Residents get reprieve after 5 days of snow-caused isolation
January 13, 2006Two remote communities in Niigata and Nagano prefectures got a reprieve Friday from five days of isolation due to heavy snow, as workers removed snow blocking a national route linking them. Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force troops cleared a 700-meter section of National Route 405 in Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, and the Niigata prefectural government allowed vehicles to use the highway for three hours beginning at 2 p.m., officials said.
Pair served with fresh arrest warrants for 4th murder
January 13, 2006Tokyo police served fresh arrest warrants Friday on two men, already accused of killing three people, on suspicion of murdering a dentist at his home in Tokyo in 2002 and stealing cash and jewelry, the police said. Tetsuo Odajima, 62, and Katsumi Morita, 55, have admitted to allegations that they broke into the home of dentist Fumio Aoyagi, 71, in Tokyo's Meguro Ward on Sept. 24, 2002, and murdered him.
Japan police retract request for search warrant for U.S. flattop
January 13, 2006Japanese police sought a warrant to search the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk over the murder last week of a Japanese woman allegedly by one of its crew members but later withdrew the request after being told the flattop is an extraterritorial sanctuary under Japan-U.S. security arrangements, police sources said Friday. The police filed the request Thursday with the Yokosuka Summary Court in Kanagawa Prefecture. But the police retracted the request after the court told them, citing a 1996 Supreme Court decision, that extraterritorial rights are given to U.S. warships in Japan.
Residents get reprieve after 5 days of snow-caused isolation
January 13, 2006Residents in two remote rural communities in Niigata and Nagano prefectures got a temporary reprieve after five days of isolation caused by a heavy snow as workers removed the remaining chunk of snow that has blocked a national route linking them. An about 700-meter-long section of the National Route 405 in Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, was cleared by Ground Self-Defense Force troops, and the Niigata prefectural government allowed vehicles to use the highway for three hours beginning at 2 p.m., officials said.
Global positioning system cellphones tested for guiding evacuees
January 13, 2006Kyoto University and the research arm of telecom carrier KDDI Corp. conducted an experiment Friday to see how mobile phones equipped with global positioning systems can be used to provide evacuation guidance in the event of a disaster. About 30 students took part in the experiment, held in the vicinity of the university's campus in Kyoto, bringing with them GPS-equipped phones designed to display the nearest evacuation center.
Japan, U.S. troops hold 1st joint exercise for island defense
January 13, 2006Japanese and U.S. troops are holding their first joint exercise for island defense in the San Diego coastal area, practicing regaining a remote Japanese island invaded by a foreign armed group. In Thursday's activities, which were shown to the media, Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force members received training from about 30 U.S. Marines on how to row a rubber dinghy out to sneak onto the ''seized'' island as well as how to conduct reconnaissance swimming for about an hour wearing a wetsuit and ''armed'' with a rubber model gun.
Death toll from snow-related incidents rises to 82
January 13, 2006The death toll from snow-related incidents in Japan since the snow season began in December rose to 82 in 17 prefectures after six people were found dead Thursday in Fukui, Gifu, Yamagata and Nagano prefectures, according to data compiled by Kyodo News. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency separately reported that the number of people who have died in snow-related incidents totaled 79 as of 3 p.m. Thursday, with people aged 60 and older accounting for about 80 percent of the deaths.