Free Republic

NAGOYA The statue of 16th-century warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi located at the entrance of a shopping arcade in Nagoya has been beheaded, a local association said Tuesday. A local resident notified the shopping center association on Saturday that the statue was missing its head. The neck has since been covered with duct tape to prevent further damage, according to an official of the group. The association, which regards the statue as a symbolic figure of the arcade, is considering filing a damage report with police, the official said. The defacement of the statue, made of reinforced plastic, comes after previous instances...

Nervous Nagoya hunts horrible housewife hacker By Ryann Connell Staff Writer April 3, 2003   A police sketch of the suspect.   It's a common joke to complain about how violent women can be riding their bicycles around the streets of Japan's cities. But one woman, who by all accounts resembles an average housewife, has managed through a series of chilling attacks to put the city of Nagoya in a state of terror. "I wondered whether what was happening right before my eyes wasn't some sort of dream, or at least a mistake. I didn't think what I was seeing...