Big news
It was announced that Metropolis magazine has been sold by its founders, Mark and Mary Devlin, to Japan, Inc. Holdings. Metropolis’ new publisher is Terrie Lloyd.

Sumo stablemaster Tokitsukaze faces charges over the death of a 17-year-old wrestler who died the day after being hit over the head with a beer bottle by the former komusubi. The boy, Takashi Saito, who wanted to quit the sport, was also severely beaten by other wrestlers with a metal baseball bat, allegedly at the urging of the stablemaster.

In other sumo news, a woman was tackled as she tried to climb into the ring during a tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan with a handful of fliers. Sumo tradition strictly forbids women from entering the dohyo as they are deemed “unclean … lacking in purity.”

About a week after a 16-year-old girl hacked her policeman father to death with an ax, a 15-year-old boy attacked his dad in the same manner, causing severe head wounds.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
More than 50 percent of voters supported the Cabinet of new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, up from the 33 percent who favored Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet—which featured many of the same people. Go figure.

Japan’s unemployment rate climbed 0.2 percent from the previous month to 3.8 percent in August, the first rise in 11 months.

US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer denied allegations that fuel provided by Japan in February 2003 may have been used for US operations in Iraq.
Japan took 17th place in a government survey that ranked 180 countries and territories according to their anti-corruption practices in 2007. Myanmar and Somalia placed at the bottom, sharing the 179th spot, while Iraq ranked 178th. New Zealand, Denmark and Finland top the list of cleanest governments, followed by Singapore and Sweden.

The father of murdered English teacher Lindsay Hawker asked Japan-bound travelers at London’s Heathrow Airport to keep an eye out for his daughter’s alleged killer, who is still at large after the murder in March. Bill Hawker also handed out photos of the suspect, Tatsuya Ichihashi.

As a result of the recent ax-attack trend in Japan, an episode of the anime series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai was dropped from the schedule because it featured a scene in which a murderous schoolgirl wields an ax. A rare case of art imitating life.

Oooops!!
A surgeon at a hospital in Matsue mistakenly cut open the right side of a woman’s head to remove a blood tumor before realizing that the tumor was on the other side and starting over.

A fashion model was among three people who suffered burns after a surgeon erroneously applied a high-density disinfectant to their faces and necks prior to an operation.

A clinic in Shinjuku was raided on suspicion of inappropriately handing out prescriptions of the mood-altering drug Ritalin.

A 25-year-old Japanese woman was found dead in her apartment in Yokohama after police received a call from her 34-year-old British boyfriend saying, “My girlfriend’s dead. I don’t know how she died.” The cops have not ruled out foul play.

It was reported that an auto-parts store in Kanagawa Prefecture was robbed of ¥34 million by a man “wearing a black balaclava,” though it was unclear whether the suspect was a foreigner.

In Saga Prefecture, a 42-year-old female junior high school teacher was arrested after repeatedly having sex with a 16-year-old boy who was a former student.

A woman under arrest in Saitama for stealing an ¥800 bar of soap is in more trouble after getting caught hiding a small bottle containing drugs, a cigarette lighter and a straw wrapped in tissue paper in her private parts, which have since become pretty public.







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