Archive for August, 2011

Uncle Used “Baby Post” to Abandon Child & Steal Inheritance Money

Remember the “baby post” that opened at hospital in Kumamoto prefecture back in 2007? It was meant for people to anonymously drop off newborn babies they do not want to raise, but now it’s been linked to a very serious crime.

The Yomiuri is reporting that a man used it to abandon his orphaned nephew and steal the boy’s inheritance money:

…in spring 2007, the man withdrew the mother’s life and accident insurance payments that had been deposited into several bank accounts opened in the boy’s name. He then left the boy at the Kumamoto hatch and went missing.

Unable to contact the man, the court dismissed him as guardian of the boy. A lawyer who took over the guardianship then consulted with the Saitama prefectural police as to the man’s whereabouts.

In early May, the boy’s uncle turned himself in at a police station in Aichi Prefecture, lugging a large amount of baggage.

The Saitama police then questioned the man, who reportedly said: “I found out about the baby hatch and left the boy there. Since then, I wandered around and gambled the insurance money on motorboat races and other things hoping to earn more money.

“I started feeling guilty about what I’d done after seeing people [in the Tohoku region] suffering from the Great East Japan Earthquake,” he reportedly told the police.

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Japanese TV Show Asks Austrians If They Know About Hitler

A Japanese TV show travels to the Austrian town of Hallstatt to visit a salt mine that was used to hide famous paintings looted by the Nazis during World War II.

They go straight into a shop and ask a woman if she’s heard about how Hitler once hid paintings in the salt mine:

The woman seems uncomfortable when they bring up Hitler. She says that everyone knows about it, but people don’t talk about it much or learn about it in school. For some reason, Austrian people don’t seem to enjoy chatting about Hitler – who would have thought!

Earlier in the program, the host did the same thing at another Austrian gift shop. She was smiling as she brought up the topic of Hitler, and the shopkeeper was smiling too, until the interpreter translated what had been said in Japanese. Of course, that Austrian person had also heard of Mr. Hitler and the theft of paintings from occupied Europe.

When they visited the salt mines, their guide told them the story of the paintings. He said that Austrian people don’t like to talk about Hitler, but he considers it his duty to help educate people about what happened at the mine. (The embedded clip also includes some actors reenacting the Hitler story.)

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Samurai Sword Smash & Grab

Security camera footage shows a thief stealing a sword from a shop in Gunma prefecture:

It was meant to be a quick smash and grab, but the thief experiences some trouble. After smashing a display case with a hammer, he tries to grab the sword by the handle. This causes the blade to come out of the sheath, so he has to turn around and retrieve the sheath (or its certificate of authenticity?).

The thief’s clumsiness gave the shop owner time to react. Unfortunately, instead of grabbing one of his swords, the shopkeeper attacks the thief with what appears to be an umbrella. The beating doesn’t prevent the thief from running off to his getaway vehicle.

According to the Yomiuri, it was a very valuable 650-year-old sword. Because it was stolen along with documentation of its authenticity, police believe that the thief intends to sell the sword.

The thief was wearing a black stocking over his face, so the camera footage does not reveal much about his identity. It is believed that he was somewhere between the age of 30 and 50, and about 1.6 meters tall.

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Japanese Schoolchildren: The World Doesn’t Need Wars, Nuclear Power, and Homework

Last night, a quiz show on Fuji TV asked panelists to guess the results of surveys conducted on a group of 1,000 Japanese elementary school children. Here are the top 10 results for a question that asked the kids to name the most unnecessary thing in the world:

• 1. War – 263 votes
• 2. Nuclear Power Plants – 192 votes
• 3. Studying / Homework – 140 votes
• 4. Politicians – 96 votes
• 5. Crime – 63 votes
• 6. Cigarettes / Tobacco – 32 votes
• 7. Garbage – 28 votes
• 8. Bullying – 17 votes
• 9. Money – 14 votes
• 10. Lies – 7 votes

The top result is a testament to the effectiveness of Japan’s pacifist education system. The #2 result shows that this survey was conducted after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The #3 result reminds us that these are kids.

Tobacco makes the list, but Japan’s other popular and unhealthy legal drug – alcohol – does not.

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London Rioters Loot & Burn Sony Warehouse

As rioters spread destruction in London, the Japanese media is focusing on the fact that Sony’s sole warehouse in Britain has been looted and burned:

During the BBC’s coverage of the incident, one eyewitness claimed he saw looters carrying off “loads of Sony stuff, like Wii consoles.”

As one might expect, this will probably result in some shortages of Sony products:

“There will likely be some impact on deliveries,” said Yoko Yasukochi, a spokeswoman at the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate in Tokyo.

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Dante Carver Apologizes For Car Accident

The Japanese media is reporting that Dante Carver, the American actor who plays the big brother in Softbank’s “White Family” commercials, caused a minor car accident a few days ago in Shibuya:

Carver was driving and apparently collided with another car because he was trying to avoid a collision with a nearby motor bike. It was a minor accident that only damaged the bumpers of both cars, and nobody was injured.

Carver’s talent agency issued an apology on his behalf. A Japanese apology statement has also been posted on his official blog.

He also mentioned the accident in a tweet today:

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