Takarazuka mayor arrested over bribery
February 7, 2006Takarazuka Mayor Kan Watanabe was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of receiving a luxurious car as a bribe from two pachinko parlor managers, prosecutors said. The prosecutors suspect the car, valued at 8 million yen, was provided to the 47-year-old mayor of the Hyogo Prefecture city in November 2003 by Koji Kim, 42, and Tadaharu Fukuda, 49, in exchange for his approval for the launch of their new pachinko parlor, the prosecutors said.
Man dies after being pinned under ticket vending machine in Tokyo
February 7, 2006A 70-year-old security guard died Tuesday after being pinned under a ticket vending machine as he and his colleagues were carrying the 400 kilogram machine from a subway station in Tokyo, the Metropolitan Police Department said. Two other men sustained serious injuries in the accident that took place on some exit stairs at Nagatacho subway station in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, police said.