New information on the case of Lindsay Ann Hawker, a 22-year-old British woman who was recently found murdered in Japan, has emerged since yesterday’s post on this topic:

Hawker graduated in biology from the University of Leeds last year and started teaching for Nova in October 2006.
Ichihashi, who is suspected of being involved in Ms Hawker’s [...]

This morning’s Japan-related news links:

The director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said Wednesday that Japan would become the first partner in the U.S. program to try to knock down a medium range missile from sea. [Link]
A high court on Wednesday ordered two local governments to pay 8.6 million yen in compensation to the [...]

Here’s a TV news segment that aired yesterday about a 7-day train tour of North Korea. The special tour takes foreigners along the main train line from the Chinese border to Pyongyang, and then passengers get on a special car on a local train line to see the North Korean countryside:

The report pretty much [...]

Here is an amusing column from the LA Times about a bicycle theft in Tokyo. For those of us who often confuse the police with those guys who wave the red sticks directing traffic in and out of carparks, the article is also a testimonial to the quality of the work done by the fine [...]

Yet another bizarre case of a huge sum of cash being found in an unlikely place:
Police used fishing nets and their hands Wednesday to scoop up 2.7 million yen (US$23,000; €17,230) in mysterious cash floating down a Japanese river, an official said.
A passer-by notified police after seeing the bank notes drifting down the Sakai River [...]

According to the above video and the Asahi Shinbun, airlines in Japan will now be a bit stricter when it comes to certain activities on flights:
The transport ministry concluded that revisions were necessary to stop such behavior at the earliest stage, the officials said.
The eight categories include:
–Smoking in restrooms;
–Obstructing crew members, including verbal abuse and [...]

In this video clip, foreign clown Chad Mullane and friends are introduced to Mai Fujiko, a 16-year-old gravure idol with an I-Cup bust:

Mai, who seems to be using the last name Odagiri on the cover of her DVD[she also goes by the nickname "Maitan"], is being marketed as a “Busu Idol,” or “ugly idol,” since [...]

A few clips from last night’s Ken Shimura Bakadono-sama special, in which Shimura plays a variety of roles in slapstick comedy sketches:
Clip 1: Bakadono-sama’s Entrance

Clip 2: Praying at the Waterfall:

Clip 3: Ringing the Bell

Clip 4: The Clothing-Removal Tree

Clip 5: Sumo Watermelon-Eating

Gotta love Shimura’s signature watermelon-devouring act!

The murder this week of a British woman in Chiba prefecture has got the international media writing about the dangers caucasian women face in Japan and the Lucie Blackman case. This series of videos from an Al Jazeera report, uploaded by YouTube user Oniazuma, looks at the dark side of the “booming trade in caucasion [...]

London mayor Ken Livingstone has not had anything kind to say about the Japanese embassy’s refusal to pay the city’s controversial road congestion charge:
Commenting recently about Japan’s decision not to contribute toward the central London congestion motoring charge, Ken Livingstone told the LBC radio station, “I think there are several problems with Japan that we [...]

This morning’s Japan-related news links:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sent back to the Kyoto District Court a case in which the Taiwan authorities demanded eight residents of Kokaryo–a Chinese student dormitory in Kyoto–to vacate the building, and stated that China, not Taiwan, is the litigant in the 40-year-old lawsuit. [Link]
Incumbent Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara [...]

Here’s the latest Suntory Beer Commercial, (complete with English captions!) It’s rather cool and features some typically drunken salarymen, boozing in Asakusa. I assume they are satirizing stereotypes of Japanese businessmen. (At least, I hope so!)