Nagasaki Mayor Shot

[CrazyAce86]

Surprised this hasn't come up yet. It's from Yahoo!News.


Japan's Nagasaki mayor critical after being shot
By George Nishiyama 16 minutes ago

The mayor of the Japanese city of Nagasaki, who was shot by a man police said belonged to a crime syndicate, remained in a critical condition on Wednesday and his chances of survival were slim, doctors said.

Itcho Ito, 61, seeking re-election for a fourth term in Sunday's election, was shot at least twice in the back in front of his campaign office just before 8:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Tuesday, Nagasaki police said.

Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, a senior member of a local gang affiliated with Japan's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi Gumi, was arrested by police on suspicion of attempted murder. A revolver he had with him was also confiscated.

The motive for the shooting remained unclear, but public broadcaster NHK said Shiroo was upset at the city's handling of a traffic accident four years ago in which his car was damaged as it passed by a public works construction site.

After an emergency operation that lasted for hours, Ito was surviving on an artificial heart and lungs, and the likelihood of resuscitating him was "very difficult," hospital doctors told a news conference, adding two bullets had reached his heart.

TV footage earlier showed the mayor lying face down on a sidewalk with his eyes closed as paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation after he was gunned down.

"I hope that the truth be revealed through vigilant investigation by authorities," Kyodo news agency quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying after news of the shooting.

Japan has very strict gun control laws and firearms are mostly in the hands of "yakuza" gangsters or hunters.

Nagasaki, on the southernmost main island of Kyushu and some 980 km (608 miles) southwest of Tokyo, was the second city to suffer an atomic bombing by the United States on August 9, 1945.

(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg and Elaine Lies)

[CrazyAce86]

UPDATE:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_as/japan_mayor_shooting_10

He's died, folks.

[SlickWilly440]

Wait, I thought owning a gun in Japan was illegal and only restricted to military personnel?

[Digital Masta]

Wait, I thought owning a gun in Japan was illegal and only restricted to military personnel?

When you're a yakuza...you are privy to that type of equipment I'd think.

[gentlemanandscholar]

Holy shit, the gumi!
Was it really because of compensation for his car??

[Hatsumomo]

We really need some happy stuff on this board now.

[gentlemanandscholar]

We really need some happy stuff on this board now.

How about this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR-8sbhHcRs&NR=1)?

[Angelyne]

The motive for the shooting remained unclear, but public broadcaster NHK said Shiroo was upset at the city's handling of a traffic accident four years ago in which his car was damaged as it passed by a public works construction site.

WTF....the world is going insane this week, and it's only Tuesday. :knockout:

[羽之助]

It was obviously a copycat crime.

[TommyA]

I blame videogames and porn!

Yeah these last 2 days in my home country, and current country have been news filled.

What next?

[Chinpokomon]

Nagasaki, on the southernmost main island of Kyushu and some 980 km (608 miles) southwest of Tokyo, was the second city to suffer an atomic bombing by the United States on August 9, 1945.

Totally relevant.

[TommyA]

Totally relevant.

Haha I was laughing at that too!

How far is it from Nanjing again?

[Pierrot le Fou]

Totally relevant.
It may be. The mayor has been pretty anti-military and the like, while Yakuza tend to be linked to right-wing extremist organizations. So in a roundabout way, it may have relevance, though it's more likely some shit-for-brains journalism student who needed to add a sentence and has zero knowledge of the world that can't be found in a history textbook designed for high school students.

[ryobreak]

Haha I was laughing at that too!

How far is it from Nanjing again?
It is also 1637 nautical miles from Pearl Harbor... :P

[Oosutorariajin]

Are we sure it wasnt a gaijin who has framed that poor yakuza man? I mean, I cannot imagine a Japanese ever wanting to hurt another human being! Must be gaijin!! cover up!!!!!!!!

[羽之助]

I hear Nagasaki is close to Okinawa. Which has AMERICAN MILITARY BASES full of ROWDY ANTI-JAPAN TROOPS.

I think it's obvious who the real culprits are.

[Digital Masta]

I hear Nagasaki is close to Okinawa. Which has AMERICAN MILITARY BASES full of ROWDY ANTI-JAPAN TROOPS.

I think it's obvious who the real culprits are.


They don't have to go that far...Nagasaki has Sasebo...which has American Military bases and...ROWDY ANTI-JAPAN TROOPS!

And apparently...ultimate ass kicking Japanese cops to deal with them.

[4letterwords]

I told this story to my Japanese friend (acquaintance?) and she said Japan wouldn't having guns if foreigners didn't bring them in so she thinks foreigners should be more strictly checked at places like airports and ocean-ports.

This conversation eventually led me into questioning why every time I've flown to Japan (6 times) I've been 'randomly' searched. I don't mind it, but it makes me think that I look like I would kill a bunch of people.

[羽之助]

Does she know that a) it's perfectly legal to own a gun in Japan (http://yarchive.net/gun/politics/japan_gun.html) and b) most of the illegal guns are in the hands of the Japanese mafia?

Or perhaps she's just a typical Japanese girl. :(

Oh, I didn't get searched last time! Whee!

[Crowley]

1) Nagasaki mayor shot dead
2) Azrael suspiciously deletes an entry on his blog

CONCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.

[stsparky]

Does she know that a) it's perfectly legal to own a gun in Japan (http://yarchive.net/gun/politics/japan_gun.html) and b) most of the illegal guns are in the hands of the Japanese mafia? Or perhaps she's just a typical Japanese girl. :( Oh, I didn't get searched last time! Whee!
I bought the below at Yotabasi Camera:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/448989582_ec4dd7d110.jpg

I got searched after 9/11 - as the bomb sniffers seem to be alarmed at what smelt of plastique in my suitcase. It was 24 Lupin the 3rd 12inch dolls. Now I get giggled through customs.

[Digital Masta]

Does she know that a) it's perfectly legal to own a gun in Japan (http://yarchive.net/gun/politics/japan_gun.html) and b) most of the illegal guns are in the hands of the Japanese mafia?


But that doesn't matter...because they get them all from foreigners anyway, silly!

[gentlemanandscholar]

But that doesn't matter...because they get them all from foreigners anyway, silly!

And those poor mobsters are forced into buying them out of politeness!

[Minibeefcake]

am I reading that right? the paramedics performed CPR while he was lying face down?

and it saved him enough for him to die at the hospital? That must be some strong compressions...

[Jetsetlemming]

I told this story to my Japanese friend (acquaintance?) and she said Japan wouldn't having guns if foreigners didn't bring them in so she thinks foreigners should be more strictly checked at places like airports and ocean-ports.

This conversation eventually led me into questioning why every time I've flown to Japan (6 times) I've been 'randomly' searched. I don't mind it, but it makes me think that I look like I would kill a bunch of people.
No, that's just because the guys in the security checkpoint are pervs.
Also:
I bought the below at Yotabasi Camera:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/448989582_ec4dd7d110.jpg

I got searched after 9/11 - as the bomb sniffers seem to be alarmed at what smelt of plastique in my suitcase. It was 24 Lupin the 3rd 12inch dolls. Now I get giggled through customs.
"That's one bad mutha..."
"SHUT YO MOUTH!"
"I'm just talkin 'bout Sparky!"

[Pierrot le Fou]

An acquaintance of mine who works in customs here in Japan has said that they're taught specifically to search foreigners. Not a punitive thing, just a reality. He also says that a LOT of guns get shipped into Japan, but they do it piecemeal (one part at a time).

[erbiumfiber]

So, from all the reports on NHK, the mayor was shot because the shooter's car fell into a construction ditch and the bumper was damaged? Over 3 years ago? Man, that's some other kind of a grudge to be holding...:box:

[Pierrot le Fou]

So, from all the reports on NHK, the mayor was shot because the shooter's car fell into a construction ditch and the bumper was damaged? Over 3 years ago? Man, that's some other kind of a grudge to be holding...:box:
Exactly. The whole organized crime thing is just a coincidence.

[erbiumfiber]

Organized crime in Japan doesn't seem to be taking out too many politicians. I really think he had a screw loose, like the nutjob in VA. Apparently he visited city hall 30 times over this incident and called another 30 times. His money demands for the damage to his car kept escalating from 600,000 yen to over 2 million yen.

Then he was complaining about some contract stuff and, yeah, that could be a little more gang-related but a really professional hit would not have gone off like this in front of the train station. I think he's a looney.

[japanat]

every time I've flown to Japan (6 times) I've been 'randomly' searched. I don't mind it, but it makes me think that I look like I would kill a bunch of people.In 16 yrs, I've been searched once, when coming back from Korea. The American behind me (I'm American, too) pulled a scene, and got strip-searched!:clap:

Actually, though, travel with a Japanese wife and kids, and they really try to get rid of you as fast as possible. Kinda cool, considering that LA customs tried to make my pregnant wife go through the foreigner line (long time ago).

Back to the OP: He's the 2nd Nagasaki mayor to get assassinated. Another was killed 15-20yrs ago.

[羽之助]

On an idiotically serious note, the Japanese underground started rumors that the killer was a Zainichi Korean.

http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=602

[atomiton]

am I reading that right? the paramedics performed CPR while he was lying face down?

and it saved him enough for him to die at the hospital? That must be some strong compressions...
In Japan, you are never pronounced dead at the scene. You're always pronounced dead at a hospital by a doctor who is trained to make that diagnosis.

Fair enough, though... just because your heart stopped or you stopped breathing, doesn't mean you're dead yet. You're not "really" dead until you can't be revived.

The system is different in Japan as Ambulance drivers don't need to undergo paramedic training as in the US... but rather their main goal is just to get the person to the closest hospital where a proper and more complete diagnosis can be made. I think they call it first response in the US.

[Life25Karma]

1) Nagasaki mayor shot dead
2) Azrael suspiciously deletes an entry on his blog

CONCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.




....................you know that was wrong lol:knockout:

[belladonna]

On an idiotically serious note, the Japanese underground started rumors that the killer was a Zainichi Korean.

http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=602
that really upsets me. i saw this story of the mayor on the news the other morning before school and i was completely chocked, especially since monday night i was talking with someone about guns and yakuza in japan... this is a sad sad world

[Civilization Phrase III]

It made me really sad after the Virginia shooter ;<

And now the Nasa shooter guy. What is the world coming to?

[belladonna]

all of this violence, from a biblical view, would be the onset of the apocolyspe along with the crazy weather - it's supposed to be soon anyway...

[Civilization Phrase III]

all of this violence, from a biblical view, would be the onset of the apocolyspe along with the crazy weather - it's supposed to be soon anyway...
That's so unscientifical. Look at how much science knows. BELIEVE SCIENCE.

Yeah, I think it is coming soon~ Science sucks balls.

[belladonna]

i said from a biblical standpoint, not my own... though it used to be my own

[gentlemanandscholar]

all of this violence, from a biblical view, would be the onset of the apocolyspe along with the crazy weather - it's supposed to be soon anyway...

You would think so.
But there have been studies (sorry I don't have the references. Either believe me or not) that track the homicide rate during wars, and when they're drawn out for a long time the homicide rate of the host country increases dramatically.

Also, I think the apocalypse will come(if it were to exist) when all countries experience this, not just America. America does not equal the world.

[RandomPasserby]

I think you mean arockalypse comes, Gentlemanundscholar!

[羽之助]

I was listening to that song this evening, actually.

Hallelujah!

Oh, and if you check historical homicide rates (I'm reading Freakonomics right now if you want to know where I'm getting my sources), the homicide rate for England in the 13th and 14th centuries was 23 murders per 100 000 people. For 1950-1994, it was 0.9. If rates are going up, I still don't think it's anywhere near a rate of 23 per 100 000.

[RandomPasserby]

I never knew canadians listened to eurovision songs.
Any news on the mayor having anything yakuza related shit else than the car thing?

[羽之助]

Only songs about horses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lovely_Horse).

Lovely horses.

[gentlemanandscholar]

Oh, and if you check historical homicide rates (I'm reading Freakonomics right now if you want to know where I'm getting my sources), the homicide rate for England in the 13th and 14th centuries was 23 murders per 100 000 people. For 1950-1994, it was 0.9. If rates are going up, I still don't think it's anywhere near a rate of 23 per 100 000.

I was referring to rates over the course of the period of a war. As in, beginning of the hundred years war the rate was 0.7, which then rose to 23 murders per 100, 000 people as the battles dragged on.

[belladonna]

i was stating that violence has generally gone up worldwide... and i am well aware of the fact that america is not the world... america is just my home and i see things the way that they are shown on american news

[羽之助]

Well, what are national homicide rates now? I mean, it may SEEM as if the world is getting more violent, but let's face it, wars and slaughter are a depressingly regular part of human history. With the advent of instant reporting and images beamed around the world in seconds, we just know about it more.

[gentlemanandscholar]

Well, what are national homicide rates now? I mean, it may SEEM as if the world is getting more violent, but let's face it, wars and slaughter are a depressingly regular part of human history. With the advent of instant reporting and images beamed around the world in seconds, we just know about it more.

Oh I don't think the world has gotten more violent. I think the opposite actually, but only by a little bit. What I am saying however is that psychologically speaking, over the period a nation experiences war, the individual homicide rate(unrelated to the battles) increases. As in, the average homicide may be lower than it was in 11th century Britain, but we see a temporary increase as the Iraq war (seemingly) comes to a close, such as 0.7 to 0.9.
This is still being studied though.

[羽之助]

Gentlemanandscholar: Oh, an African swallow, maybe, but not a European swallow, that's my point.
Hanenosuke: Oh yeah, I agree with that.
Gentlemanandscholar: Of course ... African swallows are non-migratory.