Japan has issued economic sanctions banning the entry of North Korean ships into Japan. (Kyodo News)

Fukuda, Aso give campaign speeches; public reaction varies

Two candidates seeking to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took to the streets Sunday for the first time ahead of the Sept 23 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, with Yasuo Fukuda stressing the need to regain public trust in politics and Taro Aso calling for the importance of helping ailing regional economies.

More than 10,000 people gathered in front of JR Shibuya Station in Tokyo to catch a glimpse of the two, with some preferring former Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda due to his "mature" image amid hopes for more "stable" politics, and others supporting LDP Secretary General Aso because he has presented "more realistic policies."

Earlier in the day, the two candidates presented their platforms to fellow LDP lawmakers and local chapter representatives, whose votes will decide the winner.

Fukuda, known for his dovish stance on diplomacy, reiterated his call for amiable relations with other countries, while the more hawkish Aso emphasized the need to continue a tough stance on North Korea and that he is "determined in not giving up" on pressing the North to come clean with its past abductions of Japanese nationals.

Fukuda, the front-runner who has gained support from most of the LDP factions, also said, "If I'm given the opportunity to be party president, I'll devise and implement firm policies" from the people's viewpoint, stressing that reforms cannot be implemented without public confidence.

During a TV program in the morning, the 71-year-old Fukuda also indicated that if elected, he will not make major changes to the cabinet lineup that Abe reshuffled just last month.

The 66-year-old Aso, while emphasizing priority on drawing forth the potentials of local economies, also called for support by saying, "Never before has Japan been in such a crisis and in need of a strong leader. What we need is a strong and dependable leader, not simply a stable leader."

The cutting remark was apparently aimed at his opponent, who has admitted he decided to run in the election only because others asked him to.

But hearing the two candidates present their future visions in a stump speech in Shibuya, many said they were expecting "stability" in politics after seeing Abe's administration crumble in less than a year mired with scandals and gaffes of his key cabinet ministers.

Tsuneharu Teramachi, a 60-year-old LDP supporter who came from Tokyo's Shinagawa to listen to the street campaign with his wife, said, "Mr Aso sounded more convincing with his speech, but I think after all Mr Fukuda is better because he will offer more stability."

"What we need is someone who can stay in office for a longer term," he said.

A 65-year-old housewife who came shopping to Shibuya said she supports Fukuda because she no longer expects a populist politician but a leader who is "low-key and can do work steadily."

She also said she felt Aso has damaged his own image because he was working closely with Abe and failed to stop Abe from abruptly announcing his resignation on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, some expressed support for Aso. Naohiro Sawa, a 26-year-old company employee living in Tokyo, said, "I think Mr Aso has been showing his policies more in detail, compared with Mr Fukuda."

A 57-year-old woman also said Aso showed more "realistic" views in pension and other issues, and added she was attracted to Aso's "passion" in seeking the prime minister's post.

She also said she felt the "old-LDP characteristic of backroom dealing" emerging, when most of the factions flocked to give their backing to Fukuda while Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, who initially expressed his intention to run in the election, eventually decided not to do so.

Meanwhile, others said they still hope Abe's predecessor Junichiro Koizumi will become prime minister again.

"Mr Koizumi had the image to keep going on even when he was cornered. He was not the type of prime minister seen in the past," said Yuji Hirano, a 20-year-old university student.

Voting will begin at 2 p.m. Sept 23, with the 387 eligible LDP lawmakers each given one ballot and the 47 prefectural chapters given three each to reflect the choices of rank-and-file members.

The winner of the LDP presidential election is assured the post of premiership given the party's control of the House of Representatives, which has the final say in choosing the prime minister. (Kyodo News)

LDP vote set for Sept 23 as Aso, Fukuda, Nukaga vie for PM's job

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided Thursday to choose a successor on Sept 23 to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who abruptly announced his resignation the previous day, while party members scrambled to field candidates.

While LDP Secretary General Taro Aso, 66, has already been deemed by many as a major contender in the run-up to the party's official acceptance of candidates Saturday, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, 71, decided Thursday afternoon to run in the party presidential election and asked his colleagues to support his bid, party sources said.

Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, 63, has also expressed his intention to run in the race, while former Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, 62, who ran in last year's LDP presidential race along with Abe and Aso, is also said to be considering joining the battle.

Among those figures, Fukuda and Tanigaki have stressed the importance of promoting amicable relations with Asian neighbors.

Aso, a former foreign minister known as a manga enthusiast, is expected to announce his candidacy Friday.

Executives of 13 of the LDP's 47 prefectural chapters prefer Aso as the successor to Abe, a Kyodo News poll showed Thursday.

Executives of 32 chapters, however, did not offer any specific name as an appropriate successor, saying a lineup of candidates has not yet been officially set.

LDP Diet members and the local chapters will be allocated votes in the Sept 23 party election.

Despite the trend, some LDP members are willing to support a candidate who would counter Aso.

Former LDP Secretary General Makoto Koga said he would support Fukuda, citing that Aso should "inevitably hold responsibility for the Abe administration." Aso was until recently foreign minister under Abe.

The LDP will announce Friday the formalities of the leadership election, according to a decision made Thursday afternoon by its General Council.

Other names being floated as potential candidates include former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, but Koizumi has ruled out seeking the premiership again.

Key issues in the LDP presidential election are likely to include ways to ensure refueling support by Japanese defense vessels for U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan and measures to shore up the party base after the devastating setback in the July 29 House of Councillors election, in which the ruling coalition lost its majority in the upper house.

Fielding a candidate for the LDP presidential election requires endorsement by at least 20 LDP members in the Diet. The LDP president will effectively be prime minister as the party controls the House of Representatives, which can override upper house decisions.

While a vote to choose the party's next leader was initially envisaged for Wednesday, the schedule was revised as some members called for more time.

Senior members of three LDP party factions urged Fukuda by phone earlier in the day to run in the election and Fukuda had confirmed his intention to do so, the party sources said.

A group of junior party lawmakers decided Thursday morning to hand a petition to Koizumi requesting that he assume the leadership again, but he was quoted as telling a young lawmaker, "I will not run. Look for another person."

Koizumi was also quoted as telling former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori that his not running in the election is "100%" certain, a party lawmaker said.

Mori, who is a senior member of the LDP's largest faction led by Machimura, indicated during the faction's meeting Thursday that Machimura should not file his candidacy.

"I think we should not field a candidate from the outset, but only when we have a request from other factions," he said.

Nukaga said in a meeting of his own faction that he wants to "fight to make a new Japan" and informed Mikio Aoki, a party heavyweight and former chairman of the LDP caucus in the House of Councillors, by telephone earlier in the day about his intention to run.

But Aoki did not give him a clear response, saying he needs to assess the situation in the party, party sources said. (Kyodo News)

LDP to hold presidential election Sept 19 to choose Abe's successor

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is arranging for a presidential election on Sept 19 to choose the successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced his resignation Wednesday, a senior LDP member said.

Abe said he was resigning to take responsibility for causing political uncertainty, saying it would be difficult for him to regain public trust and secure an extension of Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean.

"I determined today to step down," a visibly weary Abe said at a hastily arranged press conference. "I reshuffled the cabinet in order to push forward with reforms but under the current situation it has become difficult for me to secure the people's support and trust to vigorously implement policies."

Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said at a news conference later that Abe's health was also a reason behind his resignation, saying the premier has been distressed trying to balance his duties and his physical condition.

LDP Secretary General Taro Aso told party executives that the new leader must be chosen "urgently to avoid creating a political vacuum."

Wednesday's announcement, made after Abe abruptly canceled a question-and-answer session in parliament with opposition lawmakers, came as a surprise as Abe had just reiterated his determination to pursue his duties and political goals in a policy address Monday when the extraordinary Diet session convened.

The timing of his decision also puzzled many in both the ruling and opposition camps, given the fact that Abe had until now refused to resign on various other occasions despite strong pressure, such as the ruling coalition's heavy defeat in the House of Councillors election in July, a spate of resignations of Cabinet ministers, and endless money scandals involving key members of his administration.

Abe, who took office only a year ago, said it is better if he steps down and a new prime minister pursues a new law for the extension as well as other policy matters, adding he hopes that with his resignation the ruling LDP can generate new energy to deal with the political gridlock with the opposition.

"I think that having a new prime minister attend the upcoming U.N. General Assembly will perhaps bring about change," he said, referring to the gathering of world leaders in New York later this month.

Abe also cited a rejection by opposition Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa to hold a meeting on the extension issue. Ozawa has repeatedly said he is against an extension and the opposition plans to block the bill in the upper house where it holds a majority.

"I made up my mind that I must bring change to the current situation by stepping down, because unfortunately today a meeting with the opposition leader could not be realized," the premier said, pausing three times along the way as he spoke.

"With this, I decided that I cannot fulfill my promises and that perhaps my being prime minister has become an obstacle" to winning an extension in parliament, he said.

Meanwhile, Ozawa stressed at a separate news conference that the DPJ's opposition to the extension remains unchanged, saying, "There is no way that our thinking will change because of a change in the Liberal Democratic Party."

Abe's decision to resign comes after he indicated over the weekend that he was ready to step down if he failed to get the Diet to extend the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission to support U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and near Afghanistan beyond the Nov 1 deadline.

Meanwhile, Yosano, the top government spokesman, declined to discuss the specifics of Abe's health problem but said the premier's condition had deteriorated, especially after his three-nation Asia visit in late August. But Yosano noted that it was not a psychological issue.

"I have spoken with the premier many times since Monday and I felt that he wanted to convey something to me. But as we always focused on how to get the antiterrorism special measures law passed, I wasn't able to catch the subtle signals," Yosano said. "I remember all the scenes and now that I think about it, those were indeed the signals."

Asked to elaborate, Yosano cited one episode when he proposed to Abe how to proceed with extending the antiterrorism support mission, and the premier replied, "But even so, the circumstances are extremely difficult."

The LDP's Aso said that Abe told him Monday of his intention to step down but that he encouraged him then to stay on.

Since the July election defeat when the ruling bloc lost its majority in the upper house, Abe had refused to step down and clung to power. He eventually reshuffled his scandal-tainted cabinet and LDP leadership on Aug. 27 and vowed to "start anew."

But he continued to face difficulties with more scandals surfacing immediately after the reshuffle, notably one involving the misuse of farm subsidies that led to the resignation of the newly named agriculture minister.

Other scandals involving ministers' political funds also came to light, providing fuel for the opposition camp to pursue Abe's responsibility and to plan a censure motion against Abe at the just-convened parliament session.

Abe took office on Sept 26 last year with his major political goals being to revise the pacifist Constitution and revamp the education system to instill more patriotism into children under his slogan of freeing Japan from its "postwar regime."

Within weeks of becoming prime minister, Abe succeeded in mending fences with China and South Korea by visiting both countries, warming ties that had chilled for years under his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi.

However, money scandals and various gaffes soon plagued his administration, with the first minister resigning in December. Another committed suicide in May, and three others have resigned since then.

Abe faced strong criticism for his handling of the government's massive record-keeping blunder with public pension accounts and the lack of concrete policies to revitalize local economies and improve social disparities.

His administration's failure to attend to the public's concerns over daily livelihoods instead of political ideals was seen as a major factor in the July election, in which the LDP suffered a historic defeat. (Kyodo News)

Imperial Household Agency reprimands staffer for altering Wikipedia entry

The Imperial Household Agency has reprimanded an employee for deleting a line in an entry in the Wikipedia online encyclopedia critical of the agency, a senior agency official said Monday. Noriyuki Kazaoka, vice grand steward of the government agency overseeing official duties and other matters of the imperial family, said the employee, whose name was withheld, has been warned verbally. Kazaoka said the deletion concerned the Japanese-language entry on imperial tombs that referred to restrictions on access to, and excavating, them by researchers. The employee accessed the website using a computer of the agency and struck out a line that said, "There is a view that the Imperial Household Agency may be afraid that historical facts may be discovered that could shake the foundation of the imperial system," according to Kazaoka. He said: "The use of personal computers for purposes other than administrative clerical work is banned."

2 doctors perform surgery on wrong side of woman's head

Two doctors at a hospital in Shimane Prefecture mistakenly performed surgery on the wrong side of the head of a female patient who was suffering from an acute subdural hematoma, leading to a 40-minute delay in the removal of a blood tumor, the hospital said Sunday in a report on the incident.

The woman in her 80s, who was taken to the Matsue Red Cross Hospital in an unconscious state in May, had a blood tumor on the left side of her head, but the two doctors mainly involved in the surgery mistakenly thought they had to operate on the right side, the report said.

The neurosurgeon in charge of the craniotrypesis surgery noticed the mistake only after he failed to find the tumor on the right side of the patient's head.

The woman has been making good progress since the operation, but in its investigative report, the hospital's council, consisting of outside experts, did not rule out the possibility that a delay in removing a blood tumor could affect the human body.

The hospital has apologized both to the woman, who is still hospitalized, and her family.

Kohei Hata, the director of the hospital, told Kyodo News, "We deeply apologize. We will make sure confirmation is received and try to prevent a recurrence."

The hospital said in its incident report that the woman fell as she was getting out of a car at around 4 p.m. on May 23. She was taken to the hospital and diagnosed as suffering from a brain contusion and acute subdural hematoma on the left side of her head following a scan using computerized tomography.

But the doctor at the emergency department mistakenly shaved the right side of the woman's head and the doctor in charge of the surgery did not notice the mistake and started to operate without confirming the results of the CT scan.

Once the mistake was discovered, the doctor explained what had happened to the patient's family and reattached the mistakenly removed skull fragment from the right side of the head. The doctor then conducted the operation on the left side of the woman's head.

The operation ended shortly after 10 p.m. the same day.

Following the incident, the hospital has produced a new set of guidelines to prevent doctors from repeating such mistakes which include requiring doctors to announce the location of surgery before the commencement of an operation.

2 ministers admit errors in financial reports; Abe downplays them

Two ministers, who took office in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet reshuffle last week, acknowledged Wednesday errors in their asset disclosure reports, but Abe downplayed the incident, in an attempt to ward off more resignations.

Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita admitted that he had failed to report outstanding loans to his own political fund management organization, followed by similar errors reported the same day by Yoko Kamikawa, minister in charge of declining population.

Kamoshita also said his fund management body reported erroneous sums about the loans and apologized, saying he would correct all the reports.

Following Monday's resignations by Takehiko Endo as farm minister and Yukiko Sakamoto as parliamentary foreign secretary over "money and politics" scandals, coupled with Tuesday's resignation by Abe's party colleague Yutaka Kobayashi as parliamentarian over an alleged election violation, a sense of crisis on the fate of the administration is spreading within the ruling coalition.

The string of problems prompted main opposition Democratic Party of Japan policy chief Masayuki Naoshima to call for Abe's resignation and his cabinet to resign en masse.

But when asked by reporters if Kamoshita should leave the cabinet over the issue, Abe said, "That would not be the case if it is an error in recording."

Admitting that his political funds administration was sloppy in the past, Kamoshita, 58, said, "I apologize for the mistakes and will immediately correct them," but he did not show any intention of stepping down. "I would like to continue working as environment minister," he added.

According to Kamoshita, he extended a 2 million yen loan to his fund management organization in 1996, 10 million yen in 1997 and 3 million yen in 1998, but he failed to report them in his asset disclosure reports.

As none of the loans has been repaid, the organization should also have reported for these loans an outstanding debt of 12 million yen in 1997 and 15 million yen in 1998. However, its annual political funds reports said the amount of borrowed money stood at 2 million yen in 1996, 10 million yen in 1997 and has totaled 23 million yen since 1998.

The errors came to light as the organization's 2003-2005 political funds reports submitted to the authorities showed it borrowed 10 million yen from Kamoshita on Aug 10, 1996, while its 1996 report says it borrowed only 2 million yen from him.

Asked if the 8 million yen in difference was not a murky expenditure that he wants to remain unaccounted for, Kamoshita denied the possibility, saying he is confident the sum he extended in 1996 was 2 million yen based on consistency with cash flows described in the report.

First elected to the House of Representatives in 1993, he said he was at the time using his own money earned as a medical doctor to make up for political fund shortages due to a lack of political donations.

"I should have separated the accounting more strictly, and I regret that," he told reporters.

Also attributing the faults to changes in his accountant each year, Kamoshita said in a statement, "I myself will check the reports from now on and be careful not to repeat such mistakes."

Later on Wednesday, Kamikawa filed corrections for three of her asset disclosure reports, saying she had failed to report 9.68 million yen in loans to her funds management organization in the December 2000 report, 11.18 million yen in April 2004 and 7.98 million yen in February 2006.

Her office attributed the faults to internal miscommunications.

Commenting on Kamoshita's case, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said in his press conference, "It is absolutely not the fact that he made mistakes intentionally or presented erroneous figures in order to intentionally cover up something," while urging lawmakers to "strive to reduce" such errors.

Kamoshita, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party serving his fifth term in the lower chamber, was appointed environment minister in the Aug 27 cabinet reshuffle, by which Abe attempted to reinvigorate his embattled administration.

Abe made it clear at the inauguration of the new cabinet that any minister who is unable to explain himself fully in the case of a scandal will have to resign.

Endo resigned Monday as agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister only a week after taking office, after a farmers' mutual aid organization he was heading was found to have improperly received state subsidies by padding the number of members.

Sakamoto stepped down from her post Monday after reports from a campaign office in Shizuoka that showed she had inflated political expenditures, and former farm minister Tokuichiro Tamazawa left the LDP the same day, also over accounting irregularities concerning political funds reports.

On Tuesday, Kobayashi resigned as a House of Councillors member to take responsibility for the indictment of his staff over an alleged election violation in the campaigning for the July 29 upper house election.

Concerns that Abe may be forced to call a snap House of Representatives election later this year have begun to spread in the LDP with Kobayashi's resignation, but Wednesday's development prompted worries that are being voiced open even within the cabinet.

"If problems continue to surface one after another, the handling of the government will become extremely difficult," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said.

Japan stresses abduction issue at APEC

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Tuesday stressed the importance of resolving the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals when he met his counterparts and senior officials from 11 Asia-Pacific nations over dinner in Sydney, Japanese officials said.
Representatives from many of the countries, in response, expressed high hopes that Japan-North Korea relations will move forward, including the pending abduction issue, toward normalizing diplomatic ties, the officials said.

5 cases of hospitals refusing pregnant women reported in Sapporo

Sapporo hospitals refused four pregnant women last year, though the women were taken to them in emergency condition, the city government said Tuesday. None of the women suffered miscarriages, but one in her teens was rejected 11 times and it took her 90 minutes to reach a hospital after calling an ambulance.


A fifth woman, who was pregnant, was also rejected in the reporting year, the local authority said. The announcement came after a pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage last week after nine hospitals refused to admit her and an ambulance carrying her collided with a minivan in Osaka while on its way to yet another hospital. It took her three hours to finally reach the 10th hospital.

Shiozaki's office staffer embezzled Y6.3 mil

A staff member at Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki's parliamentary office has embezzled about 6.3 million yen in political funds and double booked expenses in funding reports in 2005 as a coverup, the lawmaker's office said Monday.


"I myself am very shocked and find it regrettable that something like this has happened," Shiozaki said in a statement. "I will deeply reflect on my responsibilities to manage and supervise, and will make utmost efforts to investigate the situation and prevent a recurrence." Shiozaki's office said the staff member embezzled political funds of the LDP branch in Ehime Prefecture's No. 1 constituency, which Shiozaki heads, for private use. In order to conceal the embezzlement, the staff member double booked 6.27 million yen of expenses registered in the office's election campaign expenditure report in 2005 into the LDP branch's political funding report the same year, the office said.

DPJ takes control of upper house

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan took control of the House of Councillors for the first time Tuesday with senior DPJ lawmaker Satsuki Eda elected president of the chamber, marking the start of political gridlock between the ruling and opposition camps. As parliament convened for a short post-election extraordinary session, Eda, 66, became the first person from outside the Liberal Democratic Party to assume the post since 1956.


The DPJ secured the presidency as the largest party in the upper house after the ruling LDP and its coalition ally, the New Komeito party, lost their majority in the upper chamber in the election on July 29. "We are faced with an unprecedented political situation and the public's expectations regarding the House of Councillors are extremely high," Eda said in his inaugural speech. "I will work for the smooth operation of parliament based on the principles of fairness and impartiality." For vice president, the upper chamber picked Akiko Santo of the LDP, now the second-largest party in the house. In line with parliamentary practice, both Eda and Santo left their parties in assuming their posts.

U.N. nuclear inspectors to check quake-hit Japanese power station

An inspection team of the International Atomic Energy Agency is planning to make a five-day visit from Monday to check a Japanese nuclear power station that was hit hard by an earthquake last month, government sources said Thursday. The team is expected to comprise two anti-quake measures specialists from the Vienna-based organization's Nuclear Safety and Security Department and three experts from the United States and Europe, the sources said.


The team is expected to produce a report on its findings on Tokyo Electric Power Co's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, which reported minor radiation leaks after the magnitude 6.8 quake. According to the agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog proposed to Japan on July 19 that it participate in Japanese investigations with a view to sharing information, although it is aware that Japan is capable of conducting investigations on its own.

Gov't calls U.S. resolution on apology to sex slaves 'regrettable'

The Japanese government on Tuesday described as "regrettable" the U.S. House of Representatives' approval of a resolution calling on Japan to apologize for its wartime sexual enslavement, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe neither apologized nor protested.


"Regarding this issue, I explained during my visit to the United States in April my views as well as the response the Japanese government has taken so far. The approval of the resolution was regrettable," Abe said in response to reporters' questions. Asked if Japan would comply with an apology to the victims, known euphemistically in Japan as "comfort women," Abe only said, "The 20th century was an era during which human rights were violated. What is important is to make the 21st century a bright one for the world where there will be no human rights violations."

U.S. gov't hopes to continue working with Abe

The United States hopes to continue working with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe despite his ruling coalition's humiliating defeat in Sunday's House of Councillors election, a State Department spokesman said Monday.


"The United States has a strong relationship with Japan that goes back many years. We expect we'll be continuing to work with the prime minister and his government as things move forward," Tom Casey said at a news briefing. "In terms of what this election means or signifies for the Japanese political system, I'll leave that to the politicians and the analysts in Japan," he added.

Abe promises to reshuffle cabinet, leadership after LDP lets him stay PM

Gaining his ruling coalition's go-head to stay in office despite a historic election defeat, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Monday to reshuffle his cabinet and his party's executive posts at "an appropriate time," and ruled out an early dissolution of the House of Representatives for a general election.

Earlier in the day, Abe's Liberal Democratic Party decided at a top executive meeting to allow him to remain as prime minister and the party's president, and the LDP and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, reaffirmed that they will maintain their partnership and support the Abe administration.

"I will keep promoting reforms. I expect senior LDP officials to tackle the issue of money and politics more vigorously," Abe told the executive meeting, held a day after the LDP's crushing defeat in the Sunday's House of Councillors election.

The LDP also decided to discuss with the opposition bloc about convening an extraordinary Diet session for four days from Aug 7 after new members of the upper house were elected.

Speaking later at a press conference at LDP headquarters in Tokyo, Abe said, "It is the people's wish to have us reflect on the things we should reflect on and to refresh our minds. I would like to have a cabinet reshuffle and appoint new party executives at an appropriate time."

Asked whether he intends to dissolve the more powerful lower house, he said, "Two years are left in the House of Representatives' term and it is important to achieve things...but, of course, I'm thinking of holding a House of Representatives election at an appropriate time and go to the people."

The Abe administration is expected to face strong pressure to dissolve the lower house from the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which topped the LDP to become a party with the largest number of upper house seats.

While the LDP-led coalition lost its majority in the upper chamber for the first time since 1998 in Sunday's election, it still has a comfortable majority in the lower house, which has greater legislative power and the final say on the state budget and the election of a prime minister.

Also brushing aside possible political confusion over legislative procedures and other matters in the Diet, Abe said he wants to seek cooperation with the DPJ by listening to its views on legislative issues.

Abe attributed the defeat to pension-related problems and scandals over political funds which involved cabinet ministers.

The prime minister admitted the election showed "the public does not feel enough" about the revision of the Political Funds Control Law that was passed in the last Diet session in addressing problems linking politics and money.

2,000 tons of water flowed into reactor building after quake

About 2,000 tons of water flowed into the building housing one of the seven reactors at the world's largest nuclear power station in Niigata Prefecture operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. after it was hit by the earthquake last week, company officials said Tuesday.


The officials said no radioactive substances have been detected in the leaked water and that there is no danger of radioactive leakage from the building, which is kept pressurized. The magnitude-6.8 earthquake on July 16 damaged underground water pipes for firefighting just outside the building housing the 1,100 megawatt No. 1 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station. The plant is located in the city of Kashiwazaki and the village of Kariwa along the Sea of Japan coast.

4 people found dead in Osaka, murder-suicide suspected

A resident of a condominium unit was found collapsed in front of the condominium building in Osaka's Higashiyodogawa Ward on Friday afternoon and later confirmed dead, while a woman and two children were later found dead in the condo, police said. A custodian of the building found the man just after 1 p.m. and called for an ambulance, the police said. The man was identified as Nobuyuki Hirota, a 34-year-old electrical engineer who lived on the third floor of the nine-story building.


In a room of the condominium unit, the police later found the bodies of Hirota's pregnant wife Kazue and their two children Sora, 5, and Nanami, 2. All three showed signs of having been strangled and were lying side by side with both hands placed on their chests, the police said. A mobile phone found near Kazue's body contained an unsent text message that said, "I've decided to die after consultation with my wife. I can no longer take it. I am sorry for the children." Kazue was expected to give birth in September. The police suspect the man killed the three before committing suicide by jumping from the top floor of the condominium building. Hirota had a debt of several million yen, the police said.

11-year-old girl stabbed by man in school in Miyagi Pref.

An 11-year-old girl was seriously injured after being stabbed in the abdomen by a man in an elementary school in Osato, Miyagi Prefecture, Friday morning, police said.
The sixth grader is conscious and her life is not in danger, the police said.
The man, who is in his 50s, has been detained and is being questioned, they said.
A closing ceremony for the first semester was due to be held at the school Friday.

News about Japan in Italian Language can be found at Giapponenews.com

Top court lets death sentence stand for former AUM Shinriyko member

The Supreme Court on Friday let the death sentence stand for Masato Yokoyama, a former key member of the AUM Shinrikyo group who was involved in perpetrating the deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995.
The court rejected an appeal by the 43-year-old defendant. He is the third AUM group member for whom Publish Postthe death sentence has been confirmed.

Teachers' suit against action over Hinomaru, 'Kimigayo' rejected

The Tokyo District Court turned down Thursday a damages suit filed by a group of teachers in Tokyo who had claimed that their constitutional rights had been infringed upon for being punished and forced to go through a retraining program after they had refused to stand up and face the Hinomaru national flag and to sing the "Kimigayo" anthem at school events.


Presiding Judge Shigeru Nakanishi, acting on the suit by a group of 130 teachers at schools run by the Tokyo metropolitan government, rejected the plaintiffs' demand for the payment of 10,000 yen each in damages.

Fujimori confident of being elected in Japan; Dewi Sukarno campaigns for him

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, running for a position in the upper house in the Japanese national elections while under house arrest in Chile, said Wednesday he would like to make use of his political experiences for Japan as election campaigning started in Japan. "I believe Japanese voters have come to realize that I am innocent. I am convinced of getting elected," he said.

But Fujimori, 68, does not have much of a chance to appeal to voters in Japan in person as he is not allowed to go out except in emergencies such as sickness. He does not appear perturbed by such a situation however, saying he is "supported by Japanese friends and staff at the party" that has fielded him for the House of Councillors election.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Dewi Sukarno, a Japanese TV celebrity and a friend of Fujimori, campaigned on his behalf, urging the public to support him.

"Fujimori, as president, propelled the economy for growth and overcame terrorism," said the widow of late Indonesian President Sukarno, referring to Fujimori's career as Peruvian president

Man decapitates himself after driving off with neck tied to tree in Nagoya

Police on Thursday found a headless body in a car in the parking lot of Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya. A passerby spotted the head lying on the ground by the rear of the idling station wagon around 7 a.m. and called police. Police found a suicide note inside the car and believe that the body belongs to a man in his 50s who resided in Nagoya.

The rear door of the station wagon was open and a rope, about four meters long, was tied to a tree nearby, police said. They believe the man committed suicide by tying the rope around his neck, and then accelerated the car, decapitating himself.

Gunma prefectural official caught secretly filming upskirt images

A Gunma Prefectural official was arrested Wednesday for secretly filming up women's skirts at a bookstore in Maebashi on Tuesday. The man, identified as Kazuhiko Shimada, 27, allegedly approached a female bookstore clerk, who was organizing a shelf, from behind and filmed up her skirt with a digital camera around 8:30 p.m.

A customer spotted Shimada and grabbed him when he tried to flee. The store called police. Shimada was quoted as saying that he has been secretly filming these kinds of images for a few years.

American English teacher arrested for beating up taxi driver after refusing to pay fare

Police said Wednesday that a male English teacher was arrested for beating up a taxi driver and not paying the cab fare on July 1. The teacher, identified as Timothy Wilson, 49, from the U.S., was charged with assault.

According to police, Wilson got into the taxi in Minato Ward and then refused to pay the 2,400 yen cab fare and allegedly punched the 49-year-old taxi driver in the face several times in Setagaya Ward. The taxi driver chased Wilson who fled the scene, and called police even though he was injured. Wilson has admitted to the allegations, police said.

Foreigners more eager for local interaction than Japanese: survey

Foreign residents in Japan show more appetite for interacting with local Japanese people than the other way around, according to a survey unveiled Monday by the land ministry and other agencies. The survey showed that 56% of foreign respondents living in districts where foreigners accounted for 15% or more of the total population expressed eagerness to communicate with their local communities, while only 10% of Japanese respondents said they want to interact with foreign residents.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport attributed the survey results to the lack of opportunities for Japanese people to meet foreign residents. As steps to increase such opportunities, the ministry stressed the need for cooperation among residents, companies, administrative authorities, and schools in local communities, and establishment of a framework in which local people and foreigners can promote exchanges with each other.

The survey was conducted between December 2006 and January 2007 among 738 foreign households and 1,104 Japanese households in a total of 16 districts in four prefectures — Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama and Ibaraki.

Chiba council member arrested for assault on minor

A council member in Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture, was arrested Sunday for taking a 14-year-old girl to a hotel and sexually assaulting her, police said Monday. The council member, identified as Mikio Suganuma, 58, of the Social Democratic Party, allegedly approached the 14-year-old girl in front of Kasukabe station on the Tobu line in Saitama, and took her to a hotel where he sexually assaulted her.

The girl reported the incident to police around 1 p.m. on Sunday. Suganuma has admitted to the charge, police said. He was quoted as telling police that he was at the station to meet another girl he had contacted on an Internet dating site, but she hadn't shown up. "I am deeply sorry for what I did."

Body of naked woman found in Hiroshima apartment; 18-year-old arrested

Police on Monday arrested an 18-year-old man after a 21-year-old woman was found strangled in an apartment in Hiroshima early Monday morning.

The woman, identified as Aika Tokunaga, was found dead inside a closet around 2:40 a.m. She was naked and her neck had strangulation marks, police said. Her bag was missing, they added. Police said that Tokunaga worked at a sex-related business and went missing after she was hired to go to the apartment on Sunday night.

Police said the suspect, who cannot be named because he is a minor, is the younger brother of the male tenants of the apartment. He admitted to the allegations saying: "I strangled her and stole her bag."

Utility cost scandal hits farm minister Akagi

A political funds scandal surfaced Saturday involving Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Norihiko Akagi, who took over the post in early June after his predecessor committed suicide following a similar scandal, according to information from sources familiar with the issue.

The home of one of Akagi's relatives was registered as the office of a political organization supporting him and some 12 million yen was booked as rent, utilities and other costs from 2003 to 2005, they said. The organization submitted political funds reports to the Ibaraki prefectural election board, which say its office is in the home. As the home was not the office and the spending is fictitious, doubts have arisen that the spending was misappropriated.

Japan fields human rights envoy as Int'l Criminal Court judge

Japan on Friday endorsed Fumiko Saiga, its special envoy on human rights issues to run for one of the three vacant positions for a judge at the International Criminal Court in an election in December, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said.

The Hague-based court for trying people accused of genocides, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes of serious nature has 18 judges. Three of them have to be filled following the resignations of three judges. Japan is scheduled to formally join the ICC in October, which currently has 104 state parties. Saiga, 63, was appointed in December 2005 as a special envoy to oversee human rights issues, including the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, to take part in international meetings on human rights and to work to engage the international community toward resolving the abduction issue.

Minister's bodyguard held for allegedly molesting woman on train

A police bodyguard for state minister Sanae Takaichi has been arrested for allegedly molesting a young woman on a commuter train in Tokyo, police said Thursday. The man was identified as Masao Shinada, 39, an assistant inspector at the Metropolitan Police Department's VIP protection division, who was arrested Monday.

Investigations show that Shinada groped a woman in her 20s around 10:40 p.m. Monday on an east-bound train on the JR Sobu Line between Kinshicho and Shin-Koiwa stations. Male passengers seized Shinada and handed him over to police. Shinada said he does not remember anything because he was drunk. Takaichi, one of three women in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told reporters at the Diet that she is "astonished and deeply concerned" over the arrest of her guard.

Police arrest U.S. sailor from Yokosuka base on suspicion of trying to kill girl, woman

Police arrested a U.S. Navy sailor Thursday on suspicion of attempting to murder a Japanese girl and a woman who were found stabbed in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in the morning. The 19-year-old petty officer 2nd class, from the frigate USS Gary stationed at the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base, was taken into custody by police after he was found at a department store in the city at around 11 a.m.

Rear Adm James Kelly, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Japan, issued a statement saying the Navy is cooperating with the Japanese police investigation and has been in contact with local, prefectural and national government officials to resolve the case "as quickly as possible."

The police and the Navy have not yet released the name of the sailor.

The girl, who told police she is 16 and from Tokyo's Suginami Ward, was found bleeding from the abdomen on a street in Yokosuka around 8:30 a.m. A person working at a nearby construction site found her and called the police, they said.

She sustained minor injuries, according to police.

A police officer who went to the scene after the call found a woman stabbed in the back at a nearby apartment. The woman, who said she is 26 and from Ayase, Kanagawa, has serious but not life-threatening injuries, police said.

According to the investigation so far, the sailor is suspected of stabbing the women and fleeing the apartment after quarreling with them. The 16-year-old told the police that she went to seek help after the stabbings.

The girl was also quoted as telling police she was stabbed by an African-American U.S. serviceman she got to know Wednesday and who visited the apartment.

"This is a serious incident and we are gravely concerned that one of our sailors may have been involved," Kelly said. "We all pray for the victims' speedy recovery."

Also in a statement, U.S. Rear Adm Richard Wren, commander of the Task Force Seven Zero which oversees the Gary, vowed to carry out a thorough review of the Navy's standards of conduct to "reinforce our commitment to good order and discipline."

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Koike seeks 'flexible defensive power' to protect Japan

New Defense Minister Yuriko Koike said Wednesday that her ministry must create a "multifunctional, flexible and effective defensive power" to protect Japan and deal with new threats such as terrorism and North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. In an address to personnel, Koike, 54, who became the first woman to assume the top defense post in a Japanese cabinet, also called for Japan to take an active part in international peace cooperation activities so as to be able to respond fully to the expectations of the international community.

While urging members of her ministry and the Self-Defense Forces to work together to carry out their duties effectively, she said she would work on further enhancing close ties with the United States and the bilateral security arrangement as well as moving forward with implementing the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, among other issues.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already instructed Koike to place priority on the steady implementation of a final agreement made last year with the United States to realign the U.S. military presence in Japan.

Attention is expected to focus on how to move forward the agreement's central undertaking — the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within Okinawa — and related plans such as transferring about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

"Ms Koike also worked as state minister in charge of Okinawa issues and knows fully about the background," Abe told reporters at his office earlier in the day. "We hope to proceed with the Futemma relocation while listening to the voices of the local people."

Koike said at the ministry, "I hope to realize the realignment of the U.S. military in Japan, including the Futemma Air Station relocation and the transfer of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam, that was agreed on by the Japanese and U.S. governments as soon as possible while listening to the opinions of the local people and gaining their understanding through explanations."

She also said she will work on Japan's ballistic missile defense system and reinforce the management of information at the ministry and the SDF to prevent a recurrence of incidents involving leakage of confidential data.

Abe appointed Koike, his special security adviser, as defense minister on Tuesday shortly after accepting her predecessor Fumio Kyuma's resignation over his controversial remarks on the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan in World War II.

The swift move was apparently aimed at limiting any adverse impact on Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the New Komeito party, in the July 29 House of Councillors election.

Her appointment was made formal after an imperial attestation ceremony in the early afternoon.

LDP executives met Wednesday and reaffirmed their intention to stand together in fighting the upper house election and attacking main opposition Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa's basic policies.

But some within the LDP have been critical of the way Abe handled Kyuma's controversial remarks, which were taken as implying the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 were justified, saying it "exposed the prime minister's lack of crisis management skills."

In a speech on Saturday, Kyuma said, "I understand the bombings brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped."

Responding to the remarks the same day, Abe said, "I understand he was presenting the thinking of the United States in those days," indicating he did not have a problem with Kyuma's comments.

Abe also indicated he would not dismiss Kyuma over the remarks until the latter decided Tuesday to step down amid mounting criticism not only from opposition parties but also within the ruling bloc, as well as from atomic-bomb survivors.

Yoshiaki Takagi, the DPJ's Diet affairs chairman, said Abe's handling of the situation was "not self-consistent" as he could not decide to dismiss Kyuma as his appointment last September was reward-oriented in relation to Abe's successful campaign in the LDP presidential election the same month.

Kyuma is the third member Abe has lost from his 17-member cabinet since taking office last September, following administrative reform minister Genichiro Sata, who resigned in December over a political funds scandal, and farm minister Toshikazu Matsuoka, who committed suicide amid a spate of scandals over his political funds.

Abe cautions Kyuma to watch his tongue following A-bomb remarks

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sternly warned Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma on Monday to be more careful with his words following weekend comments taken as justifying the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan in World War II. "I hope the minister will continue to carry out his duties especially on the issue of nuclear disarmament after having reflected on his words and fully grasped the weight of such remarks," Abe told reporters, rejecting calls from the opposition that Kyuma be sacked.

Kyuma apologized for and retracted the remarks Sunday. "I told him that Japan is the world's only country to have suffered from atomic bombs and that we must always consider the feelings of the A-bomb sufferers in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and consider their feelings," Abe told reporters separately. "I cautioned him to take care not to make remarks that will cause misunderstanding."

Abe says he won't fire Kyuma following apology over A-bomb comments

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday he will not sack Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma who apologized for recent comments that were taken as justifying the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II. Abe also ruled out calling on the United States to apologize for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"I want Mr Kyuma to exercise his leadership as the defense minister on the issue of nuclear disarmament in the future, too," Abe said during a debate with main opposition Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa.

Abe also said, "Our task will not be to spend energy on pressing the United States to apologize but to make efforts and to do our utmost toward nuclear disarmament," referring to the 1945 atomic bombings.

Describing the U.S. atomic bombings as "an unforgivable act," Abe also signaled it would be unrealistic for Japan to call on the United States for such an apology while also seeking Washington's protection under its nuclear umbrella.

"On the diplomatic front, the thing would be like this: We call for a U.S. apology and we must request the United States provide nuclear deterrence," Abe said, brushing aside Ozawa's call for Tokyo to apply diplomatic pressure on Washington for an apology.

Abe said that the creation of a world free of nuclear weapons is Japan's "ultimate goal" as the only country to have experienced nuclear attacks.

But Abe also said that Japan currently needs the U.S. military deterrence as it was faced with North Korea's nuclear test and test-launch of ballistic missiles last year. "That's the reality," he said.

Earlier Sunday, Kyuma apologized for controversial remarks he made Saturday regarding the atomic bombing of Nagasaki by the United States in 1945. Kyuma hails from Nagasaki Prefecture.

"I am sorry that my remarks gave an impression that A-bomb victims were made light of," Kyuma said at a press conference in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. Kyuma is a veteran lawmaker of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party.

Kyuma made the apology only hours after he had said earlier Sunday that there was no need to correct his comments. Kyuma was effectively forced to retract the remarks, bowing to mounting pressure from the LDP as well as A-bomb victims and opposition parties.

In a speech Saturday in Kashiwa, east of Tokyo, Kyuma said, "I understand the bombings brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped."

The LDP is concerned about the possible adverse impact of the remarks on the July 29 upper house election. Abe's government has been already hit by a fiasco connected to pension records and other scandals.

At the press conference, Kyuma, who is the first chief of the Defense Ministry, which was upgraded from the defense agency in January, said, "The comments, as reported by the media, were inappropriate."

He repeated that he had had no intention of justifying the atomic bombings, saying he has consistently stuck to the position of pursuing nuclear disarmament.

LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa spoke to Kyuma by telephone Sunday before the press conference and told him to withdraw his remarks as they were misinterpreted, according to LDP officials.

Appearing on TV programs Sunday morning, senior officials from the LDP and its ruling coalition partner, the New Komeito party, also criticized Kyuma for his remarks.

LDP policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa said, "If the remarks were misinterpreted, Kyuma should explain and make an apology if necessary."

New Komeito policy chief Tetsuo Saito said a cabinet minister should not have made such comments.

Hawker's parents plead for help; say they received letter from Ichihashi's parents

The parents of a murdered British teacher made an emotional plea for help in catching her killer at a news conference at the British embassy on Friday. In March, the naked body of Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, was found in a bathtub filled with sand on the balcony of an apartment belonging to Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28. Ichihashi eluded police when they visited his apartment to question him.

Hawker's parents, William and Julia, and her sister Louise, also said that they had received a letter of condolence from the parents of Ichihashi. "They said they were very sorry for what their son had done and hoped that he would atone for his crime," said Julia.

Asked about the lack of progress by police to catch Ichihashi, William said: "We are very disappointed at it, obviously. Personally I hope he's alive and that he is caught shortly so that he can be brought to justice. As a parent of Lindsay, I'd like to appeal to all parents...and all honest, working people of Japan to look for this man. This man is a misfit. He's a loner. He is distanced from his own family.

"This evil man must be caught so that other British people can come to your country and hopefully work in safety," he said. "Lindsay loved working in your country. She loved teaching."

He also unveiled a T-shirt bearing Ichihashi's photo and the Japanese for "I can't sleep until he is caught," printed on them. "Three months ago, I showed a lot of you the photo of my daughter, which I still have, but the most important photo today is of this evil man who murdered, brutally murdered, my daughter," he said.

The Hawkers plan to appear on a weekend Japanese television show featuring a phone-in to gather fresh information on the case.

"When you are living 12,000 miles away, it's difficult to gain information. We've come back to Japan to raise the profile, to hopefully remind somebody somewhere that Ichihashi is still at large," said Julia.

"We want him captured. We feel we owe it to Lindsay, and that's the very least we can do. We've been helped tremendously over the last three months by the British police, by the Japanese police who have worked tirelessly and by the embassy staff both in Japan and in London. But we now need help from the Japanese people. We need leads. We need possible sightings and we need information."

Louise expressed concern that Ichihashi might commit a similar crime again if he continues to be on the loose.

"The suspect had no intention of ever giving up or even running away from the scene of the crime or ever feeling any remorse for what he did. He had all intention...to stay living in that flat with that body in the sand," Louise said.

"In my opinion, this man is going to hurt someone again, and whether it's a Western person or not, he could hurt anyone and needs to be caught immediately," she said.

Police said Friday they have received more than 1,000 tips and questioned 150 people. In an attempt to kickstart their stalled investigation, police have offered a 1 million yen reward for information leading to the arrest of Ichihashi. Police officers handed out wanted posters at Chiba, Gyotoku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and other train stations in the afternoon.

Julia urged people in Japan to provide any information they have on the suspect, however minute, to the police or on a website on Lindsay's case at www.lindsayannhawker.com.

British documentary exposes risks for foreign hostesses in Japan

Working as a hostess in Japan remains a potentially unsafe job despite claims of better regulation in the wake of the Lucie Blackman case, according to a former police chief who helped the victim's family investigate her death.

Dai Davies found that bars in Tokyo are still prepared to employ young foreign women without proper work visas — as in Lucie Blackman's case — leaving them less likely to complain to police if attacked by clients because they are working illegally.

Davies made the discovery while assisting undercover Welsh TV reporter Sian Morgan who was making a documentary posing as a British hostess without a working visa.

He told Kyodo News that some of the bars were nothing more than "brothels." Making money is the most important thing for the bar owners, with the women given little or no protection and encouraged to go off on dates with strangers, he claimed.

Davies, who assisted Lucie Blackman's mother, Jane Steare, is calling for regular inspections of hostess bars and for the police to ensure that all the women have correct documentation. He said that while there may have been a crackdown in some areas, much more needs to be done, including increasing the police presence around the bars.

"My advice to any foreign girl thinking about becoming a hostess is: 'Don't even go there.' Things are no better than when Lucie Blackman was working in Tokyo," he said.

"I'm shocked that despite assurances that things are better, there was a complete non-inspection of many of these establishments which were bypassing the law. Many men were willing to break the law and pimp our reporter," Davies added.

In S4C's "Y Byd ar Bedwar" (The World on Four) program, Morgan tries to find work as a hostess and films her encounters using hidden cameras. The bars are places where Japanese and foreign women chat to male clients, who usually have to buy expensive drinks. The bars deny their hostesses are engaged in prostitution.

Morgan, who wore a blonde wig to boost her chances of finding work, was initially turned down by several bars because she only had a three-month tourist visa.

At one of the bars Morgan visited in Tokyo's Roppongi district, the manager said she might be able to get a job despite him knowing that she did not have a work visa. But he later said he did not have any work for her that month.

According to the program, the bars expect their hostesses to go out on "dohans" (paid-dates) with clients, as Blackman did before she went missing. The bars are keen for their hostesses to go on dohans because they receive money from the client and the hostesses bring customers to the bar at the end of the date.

Later, the reporter got a job as a hostess straight away at another bar. She was told to change her name.

Davies, who is now an international security consultant, went in masquerading as a client and was told by the mama-san (who oversees the hostesses) that he could go on a date with Morgan, even though it was his first visit to the club and he was not known to the management.

Morgan was also offered work at two other bars which were fully aware of her visa status. She was also told that she could make much more money by having sex with the clients.

When approached later, the mama-san denied meeting the reporter and said she never employed people without the correct documentation. The manager at the first bar said he had never heard of Lucie Blackman and said he had no comment to make before putting the phone down.

Davies said, "Foreign women must understand that hostessing has inherent risks. There are lots of magazines in Japan depicting the rape of Western women. If you go into this kind of area you are going into a grey area where wicked and unscrupulous men will take advantage of you and you have no protection."

He said that the hostess industry taints the image many Westerners have of Japan as a safe country which respects tradition and culture.

TV reporter Morgan concluded that while there are many hostesses who merely serve drinks and chat to customers, in some quarters a hostess could also mean a prostitute.

In the summer of 2000, Blackman disappeared after going out on a dohan with a client she met in a Tokyo hostess bar. Her dismembered body was later found in a cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Tokyo businessman Joji Obara was recently cleared of involvement in her death.

Davies said he does not think that Blackman was in any way engaged in prostitution. Instead, he believes that she was "naive" and just wanted to talk to the clients and pour drinks in order to earn money.

Commenting on the outcome of the trial, Davies said that if the case had been heard in Britain, the judge would probably have directed the jury to find the defendant guilty, given the strength of the circumstantial evidence.

Man beats 1-year-old boy unconscious for not saying 'Itadakimasu' before meal

A 20-year-old man was arrested in Osaka Monday on suspicion of beating a 1-year-old boy, leaving him unconscious, because the boy did not show the proper etiquette while eating. According to police, restaurant owner Masato Shimoshiraki, 20, allegedly beat his girlfriend's son Toshihisa Tsuboi, 1, about the face multiple times around 12:30 pm. Saturday because Toshihisa did not say "Itadakimasu" properly before eating his lunch.

Toshihisa remains unconscious, police said. Bruises were also found on the boy's sister leading police to suspect that the two children have been repeatedly abused constantly. Police are also questioning the mother.

AGLOCO - ITALIA: quanto si guadagna con agloco?

AGLOCO - ITALIA: quanto si guadagna con agloco?

Abe promises to revise Constitution in 3 years

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Sunday to revise the Constitution in three years, making constitutional revision one of the key issues in the July 29 House of Councillors election.

"It will be necessary to declare to the public that we will aim to revise the Constitution three years from now," Abe said, appearing on broadcaster NHK's "Sunday Debate" program and other TV programs.

His remarks came after it became possible for parliament to initiate constitutional amendment as the law for its national referendum procedures will come into force in three years.

He went further than his recent remarks on the issue, in which he had said he wanted to revise the Constitution during his premiership, lasting up to six years since he assumed the post last September.

But he acknowledged, "The hurdle to constitutional revision is extremely high," alluding to strong public support for the war-renouncing Article 9.

Meanwhile, main opposition Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa said on TV programs he expects the opposition bloc to capture a majority in the upper house election.

New Komeito leader Akihiro Ota expressed opposition to making constitutional revision the central issue of the election, saying, "Our party and the premier have come to an understanding that we will start discussing the contents of the Constitution after we submit our own constitutional idea in three years."

The DPJ's Ozawa emphasized his stance to focus on improving people's daily lives, saying, "We will present the frameworks of safety nets over social security, food and employment."

Abe refrained from commenting on any numerical target for seats in the upcoming election, while Ozawa said the DPJ wants to secure 55 seats or more.

On high-profile pension-related problems, Abe said he plans to explain to Japanese voters how his government will tackle the pension scandal and shoulder responsibility for it.

Abe said he has "humbly" accepted his dwindling public support ratings and characterized the upcoming upper house election as "a good opportunity" to help restore confidence in his government.

In addition to constitutional revision and pension system reform under which the Social Insurance Agency will be dismantled, he cited economic expansion measures, the need to revitalize struggling local economies, and assertive diplomacy as among key issues in the election.

Abe dismissed concern about a diplomatic initiative by the United States to be unilaterally in touch with North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

"Not at all," Abe responded when asked if Japan might be kept in the dark about the United States and North Korea seemingly moving closer together in connection with a recent trip to Pyongyang by top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill.

Abe stressed that Japan and the United States enjoy an "unshakable alliance."

Japan to stick to dialogue and pressure on N Korea: Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday Japan will stick to its policy of "dialogue and pressure" to resolve the North Korean nuclear and abduction issues, dismissing concerns that a visit by the top U.S. nuclear negotiator to North Korea the same day may jeopardize Tokyo's efforts. "North Korea has yet to carry out its initial denuclearization steps and it is important that these measures are first fulfilled," Abe told reporters.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill headed to North Korea from Japan on Thursday morning in a bid to move forward the stalled six-party talks on defusing the nuclear standoff with the country. Downplaying speculation that Japan would become further sidelined in the six-nation nuclear talks as a result of the U.S.-North Korea bilateral contact, Abe stressed that Washington "is well aware" of Tokyo's stance to press Pyongyang to resolve the issue of its past abductions of Japanese and other nationals.

Gangster arrested for refusing to turn off cell phone on plane

Police arrested a 34-year-old man Sunday for refusing to turn off his cell phone in a plane in March in violation of the Aviation Law. The arrest is the first in Japan over the use of cell phones in a plane after the law was revised in January 2004 to prohibit the use of the phones aboard a plane.

Naoyuki Shimoda, a member of a gang group, is suspected of using his cell phones on March 10 in an All Nippon Airways plane as it was taxiing toward a runway for takeoff at Haneda airport despite warnings by its captain, police said.

Shimoda, a resident of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, brought five cell phones on the plane and initially turned them off after being told to do so by cabin attendants.

He later turned them back on, the police said.

The arrest was made because Shimoda took a threatening attitude by saying, "Shut up," when the cabin attendants warned him against using the phones, police said.

The plane returned to an aircraft parking apron to have Shimoda get off the plane, and then took off for Miyazaki airport after a 30-minute delay.

Nakasone admits possibility of U.S. 'nuclear transit'

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone admitted in a recent interview that U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons may have sailed through Japanese territorial waters during the 1980s when he was in office. This is the first time a former prime minister of Japan — which is especially sensitive about nuclear arms as the only country ever attacked with them — has mentioned the possibility of U.S. "nuclear transit" during the Cold War era.

"Nuclear warships might have come through Japanese waters" during the Cold War era, Nakasone said. "It is impossible for us to confirm that U.S. submarines are submerged in waters along the coast of Japan," he added, saying such nuclear transit had to take place without his clear knowledge. "I thought we could not do anything." It has been swept under the rug whether U.S. Navy ships and Air Forces bombers carrying nuclear arms had actually passed through Japanese territorial waters and air space.

15,000 child porn DVDs confiscated in Sendai

Miyagi prefectural police on Saturday confiscated about 15,000 child pornographic DVDs in Sendai. The DVDs were seized from a mansion in what officials believe to be the single largest DVD seizure from one location. Three men were arrested in Sendai on suspicion of selling 44 child porno DVDs to two men in Aichi in December for 20,500 yen.

The three suspects have allegedly been selling child porno DVDs online since August 2005, netting more than 100 million yen, police say.

Publisher fined Y1.5 mil over obscene comic

The Supreme Court ordered a comic book publisher to pay a fine of 1.5 million yen for distributing obscene comic books containing sexually explicit scenes, upholding a lower court ruling, legal sources said Friday. The top court dismissed an appeal by Motonori Kishi, 58, president of publisher Shobunkan Corp.

The district court had sentenced Kishi to one year in prison, suspended for three years, saying, "We cannot overlook the fact that the defendant brought about a harmful influence on sexual morality" by distributing the comic. According to court rulings, Kishi distributed about 20,000 copies of the "Misshitsu" (Honey Room) comic book containing graphic sexual scenes to 16 companies in April 2002.

Nova eyes new share issuance to dispel market concerns after gov't terminates subsidies

Nova Corp, the embattled English-language school operator, is considering issuing new shares to strengthen its capital and dispel market concerns that its business could worsen in the wake of a government order to suspend part of its operations, President Nozomu Sahashi said Friday.

Although the details are yet to be worked out, Nova thinks tapping external capital is a "measure toward a next step," Sahashi said after a business suspension order was imposed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare The welfare ministry said Friday that Nova's English language courses will no longer qualify for government subsidies designed to support educational opportunities as the company has been found to have lied to consumers when soliciting students.

The government provides subsidies for those engaged in educational training authorized by the welfare ministry to improve the abilities of the unemployed and other people.

In 1999, Nova's 32 courses were approved for the subsidies program by the welfare ministry. In fiscal 2006, about 4,700 people received a total of 560 million yen in subsidies under the program. Since 1999, around 71,000 Nova students have received a total of about 16.1 billion yen in such subsidies.

Sahashi said Nova will have a tough time in the first half of the current business year, but that it will see some improvement in the second half. "It is possible that we could return to profitability."

The company booked a net loss of 2.50 billion yen for the year through March 31.

Following the order by METI on Wednesday, Nova suspended part of its business Thursday for six months.

The ministry said many Nova students were unable to take lessons at a school or time of their choosing despite the fact that Nova solicited new students by telling potential customers that they could book language lessons "anytime and anywhere."

The Nova management "must take responsibility," Sahashi said, indicating the company will impose disciplinary measures on its executives, including himself, in the future.

The president also said Nova will strive to solve the problems by setting up an internal inquiry panel.

Nova, Japan's biggest English-language school headquartered in Osaka with a total of about 480,000 students, violated a law designed to protect consumers in fields such as education, beauty services and arranged marriages, METI said.

China says Japan's protest over war museum photos shows lack of courage

Demands by Japanese lawmakers that China remove anti-Japanese photos from Chinese war museums show their lack of courage to recognize Japan's past wrongdoings, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

"The war of invasion triggered by Japanese militarism brought about great disaster to the Chinese people," Qin Gang said at a regular news conference. "Keeping memory of that period of history is not meant to maintain bad feelings, but to prevent a repetition of tragedy." Demands to pull pictures from museums "only reflect the lack of courage to recognize mistakes in history," he added.