Gladly accepting...

Last night I had too much beer at the send-off party of my doukis (colleagues entering the organizaion in the same year). While I was hoping for their success, I had fun myself drinking pleasantly with colleagues I can speak frankly.

This morning, with a headache undoubtedly having a hangover, I had to cover the conclusion of the hearing for the former feudal lord of the fund monarchy.

the sentence will be given out on July 19th... before I'll get transferred...

I went out to see the plaintiffs late at night like I'd done each weekday since last Tuesday. I was offered some Japanese sake and I gladly accepted it. Drinking together to get acquainted... that's how I've covered the news all my years and I'm not going to change that style!

(article from Kyodo News)
◆Lawyers call case against Murakami baseless
TOKYO, June 12 KYODO
Lawyers for Yoshiaki Murakami hit out at prosecutors Tuesday as they presented their closing argument at the Tokyo District Court, saying the investigators' case accusing the former investment fund manager of insider trading is baseless.
The defense team argued there are no records to support the charges that Murakami and his fund engaged in the illegal stock transactions, adding that the evidence relied on is a ''castle in the sand.''
The court held the last of a series of hearings that began last November. A ruling will be handed down July 19.
Murakami, founder of the Murakami Fund, has pleaded not guilty to prosecution charges that the fund made a profit of around 3 billion yen by buying and then selling shares in Nippon Broadcasting System Inc., a radio broadcaster, after Internet and financial services firm Livedoor Co. gave him insider information.
The prosecutors argued Murakami received insider information that Livedoor would purchase a large number of Nippon Broadcasting shares in a meeting with Livedoor's management on Nov. 8, 2004. But the defense countered that on that date Murakami did not believe Livedoor could accumulate the necessary funds to buy the stock.
''At the time of the meeting, there was no possibility that Livedoor could successfully collect Nippon Broadcasting shares,'' the lawyers' statement said.
'There are no internal documents to suggest Mr. Murakami knew of Livedoor's decision to buy a large amount of the shares,'' it added. ''The e-mail messages of Livedoor officials that the prosecutors rely on as evidence are just big talk.''
Last month, prosecutors asked the court to give Murakami, a former trade ministry bureaucrat, a three-year prison term and a fine of 3 million yen, and to order him to pay a record 1.15 billion yen surcharge -- the highest amount ever sought in an insider trading case in Japan.
Murakami, a merger and acquisitions expert once regarded as heralding the arrival of a more free-wheeling style of capitalism in Japan, is alleged to have personally earned at least 155 million yen in the transactions involving the radio broadcaster's shares. His individual assets are said to amount to over 20 billion yen.
Livedoor bought a large number of the broadcaster's shares in February 2005 in a failed attempt to acquire influence over the Fujisankei Communications Group, which encompasses the radio station and Fuji Television Network Inc., one of Japan's biggest private TV broadcasters.
Murakami's trial has focused on when Livedoor decided to buy shares in Nippon Broadcasting and whether it took any action that could be considered as providing insider information to Murakami in violation of the Securities and Exchange Law.
==Kyodo