[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Ichihashi to be charged with Hawker's murder
CHIBA (Kyodo) Police plan to pursue charges against Tatsuya Ichihashi in the 2007 murder of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker, investigative sources said Monday.
Ichihashi, 30, was arrested Nov. 10 in Osaka following more than 2 1/2 years on the run. He faced an initial charge of abandoning the body of Hawker, a 22-year-old language teacher whose corpse was found on the balcony of his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in 2007.
He will be served with an arrest warrant on the murder charge Wednesday, when his current period of detention expires, according to the sources.
Investigators suspect Ichihashi took Hawker to his apartment and he remained there until just before her body was discovered. Police believe a fresh warrant can be issued with this information and the fact that Hawker apparently was murdered.
Ichihashi so far has remained silent.
He managed to flee when officers went to the apartment in March 2007 after getting a tip that he might know something about Hawker's disappearance. They subsequently found her naked body in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony.
Hawker, who sustained injuries to her face and other parts of her body, had been strangled to death.
Ichihashi's arrest came after a surgeon released a photo showing Ichihashi's face following cosmetic surgery.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Domestic flights limit carry-on size to keep schedules flowing
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
Japanese airlines on Tuesday will start enforcing size restrictions on domestic flight carry-on luggage in an effort to minimize delays caused by trying to stow items that are too big.
The overall dimension for carry-on baggage on aircraft that can seat 100 or more passengers must not exceed 55 cm by 40 cm by 25 cm.
For aircraft that seat 100 or fewer passengers, the dimensions must measure no more than 45 cm by 35 cm by 20 cm.
Carry-on luggage that can be stowed, limited to one item per passenger, will be measured at security checkpoints. Items exceeding the limits will have to be checked in. If passengers want to carry on an oversize item, they will have to pay a fee to secure space for the luggage in the passenger cabin.
In the case of All Nippon Airways, it costs some ¥10,000 to carry on an oversize item that can be placed on a vacant seat.
The Tokyo-based Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan reported there were 4,800 cases in which flights were delayed due to carry-on baggage problems in the 2008 business year.
"Unifying the size will hopefully reduce flight delays and clarify the size limits for customers," association official Toshiya Shimada said.
"Previously, carry-on luggage limits varied by carrier. There were cases in which passengers (using different airlines for a round trip) could carry on items on the outbound trip but could not do so when returning home," he said.
Also depending on the situation, existing rules were not strictly enforced, such as when flights had many empty seats.
Kojiro Waki, a spokesman for Japan Airlines Corp., said the unified limits will benefit both customers and the airlines.
"It will make it easier for customers (to know the limits)," Waki said, adding it will also improve punctuality and flight safety, as airlines will make efforts to enforce the new rules.
The new regulation may have a significant impact on some travelers, particularly musicians.
Takeshi Shinohara, a representative of the Musicians' Unions of Japan, said the new rule will pose a problem for travelers seeking to carry on a violin or viola.
Previous limits weren't strictly enforced, and employees at the gates and cabin crew members were allowed some discretion.
In most cases, violins were allowed to be carried on, Shinohara said.
If the unified rule is strictly applied, violins or violas will have to be checked in or not taken, unless the fee is paid.
"We don't feel comfortable checking instruments into the cargo hold," Shinohara said, noting musicians worry their instruments could be damaged.
Security eased
NARITA , Chiba Pref. (Kyodo) The operator of Narita International Airport plans to remove the security checkpoints at the railway stations located within its premises amid calls for the airport to be more user-friendly.
Part of the first full-scale security system review since the airport opened in 1978, officials of Narita International Airport Corp. said Sunday the company is also considering easing the security checks being conducted at the airport's entry gates for vehicles.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Don't be like U.S.: Michael Moore
By MINORU MATSUTANI
Staff writer
American movie director Michael Moore came to Japan for the first time Monday to plug his new movie "Capitalism: A Love Story" and to urge the country not to follow the path taken by the United States, where he says the gap between rich and poor is extreme.
"As much as I love America, quit being like us," Moore said at a news conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. "Be Japan. Be the Japan that has been creative since 1945. Be the Japan that never throws people out of work."
Moore's movie, which opens Saturday in Japan, is a sharply satirical documentary about capitalism, focusing on the wealth gap in the U.S. Its promotion flier says corporate executives get paid 400 times as much as employees while ordinary people suffer a housing foreclosure every 7 1/2 seconds and 14,000 people lose their jobs every day in the U.S.
Moore, whose works include "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Sicko," first praised Japan for being much more democratic than the U.S. in the sense that Japanese society is structured to save the poor, referring to the medical care system.
The biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical bills, but no Japanese lose their homes because they cannot afford medical bills, he said.
While admitting that Japan is much better than his country in establishing a safety net for the poor, he warned that Japan has been becoming more like America.
"(In the) last 20 years, you (Japan) decided to change through a series of conservative prime ministers, including (an) Elvis impersonator (Junichiro Koizumi)," he said. "Now you are starting to get some of the problems we have. More crimes, unemployment.
"Your conservative government started to cut off (the) safety net, cut off money from health care, education, throw people out of work, make it harder for Japanese who don't make as much money, punish them for being poor," he said.
Moore also expressed regret that Japan agreed to deploy the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
"You gave him (former U.S. President George W. Bush) legitimacy," he said, explaining that Bush may not have been able to start the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq if Japan, Britain and other countries hadn't supported him.
Nevertheless, Moore voiced admiration for Japan in general. He also expressed hope that the Democratic Party of Japan-led government shifts away from the American way.
"My humble plea is to come off the (American way) road with the new prime minister and get back on the road to the country I admire," he said.
He also expressed gratitude that the TSE let him hold his news conference, something the New York Stock Exchange wouldn't permit.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Ichihashi to be charged with Hawker's murder
CHIBA (Kyodo) Police plan to pursue charges against Tatsuya Ichihashi in the 2007 murder of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker, investigative sources said Monday.
Ichihashi, 30, was arrested Nov. 10 in Osaka following more than 2 1/2 years on the run. He faced an initial charge of abandoning the body of Hawker, a 22-year-old language teacher whose corpse was found on the balcony of his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in 2007.
He will be served with an arrest warrant on the murder charge Wednesday, when his current period of detention expires, according to the sources.
Investigators suspect Ichihashi took Hawker to his apartment and he remained there until just before her body was discovered. Police believe a fresh warrant can be issued with this information and the fact that Hawker apparently was murdered.
Ichihashi so far has remained silent.
He managed to flee when officers went to the apartment in March 2007 after getting a tip that he might know something about Hawker's disappearance. They subsequently found her naked body in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony.
Hawker, who sustained injuries to her face and other parts of her body, had been strangled to death.
Ichihashi's arrest came after a surgeon released a photo showing Ichihashi's face following cosmetic surgery.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Domestic flights limit carry-on size to keep schedules flowing
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
Japanese airlines on Tuesday will start enforcing size restrictions on domestic flight carry-on luggage in an effort to minimize delays caused by trying to stow items that are too big.
The overall dimension for carry-on baggage on aircraft that can seat 100 or more passengers must not exceed 55 cm by 40 cm by 25 cm.
For aircraft that seat 100 or fewer passengers, the dimensions must measure no more than 45 cm by 35 cm by 20 cm.
Carry-on luggage that can be stowed, limited to one item per passenger, will be measured at security checkpoints. Items exceeding the limits will have to be checked in. If passengers want to carry on an oversize item, they will have to pay a fee to secure space for the luggage in the passenger cabin.
In the case of All Nippon Airways, it costs some ¥10,000 to carry on an oversize item that can be placed on a vacant seat.
The Tokyo-based Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan reported there were 4,800 cases in which flights were delayed due to carry-on baggage problems in the 2008 business year.
"Unifying the size will hopefully reduce flight delays and clarify the size limits for customers," association official Toshiya Shimada said.
"Previously, carry-on luggage limits varied by carrier. There were cases in which passengers (using different airlines for a round trip) could carry on items on the outbound trip but could not do so when returning home," he said.
Also depending on the situation, existing rules were not strictly enforced, such as when flights had many empty seats.
Kojiro Waki, a spokesman for Japan Airlines Corp., said the unified limits will benefit both customers and the airlines.
"It will make it easier for customers (to know the limits)," Waki said, adding it will also improve punctuality and flight safety, as airlines will make efforts to enforce the new rules.
The new regulation may have a significant impact on some travelers, particularly musicians.
Takeshi Shinohara, a representative of the Musicians' Unions of Japan, said the new rule will pose a problem for travelers seeking to carry on a violin or viola.
Previous limits weren't strictly enforced, and employees at the gates and cabin crew members were allowed some discretion.
In most cases, violins were allowed to be carried on, Shinohara said.
If the unified rule is strictly applied, violins or violas will have to be checked in or not taken, unless the fee is paid.
"We don't feel comfortable checking instruments into the cargo hold," Shinohara said, noting musicians worry their instruments could be damaged.
Security eased
NARITA , Chiba Pref. (Kyodo) The operator of Narita International Airport plans to remove the security checkpoints at the railway stations located within its premises amid calls for the airport to be more user-friendly.
Part of the first full-scale security system review since the airport opened in 1978, officials of Narita International Airport Corp. said Sunday the company is also considering easing the security checks being conducted at the airport's entry gates for vehicles.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Don't be like U.S.: Michael Moore
By MINORU MATSUTANI
Staff writer
American movie director Michael Moore came to Japan for the first time Monday to plug his new movie "Capitalism: A Love Story" and to urge the country not to follow the path taken by the United States, where he says the gap between rich and poor is extreme.
"As much as I love America, quit being like us," Moore said at a news conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. "Be Japan. Be the Japan that has been creative since 1945. Be the Japan that never throws people out of work."
Moore's movie, which opens Saturday in Japan, is a sharply satirical documentary about capitalism, focusing on the wealth gap in the U.S. Its promotion flier says corporate executives get paid 400 times as much as employees while ordinary people suffer a housing foreclosure every 7 1/2 seconds and 14,000 people lose their jobs every day in the U.S.
Moore, whose works include "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Sicko," first praised Japan for being much more democratic than the U.S. in the sense that Japanese society is structured to save the poor, referring to the medical care system.
The biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical bills, but no Japanese lose their homes because they cannot afford medical bills, he said.
While admitting that Japan is much better than his country in establishing a safety net for the poor, he warned that Japan has been becoming more like America.
"(In the) last 20 years, you (Japan) decided to change through a series of conservative prime ministers, including (an) Elvis impersonator (Junichiro Koizumi)," he said. "Now you are starting to get some of the problems we have. More crimes, unemployment.
"Your conservative government started to cut off (the) safety net, cut off money from health care, education, throw people out of work, make it harder for Japanese who don't make as much money, punish them for being poor," he said.
Moore also expressed regret that Japan agreed to deploy the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
"You gave him (former U.S. President George W. Bush) legitimacy," he said, explaining that Bush may not have been able to start the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq if Japan, Britain and other countries hadn't supported him.
Nevertheless, Moore voiced admiration for Japan in general. He also expressed hope that the Democratic Party of Japan-led government shifts away from the American way.
"My humble plea is to come off the (American way) road with the new prime minister and get back on the road to the country I admire," he said.
He also expressed gratitude that the TSE let him hold his news conference, something the New York Stock Exchange wouldn't permit.
※コメント投稿者のブログIDはブログ作成者のみに通知されます