Viewing items with Tag: "crime"

Some of you may remember a while back some talk about photographing and fingerprinting foreigners visiting Japan... Well it's here finally! In effect by November everywhere in Japan, special computerized machines at immigration will scan your face and hands. I hope my ugly mug breaks their machine. The reason is due to the rise in "multiple simultaneous terrorist attacks" throughout the world. The computers will cross-referencing your prints and photo with a list of suspicious persons.

The video explains it all, but you'll have to follow the link as the government makes it really hard to steal:

New Immigration Procedure Video

Also, and this is the kicker - it will identify foreigners that keep trying to get in illegally. ie, on repeat tourist visas etc. Holy sushi-roll, ManBat! That means YOU!

"What if I refuse to be fingered or photographed?"

"If you refuse to be fingerprinted or photographed, you will be denied entry and ordered to leave ^_^

"Ok~! I'll pass it on to my friends too!"

In a previous Blurb I mentioned the murder of British girl Lindsay Ann Hawker in Tokyo. This story is pretty common knowledge by now, but today Japan Today has released footage of Ichihashi, the prime suspect in the case. The footage itself is actually from before the murder, but is a clear enough image to try and raise public awareness.

This however is not the point I am writing about. In a related article, Akio Kuroki, a former police sergeant made crime journalist and book author has submitted an article detailing the incompetence of police in Japan, and the many cover-ups and dirty work that goes on. I'm not saying this is something only found in Japan, as its obviously apparent the world over, but its still an interesting read.

For example, the police claimed that Ichihashi was barefoot when he made his getaway. But one of the suspect’s shoes was found in the backyard of a nearby residence, and the same homeowner found the other shoe on the pavement 10 meters away. The police report is also contradicted by an eyewitness account. A neighbor heard someone yelling, “There he is!” and, when looking outside, believes it was the police struggling to catch Ichihashi.

So why have the police never mentioned these facts? Because if they acknowledged the truth, they would have to admit they twice failed to capture the suspect. And not only did the police fail to arrest Ichihashi, but their statement about him fleeing barefoot would be exposed as a lie.

In Japan, a foreign woman who goes missing for one day is, unfortunately, not enough to get the police moving.

......

Before she was murdered, Hawker had reported to the police that she was being stalked, and she asked for their help. That’s the prime reason why the police began their investigation so soon after receiving a call from Hawker’s friend.

In a previous oldSushi Blurb I mentioned the ordeal of one Westerner who got himself in to some trouble (he threw a taxi driver on the ground then stole his phone... then went and told the Police about it...) and ended up in a Japanese prison.

Some good reading and some great reasons to be careful what you do while staying in Japan! Namely DONT HIT TAXI DRIVERS! Stippy.com is releasing the story in multiple parts, and I will keep as up-to-date with it as I can.

Part 1: "The Taxi Ride"
Part 2: "The Beginning"
Part 3: "Bad Cop, Good Cop"
Part 4: "Processing"
Part 5: "Manga and Routine"
Part 6: "The Guards"
Part 7: "The Driver"
Part 8: "Day 15"

Koichi Kuroda, Shinichi Kamikaze and Seiji Okawa, sub-leaders of the Yoshimura-gumi, an affiliate of the 4th-generation Oseikai, which itself is part of the Shinjuku-based Kyokuto-kai in Shinjuku (the entire last section is pronounced "ya ku za"...) are proving that "strong, silent types" can compete with the best of them when it comes to chopping their own fingers off and stealing peoples money.



The magazine Jitsuwa Mad Max was able to get an interview with the three to find out about their roles in the business and how life differs from their colleagues', and the answer was not a lot!

[Kazama, a regular gang member stated about the three] These guys can't answer the phone so they're not suitable for office tasks; but aside from that they're pretty much the same as regular gang members. We communicate with them via cell phone messaging.

Magazine: ... given your handicap, how do you, er, intimidate people?

Kamikaze: Using hand signs, of course.

Okawa: In Kamikaze's case, his face alone is enough to strike fear. (They both laugh).

I say good on them, even if its a contravercial business, its great to see these guys are not letting their handicap get the better of them. Personally I would both love and hate to have them rolling their r's and shouting "kono ya rrrro!" at me in sign language, possibly even more intimidating than words!

Story via Mainichi news.

they go and completely redeem themselves! Apparently some Fijian soldier recently pissed on a Japanese woman mid flight. I dunno if this counts as being a member of the "mile high club," but I'm willing to bet there are not many people out there who have taken a golden shower at 25,000,001 feet (ok ok, this is an arbitrarily arrived at number and for all I know 25,000,001 feet could be halfway to M13. Thats not the point here. The point is at the end of a stream of frothy urine.)

But just look at the uniforms. They don't exactly make it difficult to whip it out do they? I wonder if after this fiasco the fearsome Fiji military will be required to wear pants, and no more manskirts (is that pleather?)

"The Sun said the soldier exposed his private parts to a young female Japanese tourist and urinated on her. Other passengers on the flight were alerted to the incident when the tourist screamed."

Full article over at Japan Probe.

This is a pretty sad story about a 22 year old girl from Coventry, UK who had only been in Japan for a few months teaching for Nova English school. She dissappeared after a house visit to one of her students, a 28 year old man, apartments in Chiba near Tokyo. She was found in the same apartment days later after her friends reported her missing, in a bathtub covered in sand.

Watching the video report below, its almost laughable the part where the BBC reporter goes:

"Detectives are hunting this man, Tatsuya Ishihashi. It was his flat in which the body was found. When police came here to talk to him, he ran away, and they lost him."

We lost him, Damnit! Oh well, lets go stop some REAL criminals without lights or bells on their bicycles!! ... enfuriating.

Watch the BBC short report below or the full story here.

4 Years in Japan, with 6 months in Kyoto city, I guess I was about ready to get randomly stopped by Police. I didn't however expect it to be in the middle of a bright sunny day with hundreds of passers by watching my questioning with delight. Still, thankfully it was a sunny day, and I was in a great mood.

Cycling along Shijo street I noticed ahead a stopped Police car with a policeman standing next to it. Nothing unusual, I smiled at the man and he smiled back, however he was also waving his hand motioning me towards him. My heart pace picked up a little, as it generally does in these situations.

One can only assume this nerve-touching magazine was published in direct retaliation for the war-time classic "How to Spot a Jap" - I am of course joking but the magazine itself is no joke, and is bound to cause some problems.

It is basically a look at how 'most' foreigners in Japan are criminals, and how we should all "go back were we came from", and stop mugging, raping and pilaging everything we see.

The entire publication was of course written entirely in Japanese with no intention of any translations, but enough 'criminal westerners' can read, write, speak, listen to and understand a lot more Japanese than the author was counting on.

Particularly harsh 'highlight' from the mag, courtesy of Debito.org:
Picture of black guy touching a J.girls ass in Shibuya (obviously consensual too) おいニガー！！日本婦女子のケツさわってんじゃねえ！！
Oi Nigger!! Get your fuckin’ hands off that Japanese lady’s ass!!
(… yes. It really does say ニガー)

Quote by Magazine author, from Japan Today:
On the Japanese side, the "foreign criminal" is a beast who lurks everywhere and wants nothing more than to destroy Japanese people and their way of life. Whether it's a North Korean agent kidnapping our daughters or a Chinese thief invading our homes, many Japanese are convinced that foreigners should be treated with suspicion and fear.

Article Source: Debito
Editor defends the publication: Japan Today

Now I know this is pretty much common knowledge to everyone living in Japan or interested in Japan (particularly the Yakuza), but Ryoichi Sugiura, 43 years old and a very high ranking Yakuza member of Tokyo based Sumiyoshi-kai was shot and killed in his car in Tokyo by a rival Yakuza gang in broad daylight on Monday.

Apparently, however, a truce has already been announced after a string of shootings at doors and windows in which nobody was killed, or even harmed. This shooting at rival gangs doors and windows is "the trademark of underworld retaliation."(Japan Times)

Now I don't know about anywhere else in the world, but having your doors and windows shot out in some places in the States can be chalked up to "having a bad day." And in the world of gang warfare, its most likely considered "a terrible shot." Not that I'm saying the Yakuza is soft for announcing a truce after busting a couple of windows, but it just seems to me that a little destruction of private property and the life of a mob boss are not exactly comparable.

How boring would "Scarface" have been if gangs in America worked under the same principal? Or even, "The Princess Bride", not a "gang" movie at all, but certainly a lesson for all of us in proper retaliation...

My name is Anigo Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to have your doors and windows destroyed.

Just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? No, nothing quite raises the hairs on the back of the neck as well as "prepare to die."

Now, I'm not saying that I wish violence upon anyone, but like any good child of the 90s, raised on the likes of "Casino" and "Scarface", "Goodfellas" and the countless other gang flicks out there, I am fascinated by the promise of a good gang war. After all the newspapers were promising serious retaliation and the probability of Tokyo being riddled in gunfire reminiscent of NYC circa 1920, I've got to admit, I was pretty damned excited to see how it would all play out. Not that I'm complaining about peace, though. I'm sure somewhere, the peace loving hippies in all of us are rejoicing.

But just across the room from that celebrating hippy, there is proabably also a young kid, his face smeared in chocolate, gripping his plastic orange tipped tommy-gun, and sulking at the unfairness of the world, because all he wanted was to see a full scale Kill-Bill style Yakuza gang war, but he never gets his way. His retaliation? You guessed it. A baseball through the window.

An increasingly sensitive point is the fact that Japan, keeping to its own traditions, will not stop hunting and killing these huge sea creatures. So much so that Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society offered a reward of $25,000US for the location of the currently active Japanese whaling fleet.

"This time, with the new ship, they can't lose us. If they can't shake us off, I am pretty confident we can stop them. If they get violent towards us I suppose it could get very physical. We are quite willing to instigate an international incident over this," Mr Watson said on departure.

[Captain Watson accused] Japan of putting pressure on New Zealand to remain silent. "This is like a police chief finding out that a bank robbery is in progress but refusing to tell his officers which bank because the thieves asked him not to," he said.

Full story at Guardian Unlimited.