City officials began work to kill the birds on Wednesday night.

Ube Mayor Kimiko Kubota says it was a pity to lose something so valuable and adored by the citizens, but that she hopes people will understand they had no choice if they were to prevent the spread of the virus.

-SOURCE AND PHOTOS COURTESY OF NHK WORLD NEWS AND CHUGOKU SHIMBUN.

UBE, Yamaguchi — A man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder over a street assault on an elementary school girl, police said.

Masahiro Yamada, 23, an unemployed resident of Ube, stands accused of slashing an 8-year-old girl in the face and neck with a weapon believed to be a knife more than 10 times at around 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 on a street near Shinkawa Eki. The second grader at elementary school, who was on her way home from school at the time of the incident, sustained serious injuries expected to take more than a month to heal.

“I don’t know the girl personally. I have no idea. I’ve never stabbed or slashed anyone,” Yamada, who has reportedly denied the allegations, was quoted as telling investigators.

Yamada’s apartment, where he was living with his mother and another family member, is located about 100 meters south of the crime scene. According to police, the 23-year-old is answering investigators’ questions, but keeps changing the subject when asked about the incident. The girl’s parents reportedly told police that they are unfamiliar with Yamada’s name.

The girl was found collapsed on her stomach on the ground with her upper body covered with a black plastic bag. After receiving a reported sighting of a plump man wearing a whitish jacket, who appeared to be in his 20s and around 165 centimeters tall, leaving the incident scene, police made a composite sketch of him. As Yamada resembled the man, police started questioning the 23-year-old on a voluntary basis on the morning of Jan. 25.

Later in the day, police raided Yamada’s home and seized some 550 items including several knives. Police will pursue the investigation as there is a possibility that at least one of the knives was used in the crime.

According to the news that has been shown for almost every hour for the past 2 days, a 23-year-old woman in Kyodo, Osaka was arrested Friday after her two small children were found dead, possibly of starvation, in her apartment in the city of Osaka, and after local child welfare officials tried five times in vain to check on the kids in May.

Sanae Shimomura, who works at an adult entertainment shop, was quoted as telling investigators, “I got sick of feeding them and giving them baths.“

Police suspect her 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son had been dead since late June, and are investigating, looking to press an initial charge of abandonment of bodies… (HEY, THE ELECTRIC CHAIR SOUNDS GOOD!!)

While there were no wounds on the children, their bodies were emaciated, indicating they may have died of starvation, the police said, adding they will carry out autopsies to determine the exact cause of death.

The arrest came after the police received a call from a colleague of the mother that an unusual odor was coming from the flat, which led to them finding the naked bodies of the two children, they said, adding Shimomura did not show up for work during the past several days.

-Source: Japan Times

Junko Egashira, 34, who is currently under arrest for allegedly strangling her daughter Mone to death last month, reportedly admitted to a string of abusive acts against the five-year-old. The mother admitted to investigators that on at least three occasions, she put adhesive tape across her daughter’s mouth, bound her arms and legs and placed her daughter inside the washing machine. Egashira, from Fukuoka prefecture in southern Japan, then taped down the lid, turned the water taps on and occasionally pressed the spin button, according to Kyodo news reports.

Other forms of abusive behavior reportedly included tying the child to a shelf with her arms spread out from which she hung buckets of water for hours on end.

The abuse is believed to have gathered pace in May this year, when Egashira, who reportedly divorced two years ago, moved to a new apartment with her daughter. Egashira’s abusive behavior is believed to have escalated to such an extent that she allegedly strangled her daughter to death on June 27.

“I coiled a plastic rope around my daughter’s neck and hanged her from a shelf,” she told police, according to Japanese media reports. “Later I found her dead. I didn’t think she would die.”

Child abuse cases handled by consultation offices in Japan hit a record 44,210 in fiscal 2009, rising for 19 straight years since statistics were first compiled in fiscal 1990, a government survey showed Wednesday.  The figure reflects an increase of 1,546 cases from fiscal 2008 when the previous record was set, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a preliminary report.

During the reporting year that ended in March, there was only one case in which counselors made a compulsory visit to a household, where child abuse was suspected after the family had rejected the investigation, down from two cases in fiscal 2008 when such measures became possible under the revised child abuse prevention law.  ‘‘The increase likely comes against the backdrop of growing public awareness of abuse year by year,’’ a ministry official said, adding that moves by some local governments to expand their consultation services may also be a contributing factor.

The cases include those in which child consultation offices run by Japan’s 47 prefectural governments as well as 20 municipal governments took action, such as temporarily taking children into protective custody or visiting families after receiving inquiries or being informed about suspected child abuse.  The number of cases increased from fiscal 2008 in 24 prefectures, with Mie seeing the largest percentage increase of 37 percent to 541 cases,  followed by Ibaraki with a 34 percent rise to 718 and Miyazaki, up 27 percent to 365.  Among the 11 cities where the number of cases increased, Osaka had the biggest jump of 84 percent to 1,606 cases,  ahead of Shizuoka and Kanazawa where the figures grew 52 percent to 279 and 226, respectively.

-Sources: Morrison World Media; Japan Today

     One December morning, right after having her breakfast, Yuriko was just in the mood to reminisce. “Have you ever been in love with a man you didn’t get to marry?”, she blurted while I was taking off her apron and setting off the breaks on her wheelchair to send her back to her room. I was so surprised that I thought I heard her wrong, but as I was helping her out of her sweater and taking off her shoes, she asked me the same question, but this time her voice was softer, and she was smiling and looking at the door to make sure there wasn’t anybody else around to hear. I laughed and answered with all sincerity, “Oh yes! And of course I have regretted that! Why?”… as I put my arms around her to lift her back to bed, put on her side rails and tucked her into her futton, her face was brightened with enthusiasm. “Can you promise not to tell my husband? He’s not home yet, is he?”, taking glances at the door and around her (her husband passed away years before she was admitted), “Of course, I promise! We’ll talk about it later, ok?”. She smiled.

     I went back to her minutes after to change her diapers, and as I do so, she went on where she left. “I can never forget him. I was 24 when we first went out to have some tea after a walk in the park. It was springtime and the trees were romantic. He was my first kiss, you know!”. I was so amused and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Just again, she said, I can really never forget him. How much we loved each other. I don’t know why we suddenly drifted apart and I got married to someone else. But I love my husband too!… I just can’t forget the love we had.”

     And as I was tucking back her futton I asked her, “What’s his name? He must’ve had a really nice name!”…. She looked up at the ceiling, to the left and to the right her eyes rolled… “Eto..eto… eh? What was his name… Eh? What was his name again?…. I forgot! Hahaha!”… I laughed even more loudly. Her face so adorable with that childish, toothless grin. Iasked her again later that afternoon and the day after that. She only had one answer: “I didn’t talk about anything like that” with a smile…. What do I expect? She’s 94! Her white hair was thinning, and barely have any strength anymore. Indeed, eventually memory fades, body loses mobility, but somewhere in the depths of her heart, her unforgettable love remains… Name forgotten though.

     On our way home one afternoon, my 5-year-old son Shuichi confronted me to tell the truth on how babies are MADE. “I don’t get it, Ma!”, he suddenly blurted. “The short video we watched together yesterday was almost as exact as the scene I had in my mind with your explanation to me about the stork delivering the babies… So how did I get inside your belly then?”. I wasn’t prepared for any answers that time and told him he’ll learn about it when he gets older. He also remembered my other statement that a man and a woman had to get married first before having a baby. I have somehow connected the dots… or I supposed I did. And he went on, “So if the stork delivered me to you as a baby, why did I need to get inside your belly? I quite understood you, though you were talking to your friends in Tagalog, that you were always in pain then, and that it wasn’t easy.” I did my best not to run out of Nihonggo to be understood. I explained to him that a mother has to keep the baby warm inside her belly for a few months until he is ready to come out…. He never runs out of why’s and how’s as always …. “There’s magic that’s way beyond explanation. Some things happen as they are supposed to and one of them is the miracle of birth… did you have fun today in school? What did you have for lunch?”… And I have successfully diverted his thoughts… for the meantime. Whew!…

November 29, 2009 worldwide update by the U.N.’s World Health Organization (WHO) states that “207 countries and overseas territories/communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 8,768 deaths.”

A 74-year-old man, who was running a fever of more than 38 degrees, tested positive Friday for type A influenza and was given the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

He collapsed at home around 10:30 a.m. Saturday and died 6 1/2 hours later in a hospital, city officials said.

His swine flu infection was confirmed Sunday by virus gene analysis, they said.

According to the municipal government, the man had two chronic diseases — malignant lymphoma and diabetes. He was vaccinated for swine flu Nov. 16.

On Saturday, a man in his 20s in the city of Akita died after his bronchial asthma worsened due to the flu virus. He was also being treated for a chronic neurological disease, according to Akita officials.

Also Saturday, a 51-year-old man in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, died after suffering from severe pneumonia, officials said. The man did not have any chronic diseases and was prescribed Tamiflu on Dec. 1 when he visited a local hospital.

The nation’s first swine flu infection was confirmed in May, when an Osaka Prefecture high school student who returned from abroad tested positive at Narita International Airport.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases said late last month that an estimated 10.75 million people have visited doctors due to influenza since early July. Many are believed to have been infected with swine flu.

This just in. Tatsuya Ichihashi is finally arrested!

At around 6:00pm today, November 10, 2009, Japanese police in Osaka have arrested the man they believe murdered British teacher Lindsay Hawker and left her naked body buried in a bathtub filled with sand after luring her to his flat for a private English lesson.

He was detained while attempting to board a ferry in Osaka, according to Japanese media. The suspect is believed to have been attempting to again avoid capture, with the ferry he was boarding headed for Okinawa.

Tatsuya Ichihashi was caught just hours after Linday’s mother appealed on television for him to turn himself in.  Mr Ichihashi’s mother earlier made an emotional plea on Japanese television on Tuesday, urging her fugitive son to turn himself in to police.

“It’s mom, Tatsuya,” said the woman in an audio message. “Dad and mom have decided to speak about our feelings, although we know you won’t like this.”

She said they felt happy when they heard their son had been working diligently and had told colleagues he wanted to be good to his parents.

“If so, please go to Gyotoku police station and tell them the truth. Please,” the woman said in a sobbing voice.

Police in Gyotoku on the outskirts of Tokyo are in charge of the case.

The arrest comes just days after police released new images of what they believed Ichihashi now looks like after undergoing a raft of cosmetic surgeries while a fugitive.

Police caught Ichihashi after discovering his alias and where he has been hiding out for the last month.

He has reportedly been working as a builder for the last year at a construction company in Ibaraki, Osaka and staying in a nearby company-owned dormitory, police sources told the Mainichi newspaper yesterday.

Ichihashi had been using the alias Kosuke Inoue and his fingerprints were discovered throughout the room he was staying in, police sources told the paper.

…HOPE HE GETS THE EXACT SAME TREATMENT AS HE DID TO LINDSAY.

Body parts, including a severed head, found scattered on a mountain here have been identified as those of a 19-year-old female college student who disappeared two weeks ago, police said Monday.

A test of a thighbone and torso discovered Saturday and Sunday, respectively, on Mount Garyuzan matched the DNA of Miyako Hiraoka, a first-year student at the University of Shimane in Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, police said.

Her head had been discovered on the same mountain, which is near the border of Shimane Prefecture, on Friday.

Hiraoka was last seen leaving an ice-cream shop in a shopping mall where she worked part time at 9:15 p.m. on Oct. 26. She was apparently walking to her university dormitory about 2.6 kilometers away.

Investigative sources said Hiraoka appears to have been strangled.

An autopsy showed that her head had been repeatedly struck hard and was likely severed with a sharp tool, they said.

The time of death was between Oct. 26 and 31.

There were no major external wounds to Hiraoka’s trunk, according to Shimane and Hiroshima prefectural police.

Because there were no signs of massive blood loss on the mountain, police suspect Hiraoka’s body was mutilated elsewhere and the parts transported by car to the mountain.

Hiraoka’s naked torso was found around 10 a.m. Sunday on a slope near a rest area for motorists at the eighth station of the mountain.

About 70 to 80 meters away across a mountain path, a man picking mushrooms discovered the head Friday.

The thighbone, 30 to 40 centimeters in length and holding little flesh, was discovered around 10 a.m. Saturday in a wooded area about 1.2 km from an entrance to the mountain path.

Police believe Hiraoka’s trunk was carried on foot down a moderate slope off the mountain path and discarded.

But they suspect Hiraoka’s head was thrown from the top of a steep slope. It was found about 10 meters below the rest area.

About 180 police officers were searching for clues Monday, especially on Mount Garyuzan and along Route 168, which leads from Hamada to northern Hiroshima Prefecture.

-Asahi Shimbun

Ichihashi, 30, is wanted in connection with the murder of Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, an English teacher.

In another development Thursday, investigative sources said Ichihashi had attempted to undergo cosmetic surgery in Fukuoka Prefecture in mid-October before his Oct. 24 face-lift in Nagoya.

The man who appeared at the clinic in Fukuoka Prefecture used the same alias as that used at the Nagoya facility, the sources said, without revealing the alias.

Why the police would release the photo but not the alias is puzzling, as the name he has been using would probably be very useful to the public.

Prior to the release of the photo, an expert consulted by Fuji TV had advised people to pay attention to Ichihashi’s ears, since few people have plastic surgery to alter their ear shape.

-courtesy of Japan Probe