TOKYO, April 17, 2007

Japanese Mayor Shot Dead

Mayor Of Southwestern City Of Nagasaki Killed By Gangster, News Agency Reports

  • Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Ito guides Swedish King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia at the atomic bomb hypocenter in Nagasaki Peace Park in Nagasaki in this March 30, 2007 photo. Photo

    Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Ito guides Swedish King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia at the atomic bomb hypocenter in Nagasaki Peace Park in Nagasaki in this March 30, 2007 photo.  (AP)

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(AP)  The mayor of the Japanese city of Nagasaki, a prominent anti-nuclear activist, was shot by a yakuza gangster on Tuesday, and news reports said he later died of his wounds.

Mayor Iccho Ito was shot twice late Tuesday outside the city's main train station by a gangster reportedly disgruntled over damage to his car at a public works site, according to Nagasaki prefectural (state) police official Rumi Tsujimoto.

Kyodo News agency and national broadcaster NHK said Ito died of his wounds early Wednesday.

Footage from the southwestern city of Nagasaki showed several officers wrestling a man to the ground and pushing him into a police car, and an ambulance leaving the scene as police shouted for bystanders to get out of the way.

Tetsuya Shiroo, a senior member of Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest organized crime group, was arrested on the spot for attempted murder, police said.

Shiroo has admitted to shooting Ito with a handgun with the intent to kill, Nagasaki chief investigator Kazuki Umebayashi said in a televised news conference.

One of the bullets reached the heart of the 61-year-old mayor, who went into cardiac arrest, according to hospital official Kenzo Kusano. He underwent emergency surgery and was on life support, but reports said he later died.

It was the second attack in recent years against a mayor of Nagasaki, which was destroyed by a U.S. atomic bomb in 1945 and whose leaders have actively campaigned against militarism and nuclear proliferation.

In 1990, former Nagasaki Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima was shot and seriously wounded after saying Japan's emperor, beloved by rightists, bore some responsibility for World War II.

Tuesday's attack appeared to involve a more trivial matter, however.

Shiroo reportedly clashed with Nagasaki city over a traffic accident in 2003, when his car was damaged after he drove into a hole in the ground at a public works construction site.

The gangster tried unsuccessfully to get compensation for the damage after his insurance policy refused to pay up, according to NHK.

Shiroo had also sent a letter to broadcaster TV Asahi to protest recent money scandals linked to Ito, including hidden accounts and public works contracts, according to Kyodo.

Ito, backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was campaigning for his fourth term. He was an active figure in the movement against nuclear proliferation, heading a coalition of Japanese cities calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Peace activists expressed shock.

"Mayor Ito had a strong and boundless passion for peace," said Sunao Tsuboi, leader of a survivors' group based in Hiroshima, a city also flattened by an atomic bomb in 1945.

"The authorities must conduct a rigorous investigation and get to the bottom of this," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a statement late Tuesday.

Commonly known as yakuza, Japan's organized crime groups are involved in real estate and construction kickback schemes, extortion, gambling, the sex industry, gunrunning and drug trafficking.

The yakuza are also behind most shootings in Japan, where handguns are strictly banned. Two-thirds of the country's 53 known shootings in 2006 were gang-related, according to the National Police Agency. Police estimate that there are about 84,500 gangsters across Japan.

The yakuza have had a long-standing political alliance with right-wing nationalists, though authorities gave no indication that Tuesday's attack was politically motivated.

Though attacks against politicians are uncommon in Japan, three have been killed since World War II, including socialist leader Inejiro Asanuma, who was stabbed to death by a right-wing activist at a rally in Tokyo.

Another opposition lawmaker was killed by a mentally unstable assailant in 1990, while a ruling party politician was fatally stabbed in 2002 in a dispute over political funds.

Last year, a right-wing extremist burned down the house of ruling party lawmaker Koichi Kato after the politician criticized a prime minister's pilgrimage to a controversial Tokyo war shrine.



© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Add a Comment See all 44 Comments
by extremophil April 17, 2007 3:39 PM PDT
Gee. I thought Japan had very strict gun control laws. Hmmmmmmmm........
Reply to this comment
by hawksprings April 17, 2007 3:44 PM PDT

That was my thought exactly. The rest of the world is piling on the US for our lack of gun control and then this happens in Japan?
I'm afraid the lesson will be lost of the gun control nazis.
Reply to this comment
by infidel_us April 17, 2007 3:57 PM PDT
They can shout for all the gun control they want. The bottom line is this.......if we can't police 12M illegal aliens, there's NO WAY dems will ever be able to collect the 10's of MILLIONS of firearms in this country. They can outlaw it tomorrow and it won't make a bit of difference.

Reply to this comment
by nolalou April 17, 2007 4:00 PM PDT
First of all, why does anyone who dosn't agree with you get called a 'nazi'? Yes, Japan does have strict gun control laws. With no legal civilian handgun possession, Japan experiences in an average year less than 200 violent crimes perpetrated with a handgun, of which almost all are perpetrated by Boryokudan, organised crime groups! We have some cities in this country where the murder rate by handgun is ealily double that! The store where the South Korean student purchased the guns used in the massacre at Virginia Tech sells about 2,500 guns a year, and the owner said a buying can walk out with a new Glock in about 20 min! And this makes sense how?

We need meaningful gun laws in this country, and stong enforcement. I'm not saying gun possesion should be illegal, but currently it's harder to get a car licence than to buy a gun! That makes no sense! So go ahead, jerk.. call me a Nazi!
Reply to this comment
by gunownerdan April 17, 2007 4:06 PM PDT
I guess no one told the killer that guns are illegal in Japan.
"When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."
a-human-right.com
Reply to this comment
by monkeyledge April 17, 2007 4:07 PM PDT
Gun deaths in U.S. 30,000.
Japan 53.
Factor 600:1.

Still wonder if gun possession is irrelevant?!
Reply to this comment
by forgotmyid April 17, 2007 4:07 PM PDT
I am not a big gun control proponent but did the 1st 2 commentators even read this article? 53 shootings in all of Japan last year (and 2/3rd of those gang-related), a county with 127 1/2 million people. New Orleans alone had 3 times as many shootings last year. What possible anti-gun control lesson can you draw from this?
Reply to this comment
by jasonmcj April 17, 2007 4:07 PM PDT
Well Stated nolalou,

Gun advocates keep citing the same rhetoric about Constitutional rights, but could care less about the violence that goes on in America.

Why? Simple. they convince themselves that laws work, which they don't, so there will never be an agreement or compromise unless some drastic mass grass-rrots movements takes over the NRa rhetoric that contributes millions of dollar to keep gun laws lax.

Reply to this comment
by jasonmcj April 17, 2007 4:10 PM PDT
There will always be exceptions as long as guns are manufactured, someone will have them.

However, making them generally illegal for the public and strictly enforcing that law does work.

Quoted for truth:
"Gun deaths in U.S. 30,000.
Japan 53.
Factor 600:1.

Still wonder if gun possession is
irrelevant?! "
Reply to this comment
by infidel_us April 17, 2007 4:13 PM PDT
New Orleans alone had 3 times as many shootings last year. What possible anti-gun control lesson can you draw from this?
Posted by forgotmyid at 04:07 PM : Apr 17, 2007

You have to compare the mentality and intellectual capacity of the average african american criminal to those of Japan. I would bet the average Japanese criminal thinks on at least a 2nd year college level compared to the American criminal.

Besides, "there's nothing wrong with shooting.....as long as the right people are getting shot". - Dirty Harry
Reply to this comment
by jasonmcj April 17, 2007 4:15 PM PDT
Question for anti gun control folks:

Do you really think, in your own heart, that outlawing guns is supposed to have the intentions of eliminating every single gun crime?

It isn't, so Japan minimal violations are no problem to me.

Do you seriously think that the claim of "The rest of the world is piling on the US for our lack of gun control and then this happens in Japan?" means that Japans gun control doesn't work?? If you answer yes to either, you are COMPLETELY missing the point of gun control, whihc is, reduced violence, NOt the complete elimination of gun violence. We do live in reality (most of us, at least).

Reply to this comment
by infidel_us April 17, 2007 4:16 PM PDT
Okay, all you gun control libs....pay attention. Even if your wildest wet dream came true and guns were banned tomorrow, you would NEVER be able to enforce it or police it.

So, unless you all want to become the nazis you accuse Bush of being on a daily basis, you better find a new "mating call" to attract each other. This one is a real loser and it's getting very old.
Reply to this comment
by clevercandi April 17, 2007 4:17 PM PDT
While I'm also not going to dispute/discuss gun control, I will tell you that the subject around the small college community where I work is that if someone at VA Tech had a gun, they might have been able to combat the shooter.
Reply to this comment
by jasonmcj April 17, 2007 4:19 PM PDT
Wow, people still use this old, ridiculous rhetoric? Your simplistic answer embarrasses us all.

"While I'm also not going to dispute/discuss gun control, I will tell you that the subject around the small college community where I work is that if someone at VA Tech had a gun, they might have been able to combat the shooter."
Reply to this comment
by infidel_us April 17, 2007 4:21 PM PDT
if someone at VA Tech had a gun, they might have been able to combat the shooter.
Posted by clevercandi at 04:17 PM : Apr 17, 2007

No maybe about it. We had a little increase in crime here in Atlanta after some Katrina folks came here. Breaking and entering....shot dead.....justifiable homocide, no charges filed. Guess what? It stopped. If that's not "control" I don't know what is.
Reply to this comment
by jasonmcj April 17, 2007 4:23 PM PDT
Please cite me some study or any evidence whatsoever that shows guns in college classrooms is better for the well being of society than strict gun contol for the public?

Everytime you monsters claim "If someone had a gun, they could have shot that criminal," I wonder where you get these cowboy notions from. It just doesn't work that way.

Reply to this comment
by infidel_us April 17, 2007 4:24 PM PDT
Wow, people still use this old, ridiculous rhetoric? Your simplistic answer embarrasses us all.
Posted by JasonMcJ at 04:19 PM : Apr 17, 2007

Don't pay attention to these bedwetting liberals. They are most of the reason we are in the shape we're in today. Their programs and giveaways have certainly made us a much, much better country, haven't they????
Reply to this comment
by infidel_us April 17, 2007 4:27 PM PDT
Everytime you monsters claim "If someone had a gun, they could have shot that criminal," I wonder where you get these cowboy notions from. It just doesn't work that way.
Posted by JasonMcJ at 04:23 PM : Apr 17, 2007

You hearing this???? MONSTERS! You law abiding gun owners are monsters. The real monsters (like the one doing the shooting at Va Tech) is to be "understood". His rage and his issues, probably brought on by the Bush administration and Chaney/Halliburtin are legitimate reasons for his outrage. See, it's OUR fault.

The only problm with this country is that brain dead people like JasonMCj are allowed the right to vote.
Reply to this comment
by charlesdjohn April 17, 2007 4:52 PM PDT
This massacre in Virginia is the direct result of the gun ban laws. These laws disarmed the entire student body and faculty at the university. These laws enabled this wacko to gun down those students like turkeys at a turkey shoot.
Reply to this comment
by charlesdjohn April 17, 2007 4:58 PM PDT
It does not take a study to realize that a well armed citizenry helpS reduce violence. The criminals freely admit that the enactment of the concealed carry laws made them really nervous about picking out a potential victim. Just think, Granny may be packing a Kimber custom 45!

Bottom line, CRIMINALS DO NOT WANT TO FACE ARMED VICTIMS BECAUSE THEY FIGHT BACK!
Reply to this comment
by charlesdjohn April 17, 2007 5:06 PM PDT
I have a better cure for school violence! Let's take away all the emotionless killing, gore and violence that today's youth learn from video games. These games teach kids to kill without the emotional attachment.

I don't hear any congressman calling for tighter controls on violent video games.....

Where do you think these young people learn this ***?
Reply to this comment
by jacksteen1 April 17, 2007 5:25 PM PDT
Gun laws somehow ENABLED the VTech shootings to happen, so sez resident Big Thinker Charles DJohn in a curious bit of Republishit headbanging. Methinks Charles plays with his babymaker too much.

Total shootings in Japan in 2006: FIFTY THREE.

God bless America and the Party of Lincoln!

Reply to this comment
by zoltaric April 17, 2007 5:41 PM PDT
Everyone should be required to carry a gun.
Reply to this comment
by noaanhc April 17, 2007 5:56 PM PDT
30,000 guns death a year in America.I guess we can be all proud of that.I am embarassed that my country has the highest murder rate than any other democratic nation on earth.Until we has a nation are willing to at long long last confront the murderous NRA terrorists thugs the slaughter will contimue.
Reply to this comment
by thgdriver April 17, 2007 6:16 PM PDT
I wonder if we would have all this gun grabbing bull shi! if instead of using a gun, he waited outside with a car or truck and when there were enough victims on the street/sidewalk he ran them all down and killed 30 to 40.

Would we be banning cars/trucks? Would we be banning tires?

Would CBS be printing headlines where the car/truck was purchased??

The person did this heinous act nothing else!!
Reply to this comment
by mcmustang2 April 17, 2007 6:36 PM PDT
A gun crime in Japan! And Japan has one of the most restrictive set of gun laws in the world!

Will CBS news profile the gunman and where and when he purchased the gun? Will there be a debate over Japanese gun laws not being restrictive enough?

Criminals will always get guns. Until the technology is obsolete.
Reply to this comment
by rudy654-2009 April 17, 2007 6:37 PM PDT
"The person did this heinous act nothing else!!"

Yes, but who wants the criminal to have such an effective means to commit the act?
Reply to this comment
by thgdriver April 17, 2007 6:46 PM PDT
noaanhc

What's the NRA got to do with this?? Oh, and by the way, your an idiot!!
Reply to this comment
by pwhited-2009 April 17, 2007 7:06 PM PDT
2 million crimes a year are prevented in the United States by law abiding citizens with legally owned firearms. Without a shot being fired. You never hear that on mainstream media because it doesn't fit the liberal/socialist agenda. Gun bans don't work and it's simple to understand. Criminals don't obey the law. Only law abiding firearm owners are affected by banning guns. Anyone who can't figure that one out is either on drugs or just plain stupid. The proof is in Nagasaki. A criminal, without regard for the total ban on firearms in Japan, shot and killed the Mayor of that city.

Gun Free Zones are merely potential slaughterhouses for those with evil intent. Cho probably laughed to himself as he read the "Gun Free Zone" signs when he entered the buildings to create his murder and mayhem yesterday morning.


I own firearms, both for target shooting and self defense. I can state with absolute certainty that my guns have killed fewer people than Ted Kennedys CAR. I hope it stays that way forever, because I do not wish to kill another human. However, if I had to choose between the life of a family member over that of a criminal, I will shoot to kill. It is MY duty to protect myself and my family. Period.

Reply to this comment
by themooniac April 17, 2007 7:32 PM PDT
53 shootings in all of Japan last year. Who says gun control does'nt work....
Reply to this comment
by pwhited-2009 April 17, 2007 7:47 PM PDT
We aren't in Japan, themooniac. Even the CDC, who is vehemently anti-gun, states that there is NO evidence to show that gun bans work in the US. The nearly total ban of firearms in Washington DC has been a dismal failure over the past 30 years, as proven by their murder rate every year. By contrast, states that have concealed carry laws have seen a sizeable DECREASE in gun related crimes. Why? Because criminals prefer unarmed victims.

Stay unarmed, if that is your choice. If you become a statistic, that will also be your choice.
Reply to this comment
by noaanhc April 17, 2007 8:20 PM PDT
I was actually called an idiot on here,what a great honor.Well my answer is sticks and stones
but we still have the highest murder rate in the the democratic world and the gun lobby cannot change that with insulting words.Look people
I don't want to ban guns for that only punishes the law abiding gun owners,but we as a nation have to do some very hard soul searching on why this country has sunk to such a low level of violent depravity.We as a nation can do better then that.
Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 April 17, 2007 9:15 PM PDT
53 shootings in all of Japan last year. Who says gun control does'nt work....
Posted by themooniac at 07:32 PM : Apr 17, 2007


How many murders in all were committed in Japan last year? By cars, truck. bombs, knives, poisons ect? anybody know? or care?
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:19 PM PDT
Ahem...maybe like the Nazi party--Japan should stop coddling and living with the right wing extremism and ban it entirely? After all, based on this news story they seem to want to settle political and personal issues by killing someone. Maybe they would find a different outlet if they could not so freely express their hate and disrespect for democracy.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:25 PM PDT
The person did this heinous act nothing else!!"
Yes, but who wants the criminal to have such an effective means to commit the act? Posted by rudy654 at 06:37 PM : Apr 17, 2007

In most urban neighborhoods in America, a handgun can be purchased for as little as 20.00 with no background check, no prints--just cash and carry. of course one never knows how the gun was used--but.. there you are. The fact is, criminals will always be able to get guns, especially in this country. When ever gun clean ups occur, it is not criminals who turn in their guns. With a country over run with fire arms, unless one went house to house, land and forest and water and covered every square inch including caves and underground--you will NEVER get rid of the guns here.

Most Americans are pragmatic to realize that if gun control ever took place, it would leave ordinary citizens defenseless while the robbers, murders and other criminals would have the means to terrorize and would NEVer get rid of their weapons. It's too late for clean up of guns--who would cooperate? Only the bleeding hearts who already do not own guns. As for everyone else--they would hide their weapons, purchase new guns on the black market and just like in Iraq, the guns would flourish despite the public policy of banning weapons.

Guns would be the new "drug" of many Americans--illegal, dangerous, sold on the black market and with no tax revenue for the government once they are banned.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:31 PM PDT
very hard soul searching on why this country has sunk to such a low level of violent depravity.We as a nation can do better then that.
Posted by noaanhc at 08:20 PM : Apr 17, 2007

It's gotten worse in the past few years with Kansas City with the highest murder rate in the nation--more deaths than NYC or LA or Chicago. who would have 'thunk' it? Maybe the resident population is subliminally inspired by all the carnage we are inflicting over seas and after years of not fighting, the chicken hawks finally want to try their hand at "shock and awe" Those who live by the sword--die by the sword. we are a violent group and no matter how we cloak and sugar coat what we do in the world at large--we are a product of our own psyche and it is manifested in how we live and interact with each other. We kill for good reasons, dumb reasons--no reasons--we just kill.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:38 PM PDT
am not a big gun control proponent but did the 1st 2 commentators even read this article? 53 shootings in all of Japan last year (and 2/3rd of those gang-related), a county with 127 1/2 million people. New Orleans alone had 3 times as many shootings last year. What possible anti-gun control lesson can you draw from this?
Posted by forgotmyid at 04:07 PM : Apr 17, 2007


Now be a pragmatist. Just how do you imagine the government will ever collect all the guns in America? And how will they know when they have them all. As for gun control and laws--only law abiding people obey laws. How many accidental deaths in a year in the US due to guns? How many due to violence?

I would submit to you--that every violent act with a gun would still occur--because the intent is to harm or to kill. The only number that would be affected by law abiding people having gun control is the number of accidental deaths--or do you imagine criminals will observe the 'no smoking' sign?
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:41 PM PDT
This massacre in Virginia is the direct result of the gun ban laws. These laws disarmed the entire student body and faculty at the university. These laws enabled this wacko to gun down those students like turkeys at a turkey shoot.
Posted by CharlesDJohn at 04:52 PM : Apr 17, 2007


I keep wondering about that incident. How many rounds are there in such a weapon and what did people do when he had to reload, just sit and wait expectantly to be killed? Surely at some point there was those few seconds where he had to reload? Or did I misunderstand something?

If you are going to be mowed down like ducks at a carnival--might as well go out trying to survive.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:45 PM PDT
You have to compare the mentality and intellectual capacity of the average african american criminal to those of Japan. I would bet the average Japanese criminal thinks on at least a 2nd year college level compared to the American criminal. Besides, "there's nothing wrong with shooting.....as long as the right people are getting shot". - Dirty Harry
Posted by Infidel_US at 04:13 PM : Apr 17, 2007


You do realize that was an incredibly racist comment right? First you compare African American criminals then act as if they are the only criminals in America. Well...lookee here--this recent massacre--no African American criminal, the columbine shootings--no African American killer, in fact all the mass killings with the exception of 2 have been whites (usually white males) and now 1 asian. So now...let's compare the average white American criminal to a Japanese criminal--then let's pretend like a white American criminal is the only criminal kind there is....gotcha.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:51 PM PDT
someone at VA Tech had a gun, they might have been able to combat the shooter.
Posted by clevercandi at 04:17 PM : Apr 17, 2007


Or.. in the confusion that followed 2 people suddenly with weapons---they might have accidentally shot students themselves...or... the police might have gunned the protector down--thinking he was the shooter...or with multiple vigilantes and the need for split second decisions, they might have mistaken each other for the shooter and cancelled each other out and added to the carnage--while the shooter went on his merry way.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 9:54 PM PDT
Don't pay attention to these bedwetting liberals. They are most of the reason we are in the shape we're in today. Their programs and giveaways have certainly made us a much, much better country, haven't they????
Posted by Infidel_US at 04:24 PM : Apr 17, 2007


Please tell us you are very, very old as well as crochetty and you won't be with us much longer.....LOL
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 10:01 PM PDT
It does not take a study to realize that a well armed citizenry helpS reduce violence. The criminals freely admit that the enactment of the concealed carry laws made them really nervous about picking out a potential victim. Just think, Granny may be packing a Kimber custom 45!
Bottom line, CRIMINALS DO NOT WANT TO FACE ARMED VICTIMS BECAUSE THEY FIGHT BACK!
Posted by CharlesDJohn at 04:58 PM : Apr 17, 2007


A concealed weapon might deter an opportunistic criminal but it would probably not deter someone such as the man who just rampaged through the college campus at Virginia tech--such a person, deep within their psychosis and wanting to die anyway--could not care less if they get shot--in fact, they probably are hoping to--and the only way for a person with a gun to save all those people would be for them to be in the right place at the right time--ie., not easy on a 2400 acre campus. After all, campus security had the guns--but they were neither at the dorm that was attacked or at the engineering building or in that german class. chances are, with their guns drawn after hearing the killer was still out there, the concealed gun people would have created mass confusion and panic as people mistook them for the killer and eventually someone would shoot the wrong person. I am for having a gun in my home--but common sense says that this situation might have been better if there were other guns around OR...it could have been a he11uva lot worse.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso21 April 17, 2007 10:04 PM PDT
"Even the CDC, who is vehemently anti-gun, states that there is NO evidence to show that gun bans work in the US. "

The center for disease control tracks gun usage and effectiveness? Guns are not a disease, though mortality rates are a stat to be tracked.
Reply to this comment
by xpozrap April 17, 2007 10:19 PM PDT
so much for no hand gun murder in Japan
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