Dear Listmembers,

I have found the following on line resource useful in writing
and plotting stories based in Japan. I hope is of use to other writers.

This URL
http://www.twics.com/~anzu/index.html

Links to "The New Observer" and on line magazine about Japan.

The current issue contains articles on such things as the remilitarization
of Japan.
The archives have articles on subjects like the state of organ transplants
in Japan.
For instance, one of the reasons that organ transplants are so
controversial is that 
there is suspicion that during the first (and only) heart transplant 31
years ago 
Wada Juro, a young doctor at Sapporo Medical College, took the donor
 heart from a young college student while he was still alive and
transplanted it into 
a young boy who only needed a heart valve repair. Both patients died. The
new law
on organ harvesting in Japan is not only interesting for people traveling
to Japan, it 
offers several possibilities for stories. (Doctors treat patients
differently based on
whether or not they have an organ donor card. TWO different criteria are used
to determine if a patient is dead. Different treatment methods are used to
sustain life.
One treatment preserves brain function, but is hard on other organs. The
other 
treatment preserves the organs, but accelerates brain death. )    

Another article, linked at URL:
http://www.twics.com/~anzu/2-Immig.html

provides a list of cases of Japanese POLICE assault, robbery and murder of
gaijin, 
including American, British, Chinese and other nationalities. The truly
fascinating part of 
this article is that ALL of the cases were either thrown out of court, the
plaintiff was 
deported just before the trial date or the case is still pending. Although
in one case:

May 1994, Tokyo Immigration Detention Center (Kita Ward) 

Immigration officer is arrested for theft when he seizes a bank cashing
card belonging 
to a Chinese national held in detention, and withdraws/steals a sum of
1,000,000 yen. 

Most cases follow the pattern:

ase. 5. June 1993, Shinjuku, Kabukicho Police Station 

Chinese student Koh is taken to the Shinjuku Kabukicho police box for
questioning on 
suspicion of illegal entry into Japan. Here, Koh's wrists are tied with a
rope and he is  
physically assaulted by six police men. Upon confirmation that his travel
documents are 
 in order, the police release him the following day. Before signing the
release forms,  
however, he is not permitted to contact his embassy for advice and support.
The injuries
Koh suffered at this time require two weeks of hospitalization. October 1993:
 Criminal suit filed. March 1994: Koh v. Japanese government, suit
for damages filed. *Case ongoing 

6.June 1993, Tokyo Immigration Detention Center (Kita Ward) 

Burmese man undergoes physical assault by guards in a toilet stall. 

7. November 1993, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Dept., Mejiro Branch 

Ren, an Asian national and an employee of a food stall located at the front
of Mejiro train station, is taken along with a fellow employee to the
Mejiro police station for questioning 
over a recent homicide of two food stall customers. During Ren's
interrogation, he 
is physically assaulted, receiving a sprain in his cervical vertebrae for
which he is  
hospitalized. Although he demands compensation for the medical fees
incurred, he
receives no money, is arrested for overstaying his visa and subsequently
deported. 

8. Tokyo prison 

Radowan, an Egyptian male, is physically assaulted by both prison guards
and police, 
and as a result suffers from an impaired left ear and a slipped vertebra,
as well as  
other severe aftereffects. Following his assault, Radowan is placed in the
prison's 
"special room" (=unsanitary, heavily monitored, solitary cell). November
1994: 
class action suit filed against State for damages. *Case ongoing