The Kaibo Zonshinzu anatomy scrolls, painted in 1819 by Kyoto-area physician Yasukazu Minagaki (1784-1825), consist of beautifully realistic, if not gruesome, depictions of scientific human dissection.
Unlike European anatomical drawings of the time, which tended to depict the corpse as a living thing devoid of pain (and often in some sort of Greek pose), these realistic illustrations show blood and other fluids leaking from subjects with ghastly facial expressions.
The fact that the bodies used in scientific autopsies in Edo-period Japan generally belonged to heinous criminals executed by decapitation adds to the grisly nature of the illustrations.
According to the Keio University Library (where these documents are currently stored), the two scrolls contain 83 illustrations based on Minagaki’s observations of over 40 bodies. They are regarded as the best collection of early 19th-century anatomical drawings by a Japanese hand.
The first scroll includes a handwritten compliment by Philip von Siebold, the German physician credited with being the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan, who was reportedly impressed by the quality of the drawings when he observed them in 1826.
Siebold’s note, in Dutch, reads: “This anatomical research has been carried out with great diligence and should therefore achieve great recognition.”
In 2003, Japan’s Ministry of Culture designated Kaibo Zonshinzu an important cultural property, saying that the scrolls, which were produced as a result of actual observation and based on Dutch scholarship, demonstrate the level of knowledge that medical science reached in the Edo period.
The Royal Thai Police have released the sketch of a man suspected of stealing 200,000 baht from the Ladprao branch of the Government Savings Bank (GSB) in Bangkok several weeks ago. According to a report on the newsclip.be Japanese language Thai news site, this sketch is based on the recollections of eyewitnesses, who say the suspect wore a motorcycle helmet at the time of the robbery.
A 16-year-old male gamer infatuated with the gothic dress worn by the fictional princess in an online role-playing game has been arrested for hacking into the game company’s servers and scamming a boatload of virtual money.
On January 24, Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers from the “Hi-Tech Crimes Control Center” arrested the high school student from Fukui, Japan and charged him with illegally accessing the website of Tokyo-based game company NEXON and stealing over 36 million yen ($325,000) worth of virtual currency used in the Mabinogi online role-playing game. The money can be used to purchase virtual items in the game, and it can be converted into real-world cash.
According to investigators, the suspect used software from an illegal website to obtain the ID and password of a former NEXON employee, which he used to access the company’s servers from his home computer last October. Once inside NEXON’s system, he registered a new ID and password and began filling his coffers with the in-game money.
While most of the loot went unused, the suspect allegedly converted 7 million points into about 600,000 yen ($5,500) worth of web money, which he used to purchase books and software.
The suspect has reportedly fessed up to the crime. “I originally wanted the dress worn by the princess,” he admitted, “but I just ended up racking up a bunch of game points.”
The Osaka Prefectural Police Department this year has reportedly purchased 800 rabbit-shaped roof-mount strobe lights for use on special patrol cars that cruise the streets around schools. Custom-built by warning equipment manufacturer Patlite, the blue bunny beacons are designed to win the admiration of children while they send the bad guys packing.
Here is a short video of the rabbit lights on display at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.
NEC Corporation has teamed up with Aida Engineering to develop a briefcase-sized DNA analysis system that allows police to perform comprehensive DNA testing at crime scenes in as little as 25 minutes. NEC is calling the device the world’s first portable all-in-one DNA analysis system able to handle all DNA testing processes from extraction to analysis. Designed specifically for law enforcement officials and planned for release in 2008, the system measures 50 x 40 x 20 cm (20 x 16 x 8 in.), making it small enough to be carried to crime scenes or other locations where quick DNA analysis is required.
Nowadays it typically takes about one day to complete a DNA analysis (one week if re-testing or confirmation is required), and a variety of different equipment is used to perform the separate processes. NEC’s new portable system, on the other hand, can perform all the processes within the same unit — and it can do it all more quickly. In particular, the compact unit can be used to: (1) take cell samples, (2) extract the DNA, (3) perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification to generate copies of the DNA, (4) perform electrophoresis to measure the spacing between DNA bands (to create the genetic fingerprint), and (5) perform short tandem repeat (STR) analysis to create a unique genetic profile for the individual. In addition, the compact unit dramatically speeds up the processes — particularly the repeated heating and cooling processes performed in PCR amplification — making it possible to complete the entire DNA analysis in 25 minutes.
The system will be exhibited at the 18th International Symposium on Human Identification scheduled for October 1 to 4 in Los Angeles, and at a meeting of the Japanese Association of Sociology of Law scheduled for November 8 in Tokyo.
In these video stills from a Japanese TV news report, law enforcement officers engage in hand-to-hand combat with a mock terrorist armed with a curry-rice banner — the kind commonly placed on sidewalks in front of restaurants. The training exercise was designed to test the response to an invasion by foreign terrorists coming ashore at Tokyo Bay. It is unclear whether curry restaurants are considered a likely terror target, but the fact that the enemy obtained his deadly weapon in a part of town where restaurants are scarce shows a remarkable level of sophistication. We can all take comfort in knowing that law enforcement agencies recognize the potential threat and are training appropriately. Either that, or these images are fake.
On the morning of July 10, police responding to an emergency call in the town of Miura, about 30 miles south of Tokyo, found a bound and gagged man lying apparently unconscious next to a forest road. The victim, a 22-year-old Leading Seaman stationed at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base in Yokosuka, told police a man had attacked him, tied his hands, stuffed a towel in his mouth and dumped him alongside the wooded road.
Suspecting the man had been mugged and kidnapped, the police launched an immediate investigation into the incident. However, as the police questioned the victim, their suspicions began to grow when they realized he had suffered no injuries, his clothing appeared tidy, his hands had been tied in front of his body (as opposed to behind his back), and his feet had not been bound. As the questioning became more pointed, the man finally broke down and confessed. “My subordinates at work don’t listen to what I say,” he said. “I hate going to work, so I staged the whole thing.”
Police later learned that the Leading Seaman had arrived at Keikyu Miura Kaigan station on the last train the night before he was found, and that he had walked north from the station for about a mile until he found a wooded area. There, he stuffed a towel in his mouth, tied his hands, and lay down next to the road. Bound and gagged, he perhaps even napped in comfort amongst the trees, knowing he wouldn’t have to face his unruly subordinates at work the next day.
The marine officer was later admitted to a hospital for minor dehydration, and police are waiting until he recovers before they resume their questioning. The man may face misdemeanor charges for filing a false police report because he did not immediately confess the identity of his kidnapper.
This story is not from Japan, but I couldn’t resist…
On Tuesday, police in Seoul, Korea enlisted the help of a small robot to track down a fugitive purse-snatcher hiding out in the city’s sewage system. The 57-year-old suspect was on the run after snatching a woman’s purse at a hospital. Witnesses to the crime tried to detain the man, but he wriggled out of his clothes — all of them — and managed to escape into the city’s sewage system through a 1-meter (3.3 feet) diameter pipe.
Police located the man four hours later with the help of a 6-wheeled, camera-equipped sewage pipe inspection robot able to broadcast images for up to 150 meters (nearly 500 feet). Once they apprehended the man, who appeared to have lost his way in the darkness of the cramped pipes, the police returned him to the hospital, where he received treatment for hypothermia. The temperature in Seoul on Tuesday was 1 degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit).
At the end of this video news clip, the police ask the man why he stripped off his clothes, to which he replies, “Leave me alone. I’m not feeling well.”
Forget about fingerprints and DNA — the way you smell has been added to the list of biometric data that can be used as personal identification. Police in China are now using body odor data to identify suspects in criminal cases.
A laboratory official at the Nanjing Police Canine Research Center has created a “body odor databank” designed to assist in criminal investigations by matching crime scene odors with the smells of individual criminals. With the cooperation of police, the laboratory is now collecting the odors of people with criminal records. So far, 500 different samples have been collected and registered in the database.
According to the official, clues obtained from smells have played a key role in solving a number of cases. This is because even the craftiest criminals are unable to remove all traces of their odor from a crime scene.
A 16-year-old male gamer infatuated with the gothic dress worn by the fictional princess in an online role-playing game has been arrested for hacking into the game company’s servers and scamming a boatload of virtual money. 
NEC Corporation has teamed up with Aida Engineering to develop a briefcase-sized DNA analysis system that allows police to perform comprehensive DNA testing at crime scenes in as little as 25 minutes. NEC is calling the device the world’s first portable all-in-one DNA analysis system able to handle all DNA testing processes from extraction to analysis. Designed specifically for law enforcement officials and planned for release in 2008, the system measures 50 x 40 x 20 cm (20 x 16 x 8 in.), making it small enough to be carried to crime scenes or other locations where quick DNA analysis is required. 
On the morning of July 10, police responding to an emergency call in the town of Miura, about 30 miles south of Tokyo, found a bound and gagged man lying apparently unconscious next to a forest road. The victim, a 22-year-old Leading Seaman stationed at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base in Yokosuka, told police a man had attacked him, tied his hands, stuffed a towel in his mouth and dumped him alongside the wooded road. 
This story is not from Japan, but I couldn’t resist…
Forget about fingerprints and DNA — the way you smell has been added to the list of biometric data that can be used as personal identification. Police in China are now using body odor data to identify suspects in criminal cases.
