Life term upheld for ringleader in stalking murder of student

December 20, 2005

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court sentence of life in prison for a man who ordered the 1999 stalking and murder of a 21-year-old female college student who had broken up with his brother. The court rejected the appeal of Takeshi...

Mitsubishi Fuso unit suspected of cheating on truck checks

December 20, 2005

A subsidiary of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp is suspected of systemically cheating on vehicle inspections by padding the maximum loading capacity of 2,353 trucks over three years through fiscal 2004 which ended in March this year, transport minis...

Police raid 117 locations, including Aneha's office, over quake data scandal

December 20, 2005

Police began searching 117 locations, including former architect Hidetsugu Aneha's office in Chiba Prefecture, Tuesday morning on suspicion of his involvement in fabricating quake resistance data. It is the first law enforcement investigation into th...

Japanese woman kidnapped in Brazil, freed after month

December 20, 2005

A Japanese woman living in Brazil was kidnapped in November but was released unhurt a month later on Sunday, sources familiar with the case said Monday. Noriko Chibana, 52, was snatched by two men on Nov 10 when she arrived by car at her workplac...

Hiroshima murder suspect to be indicted Wed

December 20, 2005

Prosecutors are set to indict Jose Manuel Torres Yake, a 33-year-old Peruvian man, on Wednesday on murder and two other charges over the alleged killing of a 7-year-old girl in Hiroshima last month, investigation sources said Monday. Investigators...