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kuchikomi

Former employer of Ichihashi suffers repercussions

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Tatsuya Ichihashi, 30, who had eluded police for 2 years and 7 months, was finally apprehended at a ferry terminal in Minami, Osaka, on Nov 10. He is currently being held over the 2007 rape and murder of English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker.

In the meanwhile, the construction company in Ibaraki, Osaka, where Ichihashi worked as a day laborer and lived in the dorm for over a year, has suffered the consequences of its connection to Ichihashi. A number of clients terminated their contracts with the company, suspecting that it might have been intentionally harboring the suspect. The situation had become so dire that the company was not even certain its business would survive the end of the year.

According to the president of this company, “At one point, half of our clients had left us. We were told that they couldn’t do business with a company that did not even check the identity of its employees. The possibility did occur to me that there might be a backlash as soon as we reported to the police that Ichihashi worked here, but I felt it was our civic duty to do so.”

However, the rejection by companies they had a business relationship with was far worse than the president imagined. “We were in a very bad situation. Even the banks started calling us. Because of the news that reported on contract terminations, I guess they were worried we wouldn’t be able to make payments. Fortunately, there were others who saw the media reports and felt we were being unfairly victimized. Our business has recovered and we work daily at various construction sites now.”

It was the son of the president of this construction company who contacted police about Ichihashi. There was to be a cash reward of 10 million yen for information that would lead to his capture, but the manner by which the money would be distributed had been unclear. But the president commented that he did not expect much, since their information did not directly contribute to Ichihashi’s arrest.

While his daily life and business is gradually returning to normal, the dorm room once occupied by Ichihashi still remains vacant.

© Japan Today

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10 Comments
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Ridiculous

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I don't believe it. The article sounds like free advertising to me

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I'm glad they were hurt, maybe they should check the identity of their employees!! Yep. JT is giving them free advertising and hoping for a sympathy vote too me thinks.

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Pfft. What a lousy ad, eh boys. No company name or phone number either. And just when I was looking to build an extra floor on top of my mansion deluxe.

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Ah... I get it now... it was their civic duty to turn in Ichihashi after they heard about the 10 million yen cash reward for doing so. I hope their business goes out of business.

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"the dorm room once occupied by Ichihashi remains vacant"

Heh, people are soooo superstitious. If I was in need of a dormitory room, I'd take it.

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'm glad they were hurt

I hope their business goes out of business

You guys realise that people with kids work for this company?

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Where are the sources???

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Recycling old news JT? You printed pretty much the exact same blurb back when the caught ichihashi

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I don't believe it. The article sounds like free advertising to me

Yea... You're probably right... Anyone that deals with a construction company in Japan, knows damn-well that they are owned and operated by Yakuza... So I do find this article suspect.

They just happen to be at the very bottom rung of the corruption totem-pole, which wouldn't be able to hire illegals, launder money, or dapple in any of the plethora of other illicit activities they deal in... Extending from them, to the weekly or monthly police and city official pay-offs to look the other way.

While the Yakuza, may not have anything at all in common with it's New York or Italian counter-parts, when it comes to violence, they certainly have them both beat when it comes to making money from legitimate companies... Estimated 90% of all companies in Japan are either own, operated or infiltrated by Japanese Organized Crime..

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