Court gives man prison term over graffiti on public lavatory
January 19, 2006The Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that gave a suspended prison term to a 27-year-old man who wrote graffiti on a public lavatory, on grounds that it caused damage to a building, legal sources said Thursday. Writing graffiti is usually regarded as a violation of the Minor Offenses Law or city ordinances, but this is the first time the top court has ruled that the offense should be interpreted as damaging a building, which carries a penalty of up five years in prison.
Brokerage house exec linked to Livedoor dies, suicide suspected
January 19, 2006Hideaki Noguchi, vice president of a brokerage house linked with corporate takeover deals by Internet and financial service provider Livedoor Co., died Wednesday in an apparent suicide in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, prosecutors and Naha police said Thursday. Naha police said Noguchi, 38, vice president of H.S. Securities Co., apparently slit his arms and wrists at a Naha hotel. No suicide note was found but a blood-stained knife was found nearby him, the police said.
Minivan accident in Australia kills Japanese tourist, injures 3
January 19, 2006A minivan accident killed a Japanese tourist and injured three others Wednesday on the Australian island of Tasmania, local police said Thursday. They said the 59-year-old woman who died was among a group of four Japanese tourists whose rented minivan veered off the road and crashed into a tree in the eastern part of the island at around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.