Circus at court...

It was like a circus at the press club. The press conference of two old men were longer than ever.

I did give a hand to covering the news that was featured in each and every piece of medium this past week, but it was nothing more than a helping hand, as I had to concentrate on the critical day coming at the end of this week...

what kind of circus is this!?

(aritcle from Kyodo)
◆Court orders Chongryon to repay RCC debts, OKs seizure of head office
TOKYO, June 18 KYODO
The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, to repay 62.7 billion yen as demanded to a governmental debt-collection body, and allowed seizure of the premises of the Chongryon headquarters in lieu of payment.
The Resolution and Collection Corp. is expected to start procedures soon to impound the headquarters of Chongryon, which has functioned as the de facto North Korean embassy in Japan for decades as the two countries have no diplomatic ties.
The Chongryon headquarters has drawn public attention recently as an investment advisory firm headed by former governmental intelligence chief Shigetake Ogata, who had been involved in monitoring the moves of Chongryon, tried unsuccessfully to purchase it for 3.5 billion yen in an effort to avert seizure of the premises.
Rejecting Chongryon's claim that the RCC's demand is politically motivated, Presiding Judge Tsutomu Arai said, ''It cannot be recognized that there was any political purpose to deprive Chongryon of its premises, leading to its dissolution.''
An RCC spokesperson declined to comment on whether it would go ahead with forcible seizure of the headquarters.
Earlier in the day, meanwhile, veteran lawyer Koken Tsuchiya, representing Chongryon, said he had taken procedures to transfer ownership of the property on the official registry back to the association from Ogata's company.
The ownership of the Chongryon premises had been transferred in a deal that was not immediately accompanied by any payment, prompting law-enforcement officials to suspect it was a fake transaction and to search the homes and offices of Tsuchiya and Ogata last week.
Tsuchiya, a former chief of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, told a press conference in Tokyo, ''I apologize for causing a disturbance to the public, owing in part to misunderstanding.''
But Tsuchiya criticized the RCC, saying the purpose of the suit was to try to ''destroy the Chongryon organization and that could lead authorities to deprive innocent Korean residents in Japan of happiness and (affect their) lives.''
During the court hearings, the RCC claimed the 62.7 billion yen represents loans extended by now-defunct ''chogin'' credit unions associated with Chongryon which became bad. The unions were main lenders to pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan.
The RCC, which took over the nonperforming loans from the credit unions, claimed Chongryon is bound to pay the 62.7 billion yen as the money was effectively handed over to Chongryon under arrangements made by the credit associations.
Chongryon acknowledged the existence of the debts but failed to reach an out-of-court settlement with the RCC.
==Kyodo

Dispirited...

タイトル：意気消沈…

I made a critical mistake today.
I wouldn't kill myself with any kind of blunder, but it surely would have cost me my job. Accidentally I was saved from getting an irreparable result, but it really made me dispirited... Oh, why do I have to feel guilty about such things...

The judgment of the day was an ex-politician being sacked by the High Court...

Mr. Muraoka entering the courthouse...

きょうは重大な失敗を犯した。
どんなことでしくじっても自殺するつもりはないが、自分の仕事を失う可能性さえあった。偶然にも取り返しがつかない結果にならずに済んだが、意気消沈させられるには十分だった…。ああ、こういうことでどうしてこんなに悪いことをしたと思わないといけないんだろう…。

きょうの判決では、ある元政治家が高裁にガツンとやられた…
写真：裁判所に入る村岡氏…

He was in rage... I don't blame him...

speaking angrily at the press conference (photo by Jiji)

怒ってるなぁ…しゃーないと思うけど…
写真：記者会見で怒りながら話す様子（写真は時事）
（以下、共同の記事：和訳は略）

(article from Kyodo)
◆ High court overturns not-guilty ruling for ex-LDP lawmaker Muraoka
TOKYO, May 10 KYODO
The Tokyo High Court on Thursday overturned a lower court's acquittal of Kanezo Muraoka, declaring the former senior lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party guilty of concealing a 100 million yen political donation by a dental lobby to an LDP faction in July 2001.
The high court sentenced Muraoka, 75, to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years, determining as ''highly credible'' the key testimony of Toshiyuki Takigawa, then treasurer of the faction who admitted to conspiring with Muraoka. Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who led the faction at the time, died last July.
In March 2006, the Tokyo District Court acquitted Muraoka saying Takigawa's statements were unnatural and that he ''may have made false statements to prevent the scandal from causing trouble for former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and other senior lawmakers as well as the LDP in general.''
The defense counsel for Muraoka, who at the time of the alleged incident was acting chairman of the faction, called the Heisei Study Group, said they planned to appeal the high court ruling.
After the ruling, Muraoka, who served as chief Cabinet secretary and transport minister, expressed his surprise and anger at a press conference, saying, ''I did not expect this at all. I'm surprised by this ruling which goes along with the prosecutors' argument and I'm feeling anger.''
In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Masaru Suda said that Takigawa's testimony was ''rational, concrete and consistent in its core elements.''
''It also coincides with the testimony of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's secretary who said he had heard Muraoka's order and has extremely high credibility,'' Suda said.
''It was clearly a donation for the faction. There is no reason to make a false statement which has a high possibility of ascribing criminal responsibility to a senior faction member,'' he said.
Suda added that Muraoka's criminal responsibility cannot be downplayed because he played a ''large role'' in the crime despite being in a position that should have contributed to securing transparency of political funds as a lawmaker who had occupied important posts.
During the trials, Muraoka, who was indicted without arrest in September 2004, pleaded not guilty to the allegations, while the prosecutors demanded he be sentenced to one year in prison.
According to the ruling, Muraoka conspired with Takigawa in March 2002 not to report to the internal affairs and communications minister the 100 million yen donation provided by the Japan Dental Association in violation of the Political Funds Control Law.
The testimony in question was related to a meeting of senior faction members on March 13, 2002, attended by, among others, Muraoka, Takigawa, and Mikio Aoki, who heads the LDP's caucus in the House of Councillors.
Faction leader Hashimoto did not attend the meeting as he was hospitalized at the time. The prosecutors decided not to indict Hashimoto and Aoki because of insufficient evidence.
When the issue of the political donation came up at the meeting, Muraoka made arrangements so the donation would not be recorded in the report, according to Takigawa's statement.
Takigawa, 58, has already been convicted in connection with the donation scandal and was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for four years.
==Kyodo

The end and the beginning...

タイトル：始まりと終わり…

The last day before the "Golden Week", but still, like always, it was just another busy day.

The top news of the day...

Supreme Court rejects the right of Chinese individuals to seek war reparation...

It marks the end of the "war reparations" lawsuits, as it will be practically be impossible to request any reparations to anyone in this nation with this ruling.
It will then be the beginning of how we can redress the damages of the lives our nation has infringed on, not politically, but privately, which will be quite a challenging task.

「ゴールデンウィーク」前の最後の日だが、結局は、またいつものように、単に忙しい日に過ぎなかった。
今日のトップニュースは…
写真：最高裁が中国人たちが求めた戦後補償の請求権を棄却した…

これで「戦後補償」裁判に終わりが告げられた。この判断で、この国でもう誰も補償を求めることは事実上できなくなった。
そうすると私たちの国が侵害した数々の人命の被害をどう補償していくのかということについての始まりということにもなる。政治的ではなく、民事的にというのは、結構努力が必要な作業なんじゃないか。

Never the same...

タイトル：二度と戻らない…

Like years ago...
The train ran through the same track.
But it's never the same as years ago.

all we can do is mourn for the dead and hope that the family of the deceased be cured of mental distress...
(photo by Jiji)

(article from Kyodo)
◆Man given death in rare ruling over murder of 1 person
TOKYO, April 25 KYODO
The Tokyo High Court sentenced a 66-year-old man to death Wednesday for fatally shooting another man in Yokohama in May 2004 and injuring another through a shooting in Tokyo about a month later.
Japanese courts rarely give the death penalty to someone with no previous murder convictions.
==Kyodo

At the court, a not guilty sentence yesterday, but a death penalty today...

I have so many things that frustrated me today, but drinking with freshmen helped me to refresh a litlle.

何年か前には…。
電車は同じ線路の上を走って行った。
でも何年か前に二度と戻ることはない。
写真：できことは亡くなった人の冥福を祈って遺族の精神的苦痛が癒されるのを祈るだけ…
（写真は時事）

（共同の記事、和訳は略：一人の殺人で珍しく死刑判決が言い渡された判決について）

法廷では昨日は無罪判決だったが、きょうは死刑判決だった…
今日はたくさんのことに失望したが、新人と飲んで少しリフレッシュできた。

Partially but critically acquitted...

タイトル：一部だが決定的に無罪…

I was banged on the head when the presiding judge started...
"And about the indictment on April 24th, 2001 about Kidnapping for Forcible Indecency, Quasi Rape Causing Death, Destruciton and Abandonment of Corpses:
THE ACCUSED IS NOT GUILTY!"

The indictment that was done on April 24th of 2001 was about the all but famous "Lucy Blackman Case" that caught quite a bit of attention 6-7 years ago.

It was my first year here in Tokyo, and I walked around Roppongi for more than a month to cover the story.

It's one of those days I'd rather forget about.

my memories refreshed by this surprising decision with a partial but critical acquittal sentencing!

With this decision given out at 10AM, it became a really long and busy day.
The accused was sentenced to life anyways... And only the media were hyped up with the outcome...

頭をガツンと殴られた気がしたよ。裁判長がこう話し始めたときは…
「そして平成１３年４月２４日付け起訴事実のわいせつ誘拐、準強姦致死、死体損壊については、被告人は無罪！」

平成１３年４月２４日に起訴されたのは６、７年前に結構注目を浴びた有名以外の何物でも無い「ルーシー・ブラックマン事件」。

そのとき東京に来て１年目だったが、取材するために１か月以上も六本木をうろうろしたもんだ。

どっちかと言えば忘れたい日々だ。

写真：一部ではあるが決定的な無罪のびっくり判決で色々な思い出が呼び起こされ！

午前１０時に出されたこの判断で、かなり長く忙しい日になった。
どちらにしろ、被告は無期懲役を言い渡されたんだ…メディアだけが結果に大盛り上がりになってたよ…。

（以下に共同とＢＢＣの記事。和訳は略）

(ariticle from Kyodo)
◆Obara acquitted over Blackman's death, gets life for 9 other cases
TOKYO, April 24 KYODO
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Joji Obara to life in prison Tuesday for raping and drugging nine women, one fatally, but acquitted him of all charges involving the death of Briton Lucie Blackman due to lack of evidence.
The court handed Obara, 54, the life sentence -- as sought by the prosecution -- in the cases of five foreign and four Japanese women, of whom Australian Carita Ridgway died and two others were injured.
But the Tokyo businessman was found not guilty of the charges relating to Blackman, who was 21 at the time of her death in 2000, which included raping and fatally drugging her, and mutilating and abandoning her body.
Obara appealed the life sentence to a higher court shortly after the ruling was handed down.
Presiding Judge Tsutomu Tochigi said of the dismembering and abandonment of Blackman's body, ''There is no doubt (Obara) was involved in one way or another, but there is no evidence to link the defendant directly to the crime.''
''But the possibility that the act may have been committed by a third person cannot be denied and the purpose of dismembering (the body) has not been explained, so there remains reasonable doubt in terms of recognizing it as the defendant's crime,'' he said in handing down the ruling.
On the charge of raping Blackman resulting in her death, Tochigi said that, unlike with the other victims, there is no video recording of the rape and no evidence to prove that the defendant administered any drugs to her or assaulted her.
Although the judge said there is suspicion that Obara may have been involved in Blackman's death and that there are similarities between her case and the other women's, he said the court cannot determine he raped her based on supposition as long as the cause of her death is unknown.
Regarding the nine other cases, the judge described them as ''abnormal crimes involving unilaterally assaulting victims whose consciousness had been impaired due to drugs.''
According to the ruling, Obara brought the nine women to his condominium in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, between February 1992 and June 2000, and raped them after drugging them using chloroform and other drugs.
Obara pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in all 10 cases in the course of the trial, which lasted about six-and-a-half years.
On Blackman's case, the center of attention in the trial, the indictment said Obara made her drink a beverage laced with a drug before raping her at his condominium in July 2000. She subsequently died, and Obara was accused of dismembering her corpse and abandoning it in a beachside cave nearby.
The dismembered body of Blackman, who worked as a hostess in Tokyo before she went missing in early July 2000 -- about two months after arriving in Japan -- was found in the cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, in February 2001.
Obara, who had already been arrested over the cases involving other women, was served a sixth fresh arrest warrant in April 2001 over the case involving Blackman and indicted based on the fact that his mobile phone call records matched Blackman's movements and that he was suspected of committing similar crimes.
In April 2006, Blackman's parents testified in court, calling for the ''maximum penalty'' for Obara.
Blackman's father Tim, 53, and sister Sophie, 26, who were in the courtroom to hear the ruling Tuesday, later told a press conference in Tokyo they were satisfied that Obara was sentenced to life imprisonment, the maximum penalty possible in the cases.
But they also expressed disappointment that the defendant was found not guilty over Lucie's death and that they discovered later that the prosecution had not put forward in the trial a key piece of evidence related to the case.
''I think our whole family who were in the courtroom today felt an immediate rush of elation,'' Tim Blackman said. ''We thought, 'Fantastic. That is a real wonderful result.' And then suddenly within three or four seconds, our balloon was burst when we found that the prosecution had failed to prosecute justice for Lucie.''
He said he was all the more upset to find out in the course of a meeting with the prosecution team following the ruling that certain evidence, which he declined to elaborate on at this stage, was not presented in the trial.
The prosecutors had said in their closing statement that the defendant committed ''bizarre acts unprecedented in the history of sexual crimes.''
Obara's lawyers argued, however, that there is no decisive evidence to implicate him in Blackman's death, saying his DNA was not detected on the woman's body and that the cause of her death has not been determined.
Concerning Ridgway, the defense team said there is no proof that her death was caused by drugs, but Tochigi said she suffered fulminant hepatitis as a result of the use of chloroform and subsequently died.
Ridgway died Feb. 29, 1992, at age 21 at a Tokyo hospital about two weeks after she was drugged and raped by Obara.
The Australian victim's family released a statement Tuesday afternoon as they met reporters in Tokyo stating, ''The sentence handed down by the court ensures that Obara will never be allowed to harm others. This, in itself, is of some comfort to Carita's family.''
The statement, read out by Ridgway's mother, Annette Foster, 58, alleged that the Japanese police did not adequately investigate Obara over the Australian's death.
''Carita's family do not understand how, despite their concerns raised with the police about Obara's involvement with Carita's death, that the police did not even interview Obara in 1992,'' the statement said.
''Carita's family firmly believe that if Obara had been interviewed and properly investigated in 1992, he would have been stopped at that time,'' it said.
==Kyodo

(article from BBC)
Man cleared over death of Lucie
A 54-year-old Japanese businessman has been cleared of raping and killing British bar hostess Lucie Blackman.
But Joji Obara was jailed for life for raping nine other women, including one - Australian Carita Ridgway - who died.
The judge said there was no proof Obara alone was responsible for the death of Miss Blackman, 21, of Sevenoaks, Kent, who disappeared in Tokyo in July 2000.
Lucie's mother, Jane Steare, said: "I'm heartbroken. I just can't believe this. My worst fears have come true."
Miss Blackman was working in a Tokyo bar when she vanished.
Her dismembered body was found in a cave near Obara's home in the village of Miura in February 2001.
Miss Blackman's father, Tim Blackman, and her sister Sophie, were in court to hear the verdict. They immediately left to consult their lawyers and have not yet commented on Obara's acquittal.
BBC Tokyo correspondent Chris Hogg said that under Japanese law the Blackman family themselves have no grounds to appeal against the court's decision.
They could try to mount a form of civil action but as Obara has been declared bankrupt there would seem to be little point.
Our correspondent said Obara showed little emotion as the judge told him he would be sentenced to life in prison for killing Carita Ridgway in 1992 and eight other rapes.
Obara lured Miss Ridgway to his apartment just south of Tokyo, where he drugged her and raped her. She later died in hospital of liver failure.

Videotapes found
A video seized from his home showed him attacking Miss Ridgway and using a towel soaked with chloroform to keep her unconscious.
Miss Ridgway's mother, Annette Foster, welcomed the conviction but criticised the Japanese police.
"If Obara had been investigated in 1992, it would have stopped the crimes he committed for the next eight years," she said.
Obara admitted he had been with Miss Blackman on the day she disappeared but claimed she became unwell at his apartment after taking drugs.
He said he then called an acquaintance, known by the nickname Kacchan, and asked him to take her back to Tokyo. Kacchan has since died which meant his story could not be challenged.
Judge Tsutomu Tochigi said: "There is nothing to prove that [Obara] was involved in the rape and her death. The court cannot prove he was single-handedly involved in her death."
The judge said it was clear the victim and the accused were together before she vanished and then died but he said this was not enough to secure a conviction.

Planning to appeal
Obara's lawyer, Yasuo Shionoya, said his client would lodge an appeal against his conviction in the Carita Ridgway case.
"Regarding Carita's case, I think we will have to file an appeal. It's very plausible that we would file an appeal in the other cases as well," said Mr Shionoya.
The judge said Ms Ridgway, who died of hepatitis at a Tokyo hospital in February 1992, had been drugged with chloroform by Obara.
But Mr Shionoya said: "I doubt whether liver failure could have been triggered by the use of chloroform."
Obara was arrested on charges of rape resulting in the death of Ms Blackman in 2001 and had been on trial at Tokyo District Court since 2003.
Mr Blackman, from the Isle of Wight, spent thousands of pounds travelling to Japan to try to get the local police to investigate his daughter's disappearance as a suspected crime.
Eventually, after he enlisted the support of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Japanese counterpart, the police arrested Obara, a property developer who had a seaside home at Miura, outside Tokyo.
Last year Mr Blackman accepted 100 million yen (￡450,000) from a friend of Obara, but he denied it was "blood money" and said such "offers of condolence" were common in Japan and did not affect the court case.

TIMELINE
1 Jul 2000: Lucie Blackman vanishes in Tokyo
21 Jul 2000: Tony Blair meets Lucie's parents and promises to raise their daughter's disappearance with Japan's PM
11 Oct 2000: Japanese police arrest and question Joji Obara, who is in custody in connection with several other rapes
9 Feb 2001: Police find Miss Blackman's body parts in a cave at Miura, near Tokyo.
27 Nov 2003: Obara goes on trial in Tokyo
24 Apr 2007: Obara acquitted of killing Miss Blackman
Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 11:09 GMT 12:09 UK

Judgment rush cont'd...

タイトル：判決ラッシュ続く…

I had to take care of 5 judgments today. But the main ones were not mine.

attracting most of the media was this "Mr. Journalist"!
the ex-Mainichi writer (on the left) lost his battle at the district court...
the judgment sidestepped the issue about whether Japan-U.S. had a secret agreement!

Murakami-san's questioning at court attracted the other journalists, and all I was left with was cleaning up the unsold stock with fellow writers!

きょうは５つの判決を処理しなければならなかった。でも重要なのは俺の担当ではなかった。
写真：最も注目されたのはこの「ミスタージャーナリスト」！
元毎日記者（左の）は地裁での戦いに敗れた…
判決では日米に密約があったのかどうかの判断は避けた！

村上さんの被告人質問が他の記者たちを引きつけた。そして俺は在庫を残りの仲間たちと処理した！

以下は最も注目を集めた裁判についての共同の記事…（和訳は略）

article from Kyodo about the most notable suit of the day...
◆Suit over secret Okinawa pact argument rejected
TOKYO, March 27 KYODO
The Tokyo District Court rejected a damages suit Tuesday filed by a former Mainichi Shimbun reporter who argued his career was ruined by an illegal indictment over his report about a secret agreement between Japan and the United States over the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japan.
Takichi Nishiyama, 75, sought 33 million yen in compensation and an apology from the state. He said his report that Japan secretly shouldered $4 million in costs for Okinawa's reversion to Japanese rule from U.S. occupation was backed up by the release of U.S. government documents.

A judgment rush!

タイトル：判決ラッシュ！

A very busy day at the courthouses. I didn't have the main part in either of the trials as I was working on other concerns...

The largest one of them all...

they did win... but they will have the disease forever... (pic from Jiji)

裁判所ではかなり忙しい１日だった。他の懸案事項に携わっていたからどの裁判も主の担当者ではなかったけど…
その中でも最大だったのが…
写真：勝った…でも病気はずっと持ち続けないと行けない…（写真は時事）

（以下、共同の記事：和訳は略
　１つ目はＣ型肝炎訴訟で国と製薬会社に損害賠償を命じた判決
　２つ目はライブドア会計士の有罪判決
　３つ目はライブドアが元執行役員らを提訴するという発表
　４つ目は向井亜紀らの代理出産についての最高裁決定
　についての記事）

◆Gov't again ordered to pay damages over hepatitis C virus infection
TOKYO, March 23 KYODO
The Tokyo District Court joined two other district courts Friday in ordering the government to pay damages to people infected with the hepatitis C virus after being treated with tainted blood products.
Presiding Judge Atsuo Nagano, acting on a 1,353 million yen damages suit, ordered the state of Japan and three drugmakers to pay a total of 259 million yen to 13 out of the 21 plaintiffs.
Last year, the Osaka and Fukuoka district courts ruled similarly, saying the government failed to implement necessary regulations against infections.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne, infectious viral disease. The hepatitis C virus can cause liver inflammation that is often asymptomatic, but ensuing chronic hepatitis can result later in cirrhosis and liver cancer. An estimated 2 million people have been infected with the hepatitis C virus.
The defendants in the suit were the state, Mitsubishi Pharma Corp., its subsidiary Benesis Corp. and Nihon Pharmaceutical Co. Mitsubishi Pharma is the successor to the now-defunct major blood product maker, Green Cross Corp.
The three-judge panel at the Tokyo court found that the plaintiffs were given hepatitis C virus-tainted blood products -- fibrinogen, christmassin or PPSB-Nichiyaku -- from 1980 to 1988 to stop bleeding when they underwent surgical operations or gave birth to babies.
Fifteen of the 21 plaintiffs were given fibrinogen, four christmassin and the remaining two PPSB-Nichiyaku. Three of them developed cancer, of whom two have died.
Of the remaining 18, 13 people have been suffering from chronic liver inflammation while the other five have yet to develop any diseases.
During the court battle, the plaintiffs argued that the government failed to take any regulatory measures after approving the production of the tainted blood products which they said were useless and dangerous.
The defendants contended that the blood products were useful and that the 20-year statute of limitations has run out for the plaintiffs to demand damages.
A total of about 160 people have filed damages suits against the state and drugmakers at Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sendai district courts seeking a combined 9.8 billion yen.
In June last year, the Osaka District Court ordered the state and drugmakers to pay a total of 256 million yen in damages to nine out of 13 plaintiffs.
Two months later, the Fukuoka District Court ordered the defendants to pay a combined 168 million yen in damages to 11 of 18 plaintiffs.
==Kyodo

And the lst two trials of the Livedoor cases. One of the accountants was sentenced to prison without suspension! A surprise!
And Livedoor Co. was ordered to pay a fine of 280,000,000 yen!

◆Accountants found guilty over Livedoor case
TOKYO, March 23 KYODO
The Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced a certified accountant to 10 months in prison for being involved in accounting fraud by Livedoor Co. while giving another a suspended term.
The accountant, Taishin Hisano, who has been charged with approving Livedoor's financial statements despite knowing of its illicit profit-padding, had pleaded not guilty. The court also sentenced his supervisor, Motoshi Kobayashi, to one year in prison, suspended for four years.
==Kyodo

◆Livedoor eyes damages suit against Horie, other ex-execs
TOKYO, March 23 KYODO
Livedoor Co. emphasized its willingness Friday to seek damages from its convicted founder Takafumi Horie and other former top executives as a court has made a series of judgments condemning accounting fraud by the once high-flying Internet and financial services company.
Livedoor's current management will finalize whether to sue the former leadership after reading a final report to be compiled by an outside investigation panel by the end of next month, President Kozo Hiramatsu said at a news conference.
==Kyodo

And in the evening, came a decision by the Supreme Court!

◆Top court repeals order for registry of surrogate-born twins
TOKYO, March 23 KYODO
The Supreme Court on Friday repealed a lower court ruling ordering a Tokyo ward office to accept on its registry twins born to a Japanese couple through an American surrogate mother.
The decision by the top court's No. 2 petty bench finalizes Shinagawa Ward's rejection to register the births of the boys, now aged 3, to TV personality Aki Mukai and former professional wrestler Nobuhiko Takada.
==Kyodo

Too bad...

Miyauchi-san, who was regarded as the top contributor to the prosecutors' materializing of the Livedoor's case, was hard-hit with a sentence without suspension.

The conclusion was predictable, as the same presiding judge had nailed Horiemon last Friday.

In the reasons of judgment for Horiemon, Miyauchi-san was approved as the leading figure in executing the crime under Horiemon's final authorization.
Today's judgment was written under the same story.

He appealed right away along with Kumagai-san, another ex-Livedoor exec, who was given a suspended sentence.

Along with Horiemon, they'll be guests to the higher court!

残念だね…

宮内さん。検察当局がライブドア事件を立件できた最大の功労者と見られてたのに。実刑判決でガツンとやられたね。
結論は予想できたものだ。同じ裁判長が金曜にホリエモンを断罪していたし。
ホリエモンの判決理由で、宮内さんはホリエモンの最終的な決済のもと、犯罪を実行していた中心人物と認定されていたからだ。
今日の判決は同じ筋書きのもと書かれたものだった。
宮内さんは別の元取締役で執行猶予が付いた熊谷さんとともにすぐに控訴した。
ホリエモンとともに高裁にご招待されることになりそうだ！

(article from Kyodo) （共同の記事：和訳は略）
◆Livedoor's No. 2 man given prison term over accounting fraud
TOKYO, March 22 KYODO
Ryoji Miyauchi, former Livedoor Co. chief finance officer, was given a 20-month prison term Thursday as the Tokyo District Court judged the man once regarded as the closest aide to Livedoor's convicted founder Takafumi Horie was also involved in accounting fraud by the Internet and financial services firm.
The court also found three other former executives of the Livedoor group guilty and gave them suspended prison terms. Miyauchi, 39, appealed the ruling immediately.
Handing down the ruling, presiding judge Toshiyuki Kosaka said Miyauchi bore ''primary responsibility'' for a series of malpractices by Livedoor that breached the Securities and Exchange Law.
His responsibility matches that of Horie, the ruling said. ''It seems Mr. Miyauchi committed crime to live up to Mr. Horie's expectations.''
Although Miyauchi admitted to the charges, which also included stock market manipulation, and expressed remorse, a prison term without suspension was inevitable because of the significance of the role he played and the serious consequences of the incident, the ruling said.
Miyauchi, who had been released on bail of 50 million yen, was taken into custody immediately after the ruling but later released on bail of 80 million yen after his lawyers made a second bail application with the court. He paid the balance of 30 million yen.
Prosecutors had demanded two and a half years in prison for the former accountant.
The ruling came after Horie, who had denied all of the charges against him, was sentenced by the court on Friday to two and a half years in prison. He is appealing the ruling to the Tokyo High Court.
In a dramatic showdown, Miyauchi had made accusations against his former boss in the courtroom. He gave evidence in favor of the prosecutors, helping them to build their case against Horie.
The ruling said the executives conspired to pad the group's pretax balance by reporting about 5.3 billion yen ($45.08 million) in profit for the year through September 2004 when it should have stated a 300 million yen loss.
It said Livedoor set up dummy investment partnerships and inappropriately posted profits of 3.7 billion yen from sales of its own stock, and also booked 1.6 billion yen in profits from false business transactions by two companies it had planned to buy.
The three other former executives are former Representative Director Fumito Kumagai, 29, former Livedoor Finance Co. President Osanari Nakamura, 39, and former Livedoor Marketing Co. President Fumito Okamoto, 39.
The court sentenced Kumagai to one year in prison and Nakamura and Okamoto to one and a half years, respectively, all suspended for three years.
Kumagai immediately appealed the ruling.
Nakamura, Okamoto and Miyauchi were also convicted of spreading false information on the acquisition of a publisher in 2004 to raise the stock price of Livedoor Marketing, the group's advertising subsidiary.
Nakamura and Okamoto had admitted to all the charges against them while Kumagai had admitted to part of the charges. The prosecutors had demanded an 18-month prison term for each.
==Kyodo

Mere fancy!?

タイトル：気のせい！？

In the west, another judgment of "not guilty".
Is it mere fancy that I see so many acquittals at court these recent months!?

NOT GUILTY!

To be honest, I did prepare for Horiemon's judgment of "not guilty" though his chances would've been less than 1 percent. It's only some textbook stuff to be ready for an acquittal whenever the accused is asking for one.
And Horiemon could help an accused man earn it. Let's see how it goes at court tomorrow!


西では、また「無罪」の判決が。
ここ数か月でかなりたくさんの無罪放免が裁判所で言い渡されてると思うのは気のせいかな！？
写真：無罪！
正直言うと、ホリエモンの判決でも「無罪」の準備をしていたが、その確率は１％未満だったと思う。被告人が無罪放免を求めているときにその準備をするのは基本中の基本だ。
そしてホリエモンはある被告人の助けることも出来る。明日裁判所でどうなるか見物だね！

Sentence without suspension!

タイトル：実刑判決！

And the day has arrived!

Just about the time I arrived at the courthouse in the morning, the latest ever "first snow of the season" was observed in central Tokyo.
The snow had nothing to do with the outcome, but judgment time arrived after a couple of hours, and it was not much of a surprise that Horiemon was sentenced to prison without suspension.

Covering the judgment LIVE from the courthouse... Speaking in front of the television camera live is such a stressful task, and after today, I'm really starting to dream of a life without such worries...

he was still "lively" at this point! (photo from Jiji)


そしてその日が来た１
朝、裁判所に着いた頃に、都心では観測史上最も遅い「初雪」が観測された。
結果に雪は全く関係なかったが、数時間後に判決の時が来て、ホリエモンが実刑に処せられたのはそれほど驚くことではなかった。
裁判所から判決を生中継して…。生でテレビでしゃべるのは本当にストレスがたまる仕事で、今日をもって、マジにそんな心配をしなくても良い人生を夢見るようになってきた…。
写真：この時点ではまだ「生き生き」としていたのに！（写真は時事）
（以下、共同の記事：和訳は略）

Article from Kyodo...

◆Livedoor founder Horie given 2 1/2-year prison term
TOKYO, March 16 KYODO
Takafumi Horie, Livedoor Co. group founder and one of Japan's most high profile entrepreneurs, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison without suspension Friday for involvement in accounting fraud and other securities law breaches.
The Tokyo District Court ruled that Horie, 34, once seen as an iconic leader of a more freewheeling style of capitalism in Japan, played ''a primary role'' in the crimes.
Presiding Judge Toshiyuki Kosaka said in handing down the ruling, ''(Horie) bears grave responsibility for deceiving investors, though the value of the accounting fraud was not great, but he has never indicated remorse'' for what he has done.
The ruling came somewhat as a surprise as it is rare for a court in Japan to give a prison term without any suspension to a defendant charged only with Securities and Exchange Law violations.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office demanded in December a four-year prison term.
Horie immediately appealed the ruling by the district court, according to his lawyer. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying he had been framed by prosecutors.
Horie, who had been released on bail of 300 million yen, was held in custody right after the ruling but was released on bail of 500 million yen after his lawyers applied for a second bail with the court. Horie paid the balance of 200 million yen immediately in cash, as he had already paid the 300 million yen at the time of the first bail.
''It's regrettable that our claim was not accepted. I will do my best in my appeal trial,'' the former Livedoor president said in a statement released Friday night.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, asked for a comment on the high-profile case by reporters, only said at his official residence, ''I'd like to refrain from stating my opinion about any court ruling.''
As for his Liberal Democratic Party's support for Horie when he was running for a Diet seat in 2005, the premier said the party could never imagine at the time that the young entrepreneur would later be involved in a criminal case.
The district court ruled that Horie conspired with other Livedoor group executives and padded the group's pretax balance by reporting some 5 billion yen in profit for the year through September 2004 when it should have stated a 300 million yen loss.
Livedoor set up dummy investment partnerships and inappropriately posted own-stock sales profits of 3.7 billion yen, and also booked 1.6 billion yen in profits from false business transactions by two companies it had planned to buy, the ruling said.
Kosaka said in the reason for the ruling, that the testimony of Ryoji Miyauchi, Livedoor's former chief financial officer and Horie's right-hand man, who said Horie was aware of any wrongdoing and that conspiracy existed among Horie and four other executives, was ''credible'' as it coincided with the testimony of Fumito Kumagai, former managing director of Livedoor, and material evidence such as e-mail messages.
The court decided that Horie had played primary roles in setting up the investment partnerships which were ''established for the purpose of evading the law'' and such posting of profit ''is impermissible.''
The court also ruled that Horie instructed the booking of fictitious profits and approved other crimes through reporting by Miyauchi and other executives as Horie ''controlled the Livedoor group and had an overwhelming power over it.''
But it ran short of concluding that Horie played a leading role in every incident as prosecutors claimed, except for the booking of fictitious profits on earnings reports.
The court battle, which began last September, drew both domestic and overseas attention.
Horie's defense team has argued the investment partnerships were acting independently and the former executives handled the profits appropriately, while accusing prosecutors of ''cooking up a story,'' saying there was no involvement by Horie.
In a recent interview with Kyodo News, Horie also said the case was devised by ''case-greedy'' prosecutors and people whose companies were acquired by the Livedoor group.
At the court Friday, Horie repeatedly blinked when the ruling was handed down. He had a look of discontent as he went through the summary of the ruling.
Kosaka gave an admonition to Horie after handing down the ruling, citing a letter the court had received from a mother who has a handicapped child.
Kosaka said that in the letter the mother said her child was encouraged by the life of Horie, a self-made millionaire, and told Horie, ''I gave you a guilty verdict but do not mean to deny all of the way of your living. I want you to make the best of your ability and make a fresh start after expiating your crime.''
The four other former Livedoor executives are also standing trial on charges of violating the law but Horie is the only one to flatly deny the charges.
Miyauchi admitted to the charges against him, staging a dramatic showdown by testifying against his former boss in court.
The court will hand down its rulings on Miyauchi and others next Thursday and Livedoor as a company next Friday.
Horie, who founded Livedoor as Livin' on the Edge Inc. in 1996, has become a household name in Japan with his bold challenges and remarks to Japan's business old guard.
He drew both applause and flak for his aggressive business tactics such as a hostile takeover bid in 2005 for one of Japan's largest media groups.
Until his arrest in January last year, Horie was touted by some as a new type of business leader who could change Japan's clubby corporate culture.
Livedoor, which once controlled about 50 group companies, has been in reconstruction efforts under the new management.
Livedoor released a statement after the ruling, saying it ''takes the ruling seriously and we, under new leadership, will continuously make efforts to press for compliance and strengthen our inner management system.''
Current and former Livedoor shareholders have been filing damages suits against the company, claiming they suffered losses as its stock price plunged after prosecutors raided its office in January last year.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange delisted Livedoor last April from its Mothers market for start-up companies.
The number of Livedoor shareholders once peaked at 220,000.
==Kyodo

Everything starts with the basics...

タイトル：すべては基本から始まる…

Tons of work to do...
But hell, at least I didn't have to work outside in this freezing rainy day.

Starting to be ready for next week's high court judgment concerning the MMC recall hiding case years ago...

reading some of the reference starting with the basics... newspaper articles!

Oh, I'd be happy if I only had to be ready for the Livedoor trials... there's much more judgments and sentences to be given out... oh man...

腐るほど仕事が…
でもくそ、この凍えるような雨降りの日に外で働かなくても良いのは助かる。
来週にある、数年前の三菱自工のリコール欠陥隠し事件関連の高裁判決の準備を始めて…
写真：基本の資料を読みながら…新聞記事ね！
ああ、ライブドア裁判の準備だけしてれば良いんだったら嬉しいんだけど…それよりたくさんの判決が出るんだよな…あ～あ…

Working like a machine...

タイトル：機械のように働く…

The day was over quickly just by dealing with daily routine work... writing up stories about three different judgments given out today. Two at the district court and one at the high court.
It's so stressful to just to work like a machine, without any sentiments.

日常的なルーティンワークに対処しているだけであっと言う間に１日が終わった…きょう出された３つ異なる判決の原稿を書き上げた。２つが地裁、１つが高裁のものだった。
感情抜きで機械のように働くだけってのはマジでストレスだ。

Back at home...

hey! I forgot about Valentine's Day!
thanks sis, but yesterday was just like everyday...
and your card arrived just one day late!!

家に戻ったら…
あ！バレンタインデーのこと忘れてた！
妹よありがとう、でも昨日はいつもと変わらぬ日だったよ…
ちなみにカードは１日遅れで着いてるんすけど！！

Starting my laborious quest...

タイトル：骨の折れる冒険の始まり…

An awfully surprising start...
First thing in the morning...

a decision of 'not guilty' was given out at the court!
former prez of a of a listed real estate company was declared innocent of taking over a building in Shinjuku suspected of conspiring with gangsters...

In the afternoon, I started my laborious battle with the Livedoor trials with only a month or so till Horiemon's judgment on March 16th. I already had a head start in the three-day weekend, but time's up to be fiddling with the time I have left!

とってもびっくりする始まり…
朝一番に…
写真：裁判所で「無罪」の判決が出された１
暴力団と共謀して新宿のビルを乗っ取ったという疑いがあった、不動産上場会社の元代表取締役が無罪を言い渡された…
午後に入って、３月１６日とあと１か月ちょっとに出されるホリエモンの判決に向けて、ライブドア裁判との骨の折れる戦いに着手した。３連休で少し始めていたが、もううだうだする時間も無くなってきたし！

At night, with tremendous amount of stress on my shoulders, I went out to Shinjuku to meet my old friend visiting Tokyo, who I graduated high school together with, and missed each other for over a decade! I spent a very pleasant time, perhaps for the first time in weeks to relax, filling up our time we have long been away from each other. How nice that we can see how we have grown up once in a while!

夜になって、自分の肩に大量のストレスが乗っかかった状態で、東京を訪れている古い友人に会いに新宿に出掛けた。一緒に高校を卒業したあと、１０年以上も会ってなかったんだ！かなり楽しい時間を過ごしたが、ここ数週間で初めてリラックスできたかも。お互い会ってなかった間の積もる話をした。年を取ってからもこうやって会えるのは本当に良いことだね！

A warm day!

タイトル：暖かい１日！

It was like the start of spring today, and I would have gone out to have a picnic if I had nothing to obey...

Oh well I must obey my orders to... work, work, work!!

I went to The Supreme Court in the morning to cover a judgement ordering benefit payments to three A-bomb victims living in Brazil.

At lunchtime, I was covering a meeting outside, and it was so warm...
Man... I wanna go to a picnic!!

Oh, I would love to have the air temperature warm like this till springtime, but that will surely paralyze our natural system!

きょうは春が訪れたようだった。命令がなければ、ピクニックにでも出掛けたのにね…。
まぁしかし命令には従わねばならない…仕事、仕事、仕事！！
朝には在ブラジルの被爆者に手当の支給を命じる判決を取材するために最高裁に行った。
昼は、外で集会を取材したが、本当に暖かかったよ…
あ～あ…ピクニックに行きてぇよ！！
ああ、こういう暖かい気温のまま春まで行って欲しいもんだが、そうなると自然のバランスが狂っちゃうだろうね！

No sweat!

タイトル：大したことなく！

The High Court dismissed the appeal by the MOFA ex-intelligence analyst Masaru Sato, now known better as a writer, and formerly better known as House member Muneo Suzuki's attendant. The ruling upheld the District Court's ruling sentencing him to 2 1/2 years of imprisonment with 4 years' stay of execution.

There was a possibility Mr. Sato could have been ruled "not guilty", but the judge did not buy any of the stories he had told at the hearings. And all I had prepared for (if he was somehow acquited!), went to ruins. Well, we can't tell what the judges will say till the last moment, and that's how my work is done... We have to prepare even though there's only a fraction of a percent an acquittal is pronounced!

ah... perhaps about a waste of about ten plus hours this time!! MAN!!

everybody hanging around Mr. Sato after the judgement...

高裁が外務省の佐藤優元情報分析官の控訴を棄却した。彼は作家として知られてるが、元々、鈴木宗男議員の付き人として知られていた人物だ。地裁の懲役２年６か月、執行猶予４年の判決を維持させた。
佐藤氏が「無罪」となる可能性もあったが、裁判官は彼が話したことはどれも採用しなかった。（ひょっとして無罪となったときのために）準備していたすべては無駄となった。まぁ最後の瞬間まで裁判官たちが何というか分からんのだから、こういう仕事をするしかないんだよ…。無罪の確率がほんのわずかだったとしても準備をしていないといけないんだ！
ああ…今回は１０時間ちょっとの無駄だったかな！！くそ！！
写真：判決後みんなで佐藤氏にぶら下がり…

Another big day at the courthouse...

タイトル：裁判所でまた大事な日…

So many judgements given out today... just as always at the end of the month, it was another busy day at the courthouse.

The bigger story of the day...

this time, the plaintiff were outraged! (photo by Jiji)

A short version article from Kyodo...

きょうもたくさんの判決が出された…いつも月末はそうなんだが、裁判所ではまた忙しい日となった。
この日の大きめの方の話は…
写真：今度は原告らは怒ってるね！（写真は時事）
以下、共同の短い記事…（和訳は略）

◆Court dismisses state damages to war-displaced Japanese
TOKYO, Jan. 30 KYODO
The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday rejected a demand from 40 war-displaced Japanese nationals for compensation from the state for failing after World War II to swiftly repatriate them from China and provide adequate support once they returned.
''Damage suffered by the plaintiffs should be seen as coming from the war, and this court cannot reasonably acknowledge the state's legal obligation to swiftly repatriate them to Japan,'' Presiding Judge Kenichi Kato said in the ruling.

And another judge ruled that Governor Shintaro Ishihara misused public money for meals... I had to rush to read the judgement papers and write up the stories for timely broadcasting... it's always a killer to read a bundle of papers in minutes and write'em up!

もう１つの判決は石原慎太郎知事がメシのために公金を違法に使ったと判断…。急いで判決文を読んで、放送に間に合わせるために原稿を突っ込まないといけなかった…いつも数分で文章の束を読んで書き上げるのはマジできついよ！

The Right to Edit...

タイトル：編集権…

A crucial judgement concerning the right to edit was given out at the High Court today.












the plaintiff nailed a clean shot! (photo from Jiji)

Article from Kyodo...

きょうは高裁で編集権について重要な判決が言い渡された。
原告がきれいに勝ったね！（写真は時事）
以下、共同の記事… (和訳は略）

◆High court orders NHK redress over sex-slave 'trial' program
TOKYO, Jan. 29 KYODO

The Tokyo High Court on Monday ordered Japan Broadcasting Corp. and two TV production companies to pay 2 million yen in compensation to a women's rights group over a 2001 television program on Japan's wartime sex slavery.
The court acknowledged that the national broadcaster known as NHK altered the contents of the program, which was based on a mock tribunal organized by the group on the issue of so-called ''comfort women,'' after taking into account the remarks of politicians, but it fell short of recognizing intervention by Shinzo Abe, who is now prime minister, or other senior politicians.
NHK said it will immediately take steps to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Presiding Judge Toshifumi Minami said the broadcaster's senior officials thought the program could affect the Diet's approval of NHK's budget plan and ''took the words of parliamentary members more seriously than necessary and guessed their intentions, and changed the program to a safer content.''
He further said the program aired by NHK had ''betrayed the trust and expectations of the plaintiff'' as it significantly deviated from what had been explained to the plaintiff beforehand.
The judge also said NHK failed to fulfill its obligation to explain the changes to the plaintiff sufficiently.
But the ruling fell short of recognizing the plaintiff's claim that politicians, including then Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe, directly intervened in the editing of the program.
''I believe the ruling has made it very clear that politicians have not intervened,'' Abe told reporters in the evening when asked to comment on the case.
Members of Violence Against Women in War-Network Japan (VAWW-NET Japan), nonetheless, called the ruling ''an overall win'' for the group and expressed joy.
Rumiko Nishino, the group's co-leader, said, ''I was nervous that if this ruling certified that the case still falls within the range of NHK's editing rights, political interventions would be overlooked under the name of editing...But I am happy now.''
Rutsuko Shoji, also co-leader of the group, said, ''We want NHK to read the ruling and apologize to us, and we want them to broadcast from a citizen's point of view.''
The group, which organized the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal in December 2000, initially sought 20 million yen in damages at the Tokyo District Court saying its members felt betrayed because the defendants in the suit reedited the program without explanation to the group.
It then raised the compensation claim to 40 million yen at the appeals court, arguing that NHK bore heavy responsibility for allowing political intervention.
The group helped the defendants produce the program in which the late Emperor Hirohito was found guilty by a mock tribunal of crimes against humanity for accepting institutionalized sex slavery. The sex slaves, mostly from Korea, were referred to as comfort women by the Japanese authorities.
Abe has admitted urging NHK to alter the program as he felt the contents were ''biased,'' but he denied having pressured the broadcaster and NHK has also said it made the changes in the course of regular editing operations and on its own initiative.
The reedited program omitted certain elements, including the mock tribunal's ''guilty'' verdict on the late emperor, who is posthumously known as Emperor Showa, testimonies by former soldiers and the name of the event organizer.
The group also said during the appeals court hearings that the reediting of the program would lead to a further coverup of the issue of wartime sex slavery and tolerance of political interventions.
The mock tribunal was intended to urge the Japanese government to take legal responsibility and to compensate women forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military before and during World War II, according to the group.
The ''ruling'' by the mock tribunal was handed down by a panel of four judges led by Gabrielle McDonald, the former president of the International War Crimes Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia.
In March 2004, the Tokyo District Court ordered one of the production companies to pay 1 million yen to the group over the case, leading the company and the advocacy group to file appeals. The district court dismissed the group's demands for redress from NHK and the other production company.
Abe and Shoichi Nakagawa, another senior lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, were reported to have pressured NHK to refrain from broadcasting the content that was later removed.
NHK is chiefly funded by viewers' subscription fees. Its budget and business plan require parliamentary approval. The government also provides funds to NHK's international shortwave radio service and is authorized by law to issue orders on what to air on its international shortwave radio programs.
Under Abe's administration, the government issued an unprecedented order to NHK in November to place emphasis on the issue of North Korean agents' past abduction of Japanese nationals in its international shortwave radio service.
Kyodo

After participating in the confusion, or rather a festival at the press club, I went out to drink with my sources...
It's always tough to be a journalist, but nothing's new about building a relationship of mutual trust with sources!
I think we all know that... and that nothing's inexcusable!

記者クラブで混乱というよりお祭り騒ぎに参加したあと、取材先と飲みに出た…。
ジャーナリストでいることは厳しいことだが、取材先との信頼関係構築は真新しいことをやってる訳じゃない！
みんな分かってると思うよ…言い訳ができないこともね！