Crime & Punishment
Foreigner killed by Japanese DJ gets off easy
This in from Debito: “The killer of Scott Tucker, choked to death by a DJ in a Tokyo bar, gets suspended sentence.
Zurui: Here is some background information on the Bul-lets DJ. — Police confirmed Wednesday that they have charged a man with killing an American man in a nightclub in Azabu on Feb 29. Atsushi Watanabe, 29, was charged with killing Richard Scott Tucker, 47, by choking him and punching him from behind at around 10:40 p.m. The victim was taken to hospital but died about one hour later.
According to police, Watanabe, who works for the Bullets club as a DJ, assaulted the victim after finding him drunk and aggressively shoving other customers. Watanabe was quoted by police as saying, “I tried to stop him shoving customers. I didn’t mean to kill him.”
I made the case some months ago, in a special DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER on criminal justice and policing of NJ, that NJ get special (as in negative) treatment by courts and cops. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Drunk drivers face tougher punishment
Punishment for drunken drivers will become dramatically tougher under proposed revisions to the enforcement regulations of the Road Traffic Law coming into effect next June, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.
Under the new rules, those found with 0.25 milligrams or more of alcohol per liter of breath will receive a penalty of 25 points from their license, up from 13, and lose it on the spot. Between 0.15 and less than 0.25 milligrams will incur 13 points instead of 6, earning a 90-day suspension. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )WTF? Simple possession of child porn unpunishable in Japan
Third World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents: Viewing child porn, manga depicting such to be criminalized; Simple possession of child porn unpunishable in Japan
It has been seven years since the Yokohama congress, and Japan has yet to regulate the simple possession of child porn. This is a problem. I want Japan to seriously consider placing a ban on child porn, including viewing such as well.It has been seven years since the Yokohama congress, and Japan has yet to regulate the simple possession of child porn. This is a problem. I want Japan to seriously consider placing a ban on child porn, including viewing such as well.
The Third World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents was held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil from November 25 through 28. Participants compiled a strict action plan that regulates access to child porn and obtaining such as well as viewing child porn and materials that depict explicit images of sexually abused children, including manga and anime. In Japan, the simple possession of child porn and materials depicting such is not punishable. The delay in Japan’s approach was visible at the congress. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )2007 Indictment Rate for USFJ Crimes
The Justice Ministry has released statistics showing the numbers of cases indicted and dropped over crimes and other incidents involving U.S. military personnel in 2007. Public prosecutors indicted 48.6% of all cases, including those violating the Road Traffic Law and other specific laws. However, when it comes to criminal cases like robberies and thefts, the indictment rate was extremely low at 13.3%.
In the breakdown of indicted crimes, traffic law violations were overwhelming at 286 cases, followed by vehicular manslaughters at 30 cases and bodily injuries at 7 cases. Among dropped cases, vehicular manslaughters topped at 255 cases, followed by thefts at 44 cases and destructions and secretions at 9 cases. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )TBS Uses CGI Fondling to Report Groping
Let’s Japan reported that a man who challenged a 1999 groping accusation by a female commuter won his court case against the accuser Nov. 7, 2008.
The Japan Supreme Court revoked the charge of “public nuisance” against the man. In September 1999, a woman accused the man of rubbing his groin on her thigh as they stood on the Chuo line railway train in Tokyo. The man was arrested and charged with a crime but denied the accusation. He filed civil lawsuits against the woman. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Child Pornography Prevention Law Amendment
Experts concerned about bill amending Child Pornography Prevention Law, fearing restrictions on manga, anime, investigating authorities’ view reflected in judgment, freedom of expression undermined
The ruling coalition has submitted a bill amending the Child Pornography Prevention Law to the current Diet session. The bill prohibits the individual possession of child pornography and indecent videos. Manga (comics) and anime (animated cartoons) may be subject to restrictions in the future. Given this, cartoonists and experts have voiced concern, fearing that an enactment of the revision bill would lead to undermining the principle of freedom of expression.
Taro Minamoto, a cartoonist, is also feeling anxious about the recent move to revise the law, saying: “The boundary line between art and pornography remains blurred.” One of his works features an 11-year-old girl who was sold and works as a prostitute for five years. This comic includes scenes of her being forced to prostitute herself. Minamoto grumbled: “If such descriptions are prohibited, it will become impossible to represent historical facts. It is unclear what would be designated as obscene and who would designate such.”
The ruling camp’s bill has been submitted to the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has also drafted its own bill. Manga and anime are not subject to the restrictions in both bills. But the ruling camp’s bill notes that necessary measures will be taken in an additional clause according to the circumstances. But many concerned individuals, including Minamoto, fear that restrictions might be imposed on manga and anime in the future.
There are comics with explicit love scenes or violent scenes. Minamoto said: “There are some that give us an unpleasant feeling, but restrictions should not be placed on manga. Although some people might have indecent thoughts while reading manga, not all readers will commit a crime. Once restrictions are placed, the scope of subjects to restrictions might gradually expand.” (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )US Marines banned from public areas in Okinawa
The U.S. Marines in Japan have ordered U.S. service personnel in Okinawa Prefecture to stay away from residential areas, schools, cemeteries and other public locations in an apparent effort to ease local anger over a slew of incidents involving U.S. military personnel.
The order also prohibits the U.S. personnel from conducting activities such as cliff diving, bungee jumping and hang gliding.
‘‘Service members found in an off-limits area or participating in a prohibited activity will be in violation of’’ the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Marines said in a message posted on its website.
According to the order, residential areas are off limits to U.S. service personnel unless they are residents there or they are invited by local residents. The personnel can travel through these areas but they must remain on the provided roadways and sidewalks.
Playgrounds, the baseball field, the fishing boat pier and other locations around the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Schwab at Cape Henoko in the city of Nago are also off limits to the U.S. personnel.
Moreover, burial sites and tombs are off limits as they are ‘‘sacred to the Okinawa people.’’ The U.S. personnel are banned from all schools in Okinawa unless they are students or parents of students attending that school or employees of the school, the Marines said.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Zurui: “Since I really want to rant, I will keep it simple: THIS IS STRAIGHT UP B.S.!”
Japan made secret deal to waive jurisdiction over GI off-duty crimes
Although Japan and the United States have concurred on Japan’s jurisdiction over crimes committed by U.S. military personnel and others stationed in Japan, there exists a document implying that the two countries actually had concluded a secret pact under which Japan waives its jurisdiction over crimes with the exception of major incidents, Shoji Niihara, a researcher of international affairs, announced yesterday. The government has denied that there has been such a deal.
According to Niihara, the document was found at the U.S. National Archives. On Oct. 28, 1953, when the Japanese and U.S. governments negotiated to revise an administrative agreement preceding the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which stipulates the status of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, the document was left in the form of keeping private records from the proceedings of an intergovernmental joint committee meeting, Niihara said. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Laying down the law
THE STORY HAS ALL THE ELEMENTS of more familiar causes célèbre: Parasitic attorneys disfiguring the intent of the law to further their own objectives, politicians making intemperate comments and then toggling between I’m sorry/I’m not sorry, and newspapers imitating third-rate blogs. In short, it’s another milestone in the descent of public discourse into the cesspool.
Except this time the story is happening in Japan and not in the West.
In April 1999, an 18-year-old male posed as a plumber (or plumbing inspector, or drainage pipe repair worker, depending on the newspaper) to force his way into an apartment in Hikari, Yamaguchi. Once inside, he tried to rape the woman living there, 23-year-old Motomura Yayoi. When she resisted, he strangled her with his hands, performed sex on her corpse, and strangled her 11-month-old baby with a rope after throwing the infant to the floor.
He later explained in court that it was his desire to rape a total stranger.
Defendants aged 14 to 19 are usually tried as juveniles in Japan, but they are tried as adults for serious crimes. These cases account for 0.8% of all juvenile trials. The 27-year-old defendant’s name has never been revealed because he was a minor when he committed the crime. (Hereinafter, we’ll call him Nanashi Gombei.)
Nanashi’s first trial was held at the Yamaguchi District Court in 2000. He confessed and was sentenced to life in prison.
The disappointed prosecutors were seeking the death penalty, so they appealed to the Hiroshima High Court. The Hiroshima court upheld the Yamaguchi ruling in 2002, so the prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court.
Japan’s Supreme Court sided with the prosecutors. The Hiroshima court ruled that life imprisonment was appropriate because the killings weren’t premeditated and the killer was a minor. The Supreme Court said those arguments were insufficient and told Hiroshima to try again. (さらに…)
The Japanese O.J. Simpson Kills Himself
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A Japanese businessman hanged himself in a Los Angeles jailcell where he was awaiting trial for plotting his wife’s murder here in 1981, prosecutors said Saturday.
Kazuyoshi Miura, 61, killed himself Friday night just hours after arriving in Los Angeles in the custody of authorities that had him extradited to face criminal charges here.
Chief of Los Angeles police detectives Charles Beck said Miura used a piece of shirt to hang himself after a jailer checked on him at 9:45 pm Friday (0445 GMT Saturday). Miura was alone in his cell.
An officer noticed Miura unconscious, hanging by the strip of cloth, about ten minutes later.
“The detention officers assigned to the portion of the jail housing Miura had conducted a required cell check, with nothing unusual to report, approximately 10 minutes prior,” Beck said.
Efforts to revive Miura failed and he was pronounced dead at a local medical center, according to Beck.
Miura had been in police custody since his arrest February 21 in the US commonwealth of Saipan.
He arrived in Los Angeles early Friday under escort by police detectives and was to remain in jail until being arraigned in court next week on a charge of conspiracy to murder his wife.
Miura had been dubbed the “Japanese O.J. Simpson” because of the intense interest in his case at home. (さらに…)
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