TOKYOMANGO

Police mistake victim for attacker in a sad story that ends in murder

Sad but true: while responding to an emergency call about a break-in last Thursday, police in Akita Prefecture mistook the victim for the perpetrator and held him down upon arrival, giving the perpetrator the opportunity to stab the victim to death. 55-year old Hirotaka Tsuya was probably sleeping in his home at 4am when Katsuo Sugawara, a 66-year old unemployed man, broke into his home.

I think it's awful that Sugawara continued to attack Tsuya even after the cops arrived. The article doesn't clarify, but it seems more vengeance-driven rather than a random robbery.

Link

Why old people are not reported dead and/or seen as cash cows

A new government survey found that over 230,000 people registered as alive and over 100 are actually missing, i.e. probably dead and not reported as such. This could be because of a lax reporting system or because the relatives want to continue to collect their pensions. Last month, a 111 year old man made headlines when he was found decayed and dead for over 32 years. So weird!

It seems that some people in Japan perceive old people as treasure troves for free cash: I don't know if this is still common, but I remember when we often heard about young people who would call up random seniors, pretend to be their long-lost son or daughter, and trick them into sending them huge amounts of cash.

A note to sneaky caretakers of old people: our population is aging. Our economy is faltering. Please don't take precious government money or scam your old relatives, it's bad for your karma.

via AP

Jake Adelstein remembers crime lawyer Toshiro Igari after his "suicide"

Last Friday, a well-known criminal lawyer named Toshiro Igari was found dead in a hotel room in Manila. The police are writing it off as a suicide, but as Tokyo Vice author Jake Adelstein points out, it's hard to cut both your wrists.

Jake wrote a touching account of his last interaction with Igari, who was a good friend of his, on his Twitter feed. I hope he doesn't mind that I took the liberty of pasting it here.

I wanted to say something about Igari Toshiro, my lawyer and friend. I have read every book he's written about organized crime and as an ex-prosecutor he knows his stuff. He was always a delight to speak with. At a time in 2008, when I was under police protection and wondering if I was going to get snuffed or one of my friends would he met me. Later, I heard he met up with a Goto-gumi exec. and warned him "If anything happens to Jake, I'll make sure the prosecutors come for you." He had clout because he was an ex-prosecutor. The worst of the yakuza feared him and I admired him. This year Goto Tadamasa published his memoirs. If you understand how yakuza work, it had the equivalent of a "fatwa" written about me. 跳ね返り催促。Because the lines in the book had a notation that he was laughing when he said it, the police couldn't arrest him for making a threat. I wrote Igari-san asking him what to do. I got a reply within hours. He came back to Japan from Brazil on Sunday August 8th, and went directly from the airport to his office to meet me. I was honored. On that evening, I sat down with him and two other lawyers. He took my case and said he would first write to the publishers of Goto's book.Igari said, "The publisher's edited the interviews, they have a responsibility for the words they chose. They printed slander and threats."He was excited about taking a vacation in Manila. He wasn't depressed. He said we'd talk more when he got back.His last words to me were: 「この件は勇気と金もかかりますよ。ただ働きできない（笑）。しかし、この本は許さない。出版社も言葉の危険を承知しているはずだ。後藤は本当に嘘つきだ。ヤクザにしてもクズです。伊丹監督の攻撃を命令したのが事実。さあ戦いましょう」. Rough translation: "It'll take courage & money to handle your case. Goto is a liar & his book and publisher are unforgivable. Lets's fight." He was smiling and laughing when I left his office. I don't believe he killed himself. Igari先生 was a mentor. Hard-working, funny, courageous, honorable, with a thirst for justice. He always remembered kindnesses and repaid them.

Man arrested for stealing girls' bicycle saddles

A 37-year old Tochigi man named Yuichi Fukuda was arrested for stealing a 4th grade girl's bicycle saddle. Upon searching his home, the cops found 80 girls' bicycle saddles and other random girly paraphernalia that he had stolen. He admits that he stole these items to fulfill his needs. Yuck.

Man runs out of toilet paper, tweets for help

An anime DJ was pooping in the Yodobashi Camera store in Akihabara but only realized there was no toilet paper after the fact. So he did what any savvy geek would do — he sent an urgent tweet asking for someone to bring him some. It worked!

I was reading the rest of this guy's tweets, too, they're all in Japanese but really funny. Follow!

naika_tei's Twitter via Foolish Gadgets via Boing Boing