Scared...

In the morning, I was covering the high court upholding AUM sarin maker's death penalty sentence.

But in the afternoon, back to the air pollution lawsuit!

being treated as the top news really scares me...

Yeah, maybe that's the truth about what I've been irritated these few months...
I'm just scared!
Scared to be left out...
Scared to lose...
Scared to take another step...
Scared...

Not a nice way to wake up...

A phone call woke me out of bed very early in the morning.

Because of this article...

about the air pollution lawsuit... my boss called me at 4:30AM because of this article... boo...

It became a very very busy and truly truly long day!
In the afternoon, Mr. Abe gave his words to Mr. Ishihara that the state will contribute 6 billion yen to Tokyo.
A crucial move that could settle the lawsuit soon! The following couple of months could really drive me crazy, as there will be no telling when the next crucial move will come!
ooh....

Need to wake up!

I was so tired and sleepy today. I had no idea why, but maybe it was because I was brain-twisted reading four judgment papers (which I did not write a single word on) in the afternoon.

Maybe eating this will wake me up!

a cracker filled with red pepper powder!

Oh, another hard day coming up tomorrow... and an even harder one the day after!

Reports of death... gloomy...

A report of a pop singer's death was good enough for one day, but a much more surprising and serious report came in later in the day... All that was planned for me to cover crumbled to pieces as a crucial appointment was canceled today...

death is the last thing we should want... was it not!?

(articles from Kyodo)
◆Singer of J-pop group ZARD Izumi Sakai dies at 40
TOKYO, May 28 KYODO
Izumi Sakai, the singer of Japanese pop group ZARD, died of a brain contusion at a hospital in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon after falling from stairs, her office said Monday. The police are investigating whether her death was caused by an accident or suicide. She was 40.
She was repeatedly hospitalized from June last year due to uterine cervix cancer, her office said. She returned to hospital in April after the cancer was found to have spread to her lung, it said.

◆Farm minister Matsuoka commits suicide amid funds scandals
TOKYO, May 28 KYODO
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka committed suicide Monday at his residence in Tokyo amid various political funds scandals, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who had supported Matsuoka in the face of increasing opposition pressure for his resignation ahead of the House of Councillors election in July.
Six suicide notes were found on a desk in his room, and one of them was addressed to the premier. In addition, a piece of paper was also left saying, ''I'm sorry for causing trouble,'' according to police and other sources.
Abe told reporters, ''As he was a competent minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the effects on the administration will be significant.''
The premier also said he is keenly aware of his ''responsibility'' for Matsuoka's action as the one who appointed the 62-year-old lawmaker of his Liberal Democratic Party to the Cabinet post.
Asked what he thinks lay behind the suicide, the premier said shortly after the confirmation of Matsuoka's death, ''I do not have any comments to make at this stage. It is not appropriate to make presumptions lightly.''
According to the lower house's secretariat, it was ''probably the first case in postwar Japan'' for an incumbent Cabinet member to commit suicide since then Army Minister Korechika Anami committed hara-kiri on Aug. 15, 1945, the day World War II ended.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a press conference that Environment Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi has replaced Matsuoka as acting agriculture minister on a temporary basis.
A by-election to fill the vacated seat will be held in the No. 3 constituency in Matsuoka's home prefecture of Kumamoto on the same day of the upper house election, now speculated to be July 22, in line with the Public Offices Election Law.
Matsuoka was found by his secretary and a security police officer hanging by a rope resembling a dog leash in his pajamas in the living room of his residence in a parliamentary housing building in Tokyo's Akasaka District at 12:18 p.m., the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Matsuoka was taken to Keio University Hospital at around 1 p.m., where he was pronounced dead at 2 p.m., Shiozaki, the top government spokesman, said. The cause of his death was suffocation.
The police said no autopsy was performed on Matsuoka's body and handed it over to his relatives later in the day.
Abe, Shiozaki and other Cabinet members were among people who attended a wake held at a funeral hall in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Monday evening. Abe left there some 15 minutes later without saying anything to reporters.
Matsuoka's heart was not functioning when the secretary, who talked to the minister in the room around 10 a.m., and the officer found him, the police said. They visited the room because Matsuoka had not shown up to attend a meeting of the House of Councillors Audit Committee.
Matsuoka took the Cabinet post for the first time last September, when Abe assumed office. He had been under fire for various political funds scandals, with opposition lawmakers demanding he resign as minister.
Matsuoka had been questioned for not providing a clear-cut account of the expenditures to run his office.
In March, the funds management body of Matsuoka was found to have booked more than 20 million yen as utility costs for five years until 2005, despite the fact the body used a cost-free official parliamentary office.
When questioned by opposition lawmakers during parliamentary committee deliberations, Matsuoka said the funds were booked appropriately under law and attributed the huge utility charge to ''special water'' he was buying, which he said cost 5,000 yen for a 500-milliliter bottle, a remark that sparked public controversy.
In the most recent case, his fund management and other related bodies were found to have gained a total of 13 million yen in donations over three years through 2005 from 14 contractors based in the southwestern Japan prefecture that have been awarded public works orders from the Japan Green Resources Agency.
The agency is a farm ministry-affiliated forestry management entity suspected of having been involved in rigging bids. Matsuoka formerly worked in the ministry as a bureaucrat and served as senior vice minister in it after becoming lawmaker.
Matsuoka was first elected to the lower house in 1990. He was reelected for a sixth term in 2005.
==Kyodo

A finish going down in history!

Vodka wins the 74th Japanese Derby (Jpn I) overpowering the other 17 colts!
First time in 64 years a filly captured this most precious crown in Japanese horse racing.
Even the Prime Minister and the Crown Prince were there to witness the miraculous victory.

Today, Vodka was running with the same number as his father, Tanino Gimlet, my favorite colt of all time, winning the 69th Derby five years ago...

I was cheering for the filly just like I did for his father!
I had the win and place tickets, but not the exacta...
I lost several thousand yen, but watching a great race lets me forget that I'd lost!

TOKYO 10R
THE TOKYO YUSHUN (JAPANESE DERBY)
May 27, 2007, 2400m, Turf Firm, Fine
C&F DSN, Special Weight, 3-Year-Olds, Open Class, Value of race: 343,300,000 Yen

FP	Bk	Hs	Horse	Finish (1/10s)	Margin
1st	2	3	Vodka(JPN)	2:24.5
2nd	8	16	Asakusa Kings(JPN)	2:25.0	3
3rd	7	14	Admire Aura(JPN)	2:25.3	1 3/4
4th	6	12	Sun Zeppelin(JPN)	2:25.3	NK
5th	4	8	Dream Journey(JPN)	2:25.4	3/4
6th	2	4	Golden Dahlia(JPN)	2:25.5	NK
7th	7	15	Fusaichi Ho O(JPN)	2:25.5	NK
8th	6	11	Namura Mars(JPN)	2:25.6	NK
9th	8	17	Victory(JPN)	2:25.8	1 1/4
10th	8	18	Flying Apple(USA)	2:25.8	NS
11th	1	1	Tascata Sorte(JPN)	2:25.8	HD
12th	3	6	Meiner Fogo(JPN)	2:26.0	1 1/4
13th	7	13	Laurel Guerreiro(JPN)	2:26.1	NK
14th	3	5	Tosen March(JPN)	2:26.1	NS
15th	4	7	Finistere(JPN)	2:26.1	NK
16th	5	9	Hiraboku Royal(JPN)	2:26.1	NS
17th	1	2	Gold Aguli(JPN)	2:26.1	NS
18th	5	10	Plateado(JPN)	2:27.1	6

and they were celebrating in the middle of the course after the race...

Vodka wins by a 3 horse length margin!
I just couldn't forsee a 14th favorite would be the runner-up!
boo...

Vodka with Jockey Hirofumi Shii...
still having no idea of her glorious future after less than half an hour...

It was weird at the paddock as Vodka with the No. 3 horse number was walking behind 17 colts. (You usually circle the paddock in order of the horse numbers... and obviously it wasn't the "ladies first" day today!)

the 17 colts... surely with no idea they were going to be beaten by a fiily!

having a bowl of spaghetti before heading to the paddock!

Here I go!!

I think I found my kind of horse I'd like to bet on!
Let's go to Fuchu!

TOKYO 10R
THE TOKYO YUSHUN
(JAPANESE DERBY)
May 27, 2007, 2400m, Turf
C&F DSN, Special Weight, 3-Year-Olds, Open Class, Value of race: 343,300,000 Yen
Weight for colts: 57.0kg, fillies: 55.0kg

Bk	Hs	Horse	Sex Age	Jockey Sire
1	1	Tascata Sorte(JPN)	C3	Yutaka Take Jungle Pocket
1	2	Gold Aguli(JPN)	C3	Masaki Katsuura Tanino Gimlet
2	3	Vodka(JPN)	F3	Hirofumi Shii Tanino Gimlet
2	4	Golden Dahlia(JPN)	C3	Yoshitomi Shibata Fuji Kiseki
3	5	Tosen March(JPN)	C3	Hiroyuki Uchida French Deputy
3	6	Meiner Fogo(JPN)	C3	Yuga Kawada Star of Cozzene
4	7	Finistere(JPN)	C3	Shinji Fujita Dance in the Dark
4	8	Dream Journey(JPN)	C3	Masayoshi Ebina Stay Gold
5	9	Hiraboku Royal(JPN)	C3	Koshiro Take Tanino Gimlet
5	10	Plateado(JPN)	C3	Hiroshi Kitamura Silver Deputy
6	11	Namura Mars(JPN)	C3	Yusuke Fujioka Chief Bearhart
6	12	Sun Zeppelin(JPN)	C3	Masami Matsuoka Tenby
7	13	Laurel Guerreiro(JPN)	C3	Kenichi Ikezoe King Halo
7	14	Admire Aura(JPN)	C3	Yasunari Iwata Agnes Tachyon
7	15	Fusaichi Ho O(JPN)	C3	Katsumi Ando Jungle Pocket
8	16	Asakusa Kings(JPN)	C3	Yuichi Fukunaga White Muzzle
8	17	Victory(JPN)	C3	Katsuharu Tanaka Brian's Time
8	18	Flying Apple(USA)	C3	Norihiro Yokoyama Rahy

Let the best one win!!

A lucky day!

After having drinks till three after the farewell party, I fell down dead on my bed till noon.

I'd given up on going to the movies to watch the latest film on screen, but one magical phone call saved me and I was able to fly out free!

There were so many people at the theater...

the last one was entertaining too!

Still can't accept it...

I was so sad today...
Well, I shouldn't have, as it was supposed to be a farewell party for my elder colleagues.
But many of my colleagues were already talking about my change of position set to be on July.
Even my close colleagues were saying to me that I'm lucky to be able to work my way out to another road.
And... I was so frustrated!
It's so sad that they were looking at me that way.
Yeah, maybe I'd been doing this job the wrong way.
I still can't stand it, but maybe working at a cliquish organization, it's natural they see things that way...
Yes... I'm so sad...


A new experiment and a step forward today at court...

playing a DVD for the first time ever at court about a deposition by a witness at the investigation level...

(a short article by Kyodo)
◆Court plays DVD of man's interrogation over alleged murder
TOKYO, May 25 KYODO
The interrogation of a man recorded on a DVD was played Friday at the Tokyo District Court as prosecutors aimed to demonstrate the credibility of his remarks during questioning.
It was the first time in Japan that a video recording of an interrogation has been admitted as evidence and played in court.

Futile!?

It's always posteriori reasoning, but all efforts were in vain today.
I had to wait for 8 hours outside taking part in a Japanese style way of covering the news, "hariban"(http://www.j-prep.com/reference/word?sub=tru&ss=%E7%95%AA&type=vocab&dex=100&type=vocab&bid=1797940), which is like a lookout waiting for something to happen...

doing "hariban" with other members from different stations and papers...

Our target was the prosecutors' raid about a bid rigging case.
Unfortunately they did not appear at the scene and we were left with futility.
But with all the media doing "hariban", it's not an easy decision to abandon the sight.
Well staying out under the sun, I think I had enough suntans and I'm tired enough as 2 glasses of beer had knocked me out!

(article by Kyodo)
◆Farm ministry affiliate officials, others arrested over bid rigging
TOKYO, May 24 KYODO
Prosecutors on Thursday arrested two senior officials of the government-affiliated Japan Green Resources Agency (J-Green) and four officials from its contractors over their alleged involvement in rigging bids for public works ordered by the agency, investigative sources said.
The six are accused of having colluded with other bidders and of deciding the expected winners and bid prices prior to public bidding invited by J-Green for forest road construction consultancy work in 2005 and 2006, so restricting competition in violation of the Antimonopoly Act.
The four contractors are also suspected of gaining priority in securing such work in return for rehiring former government officials, as they are known to employ many former officials from J-Green, an independent administrative entity which is under the jurisdiction of the farm ministry, as well as the governmental Forestry Agency.
Those arrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office include Muneo Takagi, a 59-year-old executive director in charge of the forest project management department at J-Green, which is based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The others are Tsuneo Shimooki, 56, head of the forest road planning division under Takagi's department, and one official each from the four contractors, including former Forestry Agency official Nobumori Hashioka, 63, and two former J-Green officials.
The four contractors are two Forestry Agency-supervised public-interest corporations -- Shinko Kosaikai and Japan Forest Engineering Consultants -- and two joint-stock companies -- K.K. Forestech and Katahira & Engineers Inc.
The arrests came after the prosecutors received a criminal complaint against the four contractors from the Fair Trade Commission, which has been investigating the alleged antitrust violation case.
The prosecutors also raided J-Green's head office and other related locations Thursday.
Senior J-Green officials allegedly designated winners before bids were received based on reports from its regional offices about their order plans and estimated contract prices, and also taking into account the contracts awarded the previous fiscal year to each bidder.
Having listed the winners on a ''score sheet,'' they conveyed their decision to the contractors through division chiefs at eight regional construction offices across Japan, according to the sources.
In line with the agency's decision, the four contractors are suspected of having colluded in rigging their bid prices, they said. The contractors won nearly 70 percent of J-Green tender orders over the past three years.
Such antitrust practices initiated by the government entities are believed to have continued for at least 10 years.
J-Green, which the government nominally spun off in 2003 as part of administrative reform, is promoting a 2,053-kilometer forest roads construction project that is two-thirds financed by central government subsidies, with the rest financed by prefectural governments.
Having completed 1,288 km of the project by fiscal 2006, which ended in March, J-Green has allocated 12.4 billion yen of forest project budgets for the project in fiscal 2007.
It is likely that government subsidies for forest road construction have been diverted to hire former government officials, said Nobuo Gohara, a former prosecutor and a Toin University of Yokohama Law School professor who is versed in bid-rigging cases.
All of the contractors except for Katahira have made political donations to Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka, a veteran lawmaker who has been criticized by opposition lawmakers for not providing a clear-cut account of expenditures to run his office.
After the arrests, the head of each of the four contractors issued an apology and pledged efforts to prevent bid-rigging from recurring as well as full cooperation with the investigation.
J-Green said it has fired arrested director Takagi and removed Shimooki from his post of division chief, effective Thursday.
Matsuoka said, ''The case should not have occurred and is extremely regrettable as it is not only a case of bid-rigging involving public works but also one initiated by the public sector in which a public entity placing orders was deeply involved.''
''As a supervisory authority, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry is really ashamed that the case resulted in a serious betrayal of public trust,'' he said. ''We hope to regain public trust as quickly as possible.''
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhira Shiozaki indicated separately that the farm ministry is considering taking action against J-Green, calling the case ''outrageous.''
Having openly investigated the case since it raided the offices belonging to J-Green and the contractors in October, the FTC is also considering filing a criminal complaint under the law for the prevention of collusive bidding initiated by government agencies and officials, the sources said.
Thursday's complaint on antitrust charges was the third since the competition policy watchdog was empowered to conduct raids under an amendment to the Antimonopoly Act last year.
The prosecutors began questioning agency employees at the head office and regional offices as well as senior officials of the contractors in mid-April.
As for political donations from J-Green contractors, Matsuoka told reporters earlier Thursday, ''I have received no donations in the past seven to 10 years or so (from such contractors). I have personally returned the money to entities which gave me donations.''
But a number of J-Green contractors gave a total of 8.5 million yen in political donations to Matsuoka's political fund control group among others over the 10 years through 2005, according to its political funds reports.
==Kyodo

What do I need to...

I didn't make any mistakes today though I had no luck on the morning train.

But I was so tired after I finished my last job of the day, and I sat down on the sofa of the press club feeling empty-handedly.

Oh, how can I fuel up this emptiness?

Family, friends, rivals, enemies...
Love, confindence, anger, jealousy...
Earning, giving, cooperating, fighting...
A plan, a result, an effort, a coincidence...

What do I need!?

Well at least I need to take a bath right now to ease the fatigue!

using my favorite product at the 99 yen shop!

A strange coincidence!

Recently, I discovered my kind of Murphy's Law!
"How good the day will turn out depends on how long I can sit down in the morning's commuter train."
My destination is 9 stations away and I only get to sit from the start once in a 100 rides. Not being able to sit at all would be about the same probability. Getting a seat after two stations would be once or twice in a month probability, and sitting just for the last two stations would be about one-third of the time.
Today I was able to sit from the second station which is pretty rare, and it wasn't that bad a day.
Most of the time, the whole day sucks when I can't sit till Akasaka-Mitsuke, two stations away from my destination, Kasumigaseki. Of course it gets tougher to earn a seat if I start early, because it's more packed in early hours. But that doesn't change this law because if I'm starting early, the day stinks already!
Tomorrow, we already know it's another busy Wednesday with many trials and judgments to cover. I have to start early, but I hope I can snatch a seat quickly enough!!

a terrible day for the Central League teams... they all lost to their Pacific League opponent at the opener of the inter-league matchups!

Like always? maybe not!

The weekdays began like always, as I couldn't finish even 20% of what I had to do.
The night didn't start like always, as rarely I go out to a drinking party on Mondays. Maybe we weren't used to it, as we went to the Okinawa style izakaya an hour early than reserved by mistake.
So we went out to have some coffee and cake at a nearby cafe!

having a strawberry short cake! something that ain't usual for me!