The Wild Turkey comments

Unless the JSDF has a different definition of the "Attention" stance, that is Standing at Ease.

shiloNOV. 10, 2013 - 10:21PM JST It is possible that police have actually been collecting fingerprints in burglary cases. If the culprit has never been caught them they would not have his fingerprints on file. Now that they have him they can easily go back and look at past cases.

Good job collecting evidence.

This is exactly it. Japanese police manage to collect forensic evidence at almost all break and enters. Largely this seems to be as a result of ineptitude by Japans criminals who haven't learned how to not leave such evidence, unlike criminals in western countries.

Those saying that he is being loaded up with every unsolved case are forgeting that police need sufficient evidence to establish prima facie before they can charge someone with an offence.

Damn it! Why'd it have to be Melbourne? They'd better hurry up and open a Sydney store soon.

BertieWoosterAUG. 28, 2013 - 07:27AM JST Isn't this something the UN should be doing?

Why does the U.S.A. have to do it?

Russia, Syria's ally, has veto power to block any UN mandate. China, also with veto power, normally opposes such interventions, on the grounds that they set a precedent and violate national sovereignty.

As much as I love the Shinkansen, every study I'm aware of says a high speed train for Australia is just not economical enough. I'd much rather see the funds spent on improving current urban rail systems. Sydney's trains are just a joke.

Skeeter27JUL. 29, 2013 - 06:19PM JST Wow only 27 meters! That's not deep at all, considering it the ocean.

The Timor and Arafura seas are actually pretty shallow. During the ice age they were above water and formed a land bridge between Australia and PNG.

TokyoGasJUL. 29, 2013 - 08:59AM JST I thought facial recognition software was up and running for this type of thing.

Current facial recognition technology is only reliable in tightly controlled settings, such as drivers licence photos. It's accuracy is not yet at the stage where it can produce reliable results from real life situations like this. Facebook and other social media are able to employ it in its current state because they don't have to produce results to a level of accuracy and reliability that is required by a court.

He would be easily recognizable, so long as the people who do recognize him are willing to come forward and testify against him.

Rudd changes the rules that saw him booted out of office the first time, but that also allowed him to retake the top job. One wonders whether the ALP members have really thought this through and what the implications will be in the future if they find themselves in a similar position with another unpopular leader.

combinibentoJUL. 18, 2013 - 06:49AM JST Good luck to this plaintiff. A shame to see not a single criminal charge has been filed, although maybe that happened and the story was just silent on it. Doubt it though.

Mirai HayashiJUL. 18, 2013 - 07:19AM JST That's a pretty ballsy move. She should really be filing a criminal complaint for extortion.

A Japan Times article on this said that the Innbaji Ikka executive who made the 2008 extortion threat was indicted. Doesn't say whether he was subsequently convicted or not.

Hmm, I'll be in Tokyo on holiday whilst this is running. Might be worth a go if it's not too expensive.

Japan should get used to it. Regardless of the reasons, the Chinese vessels were in the international waters and they have every right to be there. U.S. vessels does the same in close proximity to mainland China.

The legality isn't in dispute. What isn't being understood is that isn't an innocent move by China, it's a calculated deliberate act. They have pushed it as close to line as they could without actually crossing over it and giving Japan cause to make some reciprocal act. So while Japan has no grounds to act, having foreign warships pass within sight of your coast does certainly cause some concern.

And of course Japan and the US have done the same in the past and will do the same again in the future. Not so much sailing ships within visual distance of China's coast as that's a risky move to make with hundreds of lives and billions of dollars of hardware, but certainly that have flown reconnaissance aircraft over China and engaged in frequent exercises. It's just how the game is played, and China has made a deliberate and bold move.

Everybody saying that there is no issue here is missing the point. A quick glance at a map tells you that these ships were NOT returning to China after the exercise. If they were, they would have traveled south west and sailed around the Korean peninsula. Instead they have traveled north east and sailed within sight of Hokkaido.

Why this is of significance is that naval maneuvers are one way that nations send subtle messages to each other. These aren't the sort of messages that you send via diplomats, but rather are calculated shows of force intended to remind the recipient that the sender is capable of armed action and projecting power towards the recipients territories. The stationing of US forces within Japan and the frequent exercises are also intended to send that sort of message to other nations within the East Asia region.

China previously hasn't sent any forces north around Japanese territory, to my knowledge, and it is not an ideal route to take to access the Pacific Ocean as it puts them within range of land based aircraft from South Korean and Japanese bases. This move by China is probably intended to send the message to Japan that even its northern territories are within range of Chinese power projection.

Might I just say that I'm part of the other 49% that want immigration to continue, however our current policy does need a major overhaul.