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TOKYO (AP) -- Softbank Corp.'s net profit nearly quadrupled to a record high last fiscal year on the strength of its rapidly expanding mobile business, the technology and Internet company said Thursday.

Softbank, which outpaced rivals in signing up new mobile phone subscribers, reported a group net profit of 108.62 billion yen (US$1.0 billion) for the fiscal year through March, compared with profit of 28.82 billion yen the previous year.

It booked a 19.6 percent gain in operating profit to 324.29 billion yen (US$3.11 billion) and a 9.1 percent rise in revenue to 2.776 trillion yen (US$26.6 billion).

A bulk of the earnings surge stemmed from a one-time gain of 57 billion yen (US$550 million) it received from the listing of affiliate Alibaba.com Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Softbank, Japan's third biggest cellular operator by users, added almost 2.7 million subscribers in the past year, expanding its customer base by about 17 percent.

When Softbank bought its mobile operations for 1.75 trillion yen in 2006, the unit had been struggling under former owner Vodafone Group PLC and analysts criticized the company for taking on debt to fund the purchase.

Founded in 1981 by President Masayoshi Son, Softbank's holdings also include a majority stake in Yahoo Japan Corp.

The company did not release an earnings forecast for the current fiscal year.

Softbank reported earnings after the market closed. Its shares fell 3.3 percent to 2,040 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in a broad market decline.

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TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota's profit for the fiscal fourth quarter dropped 28 percent from the previous year as a strengthening yen and lagging North American sales chipped away at the Japanese automaker's earnings.

Toyota, the world's second biggest automaker after General Motors Corp. of the U.S., said Thursday its net profit fell to 316.8 billion yen (US$3.05 billion) for the January-March quarter, down from 440.1 billion yen in the same period the previous year.

Toyota Motor Corp. is forecasting even tougher times ahead amid growing worries about a U.S. slowdown, volatile currency fluctuations and soaring material and energy costs.

"We are facing a severe business environment," Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said. "Toyota considers this headwind as a valuable opportunity to turn it into a more flexible and stronger company."

The maker of the Prius gas-electric hybrid and Camry sedan is expecting to post a 27 percent plunge in profit for the fiscal year ending March 2009 at 1.250 trillion yen (US$12.0 billion), it said.

For the fiscal year through March 2008, Toyota racked up record profit of 1.72 trillion yen (US$16.54 billion) -- an increase of 4.5 percent over the previous year -- as strong earlier performance offset the downturn in the fourth quarter.

The pessimistic outlook for the current year underlines how even Toyota -- with its small cars popular for their mileage -- hasn't emerged unscathed from the risks of a global slowdown and the U.S. credit crunch.

Like other major automakers, Toyota has been gradually switching its focus to China and other emerging markets. Toyota, however, still makes about a third of its sales in the key North American market.

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Two men under arrest for withdrawing a massive amount of money from the accounts of a missing Chofu Municipal Government worker and her younger brother were hit Thursday with fresh arrest warrants accusing them of dumping the victims' bodies, police said.

Yoriaki Imaruoka, 64, and Kazuo Okikura, 60, are accused of abandoning the corpses of Chofu Municipal Government worker Yasuyo Obuku, 54, and her 51-year-old younger brother Hirokazu, both residents of Akiruno, western Tokyo. They have reportedly admitted to the allegations against them.

"We killed the siblings and buried them," Okikura was quoted as telling investigators.

Police reportedly discovered the bodies based on statements made by Imaruoka in Iizuna, Nagano Prefecture, on Wednesday afternoon. Their identities were confirmed based on dental records. The siblings were clothed and did not appear to have suffered any external wounds.

Relatives were saddened to hear of the discovery of the bodies.

"I always used to get their dinner and baths ready each night to welcome them home," a teary-eyed 70-year-old relative said. "The light at the gate would be left on until the last train and whenever there was a sound I would go to the entrance and check. I still feel like they'll suddenly come home one day."

Obuku and her brother had a reputation of being wealthy, but they dressed in plain clothes and led a simple lifestyle.

"At times, they were just too good," a man living in the neighborhood said. "Why did they get caught up in a crime?"

Yasuyo Obuku, who was employed by the Chofu Municipal Government in 1977, worked as a librarian. Her 59-year-old boss, the head of Chofu Chuo Library, said she had worked seriously and had been trusted by her peers.

"She wasn't the kind of person to get caught up in a crime. I still can't believe it," he said.

An 80-year-old woman who had given Yasuyo Obuku tea ceremony lessons was also at a loss over the deaths.

"I had been praying that she would return safely. Why did someone living a good life meet a fate like this?" she asked.

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TOKONAME, Aichi -- A security guard had to have both of his legs amputated after he was hit by the wheels of a boarding bridge at an airport here, police said.

Police are investigating the case for professional negligence resulting in bodily injury.

A 42-year-old male guard who works for Yutaka Keibi Hosho in Nagoya was hit by the wheels of a boarding bridge while he was guarding an apron at the Central Japan International Airport (Centrair) in Tokoname at around 9 a.m. on Thursday.

The guard was seriously injured and had to have both of his legs amputated from under his knees.

At the time of the accident, the boarding bridge was being operated by a female employee of Swissport Japan, an airport ground handling company based in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture.

According to airport officials, the female worker was operating the approximately 15-ton boarding bridge and was meant to confirm the surrounding safety through monitor cameras.

She was quoted as telling police that she did not notice that the boarding bridge hit the security guard.

The boarding bridge stretches out on wheels and connects the airport terminal building and the doors of airplanes.

The aircraft that the boarding bridge was connecting to the airport at the time of the accident was an Airbus A340 operated by Finnair, which departed from Helsinki and arrived at Centrair on Thursday morning.

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OSAKA -- Cui-daore Taro, the famous drum-beating mascot of a well-known restaurant here that is closing down in July, is seeking a new life, and a guest appearance he made during a Broadway-bound dance musical on Wednesday could prove a good omen.

The musical, "Trip of Love," created, directed and choreographed by James Walski, which was inspired by and set to the hit songs of the 1960's, is playing an unprecedented world premiere and pre-Broadway engagement at the Theatre Brava! in central Osaka. The musical's producer Makoto Deguchi, a self-described big fan of Dotonbori, Osaka's popular spot where the Cui-daore restaurant is located, had requested proprietress Michiko Kakinoki to put their mascot in the show.

Cui-daore Taro brought down the house as he played taiko drums to the lively music. "It's true that beating taiko (in front of the restaurant) for a long time has brought him good luck. We really appreciate it," said Kakinoki.

Since the restaurant first announced its closing in early April, it has been flooded with offers to buy and rent its mascot from companies and business groups around the country. The restaurant has not yet decided on a buyer.

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A fairly strong earthquake jolted wide areas of the Kanto and Tohoku regions in the early hours of Thursday, the Meteorological Agency said.

Five people were slightly injured in Tokyo and two other prefectures, police said.

The temblor that struck at 1:45 a.m. registered lower 5 on the 7-point Japanese intensity scale in the Ibaraki Prefecture capital of Mito and Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture. It also measured 4 in wide areas of the Tohoku and Kanto regions including the Miyagi Prefecture city of Tome and Narita in Chiba prefecture.

The focus of the earthquake, which is estimated at 7.0 on the open-ended Richter scale, was located about 51 kilometers below the seabed off Ibaraki Prefecture. There were no immediate reports of damage to property, according to police.

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ICHIHARA, Chiba -- A man who stole a container with radioactive material in it from a company here and apparently dumped the substance in a river in Yokohama has been arrested, police said.

Tomonori Iso, 40, was arrested on suspicion of stealing a container of iridium 192 from a storage room at Non-Destructive Inspection Co., in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture. He has reportedly admitted to the allegations against him.

"I had a private grudge against the company. I dismantled the container and threw it into a river and the sea in Yokohama," he was quoted as saying.

The container, part of a radiation transparency testing device, has not yet been found. In addition to the theft, police are also investigating a possible violation of a law on the safe administration of nuclear reactors.

Investigators said Iso, who reportedly carried out subcontracting work for Non-Destructive Inspection Co., opened the storage facility with a key from the company's branch in Ichihara at about 1:40 a.m. on April 5, and stole the container. Security cameras captured footage of Iso in work clothes.

The container, which weighed about 20 kilograms, held iridium with a radioactivity level of 370 gigabecquerels, sealed off in the form of pieces of metal. When dismantled, a fatal amount of radioactivity could reportedly be released, officials said.

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Rock musician Yasuyuki Okamura was ordered Thursday to spend two years behind bars for using stimulants.

The Tokyo District Court convicted Okamura, 42, of violating the Stimulants Control Law. Presiding Judge Masaya Kawamoto severely criticized Okamura for repeatedly using the illegal drug.

"The defendant began to use stimulants again because he was unsuccessful in his work after being released on parole. He deserves severe criticism," the judge said as he handed down the ruling.

Okamura used stimulants at his home in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, in February this year, according to the ruling. He had been convicted of using stimulants in 2003 and 2005.

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FUKUOKA -- The acquittal of a man who was accused of assisting with the murder of an ex-husband of a former bar owner was confirmed after prosecutors did not appeal a not-guilty ruling by the deadline.

Kenichi Ide, 37, a former home tutor from Saza, Nagasaki Prefecture, was acquitted of assisting with the murder of a former husband of Yuko Takahashi, 52, a former owner of a bar in the Nakasu district of Fukuoka.

Ide had been indicted on charges of conspiring with Takahashi to fatally stab Takahashi's second husband at the victim's home in October 1994, but he had pleaded not guilty.

The Fukuoka District Court convicted Ide of assisting with the murder of Takahashi's former husband, but the Fukuoka High Court overturned the lower court ruling and acquitted Ide on April 22 this year.

The acquittal was confirmed after prosecutors did not appeal the high court ruling by Wednesday -- the deadline for an appeal.

"I just want them to leave me alone," Ide said in a comment released through his lawyer after the high court ruling.

Ide used to serve as a home tutor for the eldest son of Takahashi between 1993 and 1994 while he was a graduate student at Kyushu University.

Takahashi has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Fukuoka District Court for killing her two former husbands in a bid to collect life insurance benefits. She has appealed the sentence.

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TOKYO (AP) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao, on a fence-mending visit to Japan, had breakfast with former Japanese prime ministers Thursday, but in a sign that not all bygones are forgotten one very important name was dropped from the guest list -- Junichiro Koizumi.

Koizumi strained ties repeatedly with Beijing by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which many see as a symbol of Japan's militarist past, during his tenure in office from 2001-2006.

Hu also got a thumbs down from a right-leaning alumni association of Waseda University, where he was to speak later Thursday.

In a statement signed by several dozen alumni, Hu was called "the chief executive of oppression over the right to ethnic self-determination and human rights of the Tibetans." The letter requested Hu's scheduled visit to the university, one of Japan's most prestigious, be called off.

Despite such bumps, Hu's five-day visit to Japan has been designed to stress good ties and cooperation between Asia's two giants. Hu arrived Tuesday, becoming the first Chinese president to visit Tokyo in 10 years.

On Wednesday, Hu and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met for a meticulously choreographed summit to fortify a rapprochement launched immediately after Koizumi left office in 2006 with relations at their lowest point since World War II.

The two pledged to work together on everything from climate change to North Korea and territorial disputes, and Fukuda hinted -- without elaborating -- that the neighbors were on the verge of settling a spat over maritime gas deposits.

They also announced Tokyo and Beijing would hold annual summits, a step to prevent a recurrence of the decade-long gap in visits to Japan by Chinese presidents since Jiang Zemin's rocky trip to Tokyo in 1998.

"I hope this will be a year of progress in Sino-Japanese ties that will define the bilateral relationship far into the future," Fukuda said at the opening of the summit.

Hu seconded that in a joint news conference afterward.

"Our relations are at a new starting point, and we have a new chance," Hu said. "Japan and China have an important responsibility to assure peace in Asia."

There appeared to be little substance to the talks, however.

The most concrete agreement so far was over pandas.

Hu offered to loan a couple of pandas to Japan following the death last week of 22-year-old giant panda Ling Ling at Tokyo's largest zoo, and Fukuda thanked him. Local media reports said the two could play Pingpong during his university visit.

The two sides' determination to emphasize the positive illustrated how economics over political rivalry.

China, with Hong Kong included, is Japan's largest trading partner, having eclipsed the United States. Bilateral trade reached US$237 billion last year, according to Chinese statistics.

"For Japan, China has become the fastest growing export market," Hu told business leaders Wednesday. "For China, Japan is the largest foreign investor. I believe there is a huge potential."

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OSAKA -- A robber threatened employees of a consumer credit company here with what he claimed to be deadly hydrogen sulfide and made off with more than 70,000 yen, police said.

Nobody was injured in the incident. Local police are searching for the robber who appeared to be about 50 years old and was 160 to 170 centimeters tall.

At around 1:10 p.m. on Wednesday, the man entered the Nankai-Nanba-Higashiguchi branch of Aifle Corp. in Chuo-ku, Osaka, showed three employees a transparent plastic bag containing a brown liquid, and demanded money, investigators said.

"This is hydrogen sulfide. Give me your money," he was quoted as saying. He grabbed 77,000 yen in cash from the office before fleeing. Three employees at the office were unharmed in the incident. There were no customers in the office at the time.

Investigators subsequently found a half opened plastic bag in the elevator of the building that houses the company. The local fire department detected hydrogen sulfide in the elevator, but it has proven that the density of the gas was not enough to kill people.

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The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that two Japanese women abducted in Yemen by a militia group believed to be a local tribal organization have been freed, a top official said.

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera told a press conference Thursday morning that the Yemen government officially notified Tokyo that the two women had been released.

A diplomat at the Japanese Embassy in Yemen called the two victims and confirmed they are unharmed, and that their belongings were not stolen, Onodera said.

The two were traveling in Yemen with two other tourists, according to the senior vice foreign minister. The four were riding in two cars on their way back to their hotel in Marib, northwestern Yemen, on Wednesday when the vehicle that the victims were riding was attacked by militiamen believed to belong to a local tribal organization.

Following a spate of abductions of foreign nationals in the state of Marib, the Foreign Ministry has advised Japanese nationals to refrain from visiting the area.

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A Tokyo man who stabbed his younger brother has been arrested, police said.

Koki Furuya, 34, an unemployed man from Tokyo's Shibuya-ku, stands accused of attempted murder.

A 62-year-old woman living in an apartment in Shibuya-ku called police at around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, saying, "My son stabbed his younger brother," according to local police.

Police officers rushed to the scene and found the woman's 31-year-old son with serious injuries after being stabbed in the side of his abdomen and back.

Police arrested Furuya after he admitted to stabbing his younger brother.

The mother was living with her second son, but Furuya started living with them on May 1. When the second son told Furuya, "We are struggling to make a living. I want you to move out," Furuya became furious and attacked him with a knife, police said.

The mother and the second son were prone to illness and were not able to work, according to investigators. They were apparently living on welfare.

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FUNABASHI, Chiba -- A horse trainer accused of giving a winning racehorse the drug procaine before a race has been arrested, police said.

Arrested on suspicion of violating the law on horse racing by using a banned drug was 34-year-old trainer Yasumasa Tate. He has reportedly denied the allegations against him.

Investigators accuse Tate of administering procaine to the 4-year-old female racehorse Top Feeling, which came in first in the No. 2 race at the Funabashi race course on Jan. 8. The drug was detected in a urine test after the race, prompting prefectural horse racing association officials to file a complaint with local police.

Tate reportedly bought the procaine in September last year at a drug store in Saitama Prefecture. After detection of the drug was announced, Tate offloaded the remaining procaine and a used syringe to an acquaintance.

Prior to the race, Top Feeling's front right hoof was split, and prefectural police suspect that Tate gave the horse procaine to reduce the horse's pain and improve its performance.

Association officials said that the use of procaine as an anesthetic during treatment is permitted, but the drug also has the effect of helping to stimulate the nerves, and its use during the 10-day period before a race is banned.

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MAIZURU, Kyoto -- The body of a girl was found on a bank of a river here on Thursday, police said.

Police suspect that the body may be that of Miho Kosugi, a 15-year-old female high school student who has been missing, and are trying to confirm her identity. Her family asked police to search for her on Wednesday.

The body covered with dirt was found on a bank along the Aseku River in Maizuru at around 8:40 a.m. on Thursday, according to local police.

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KUROBE, Toyama -- Two men who went missing after climbing a mountain here were found safe on Thursday, police said.

The two climbers -- Shinji Hori, 45, a company employee from Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, and Yusuke Hori, 28, a public servant also from Shimizu-ku -- were not injured.

The two were spotted by crewmembers in a rescue helicopter as they were climbing down a mountain in Toyama Prefecture at around 7:15 a.m. on Thursday.

The two men entered the Tsurugi mountain range in the North Alps from Keyakidaira in Kurobe, Toyama Prefecture, on Saturday.

They were slated to climb down to Kamiichi, Toyama Prefecture, on Monday, but had not returned by Wednesday. Police started searching for them from Thursday morning and found them safe.

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A chilly rain was falling on Nagasaki on Feb. 3 when Tsutomu Yamaguchi, 92, received word of his friend's death. Kuniyoshi Sato had passed away months before at age 87. The two men had not seen each other in 40 years.

They had worked together as engineers at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Nagasaki shipyard. On Aug. 6, 1945, they were in Hiroshima together on business. They returned to Nagasaki and thus became double hibakusha, atomic bomb victims twice over.

Sato's widow Tazuko, 87, lives alone in the family home in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture. It's a peaceful mountain setting, punctuated here and there by rice paddies. After the war Sato returned to Amakusa and worked for City Hall until he reached retirement age. He died last year of complications arising from pneumonia.

When Nagasaki was bombed Sato plunged into the sea and miraculously emerged unhurt. But afterwards, says Tazuko, "he suffered from a low white blood cell count. He was always saying, 'War is meaningless, and the atom bomb is horrifying.' He used to speak at elementary schools of what he went through as a hibakusha. He very much wanted to make people understand the value of peace."

In 2002, Yamaguchi published a collection of nearly 400 of his tanka (traditional-style short poems) on the tragic bombings. He titled it "Ningen Ikada" (Human Raft), and sent Sato a copy. It was found among his effects. Inside was a postcard from Yamaguchi: "You didn't let the atom bomb defeat you, so let's carry on together."

Yamaguchi turned 92 on April 16. Thinking of Sato, he says, "I've lived too long." Nonetheless, not long ago he began jotting down in a notebook the thoughts that had inspired "Ningen Ikada." He would send it to an acquaintance, an American student at a university, for translating.

"Sato himself, I think, wanted to leave a written testimony behind," says Yamaguchi. "Remembering the bombing is painful, but this is my life, and I must keep on writing until I die."

In the notebook is a poem to Sato: "You dove into the sea and escaped the bomb. Long life to you, Kuniyoshi Sato!"

They shared the fate of the double hibakusha. Yamaguchi, having outlived his younger friend, is quietly determined to carry on his mission of keeping the memory of the bombing alive.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Hynix Semiconductor Inc. of South Korea said Wednesday it expects to sell more dynamic random access memory chips in Japan after a World Trade Organization ruling.

An arbitrator for the WTO said Monday that Japan has until Sept. 1 to amend the import charges it imposes on DRAM chips made by Hynix.

"With the WTO decision, we expect our exports to Japan to return to the levels seen before the Japanese authorities imposed punitive duties on our products," said company spokesman Seong Ae Park.

In 2006, the South Korean government filed a complaint against Japan with the WTO over the 27.2 percent charge Japanese tax authorities imposed on imports of Hynix DRAM chips, which are used as components in computers and other high-tech products.

The arbitrator's decision follows a WTO panel ruling in November that found that Japan incorrectly calculated the tariff, but stopped short of ordering Japan to scrap the fees outright.

After Japan imposed countervailing duties on Hynix products, the company saw its market share in the Japanese DRAM market fall to around 13 percent in 2006 from about 16 percent earlier.

Hynix, the world's second-largest DRAM maker after Samsung Electronics Co., will try to get a refund for duties it has already paid to the Japanese tax authorities, Park said. She didn't elaborate.

Hynix, which nearly collapsed under the weight of its debt in 2001 after chip prices plunged, has been bailed out by creditors, including state-owned banks, via several debt-to-equity swaps.

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TOKYO (AP) -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the company isn't pursuing other deals following the withdrawal of its US$47.5 billion takeover bid for Yahoo.

He said in Tokyo that the company put "a lot of effort" in the talks with Yahoo and has decided the two should pursue "independent paths."

Over the weekend, Microsoft withdrew its 3-month-old unsolicited bid for Yahoo after seeing the impasse with Yahoo's board over a mutually acceptable sales price.

"Now at this point Microsoft is focused on its independent strategy," Gates told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer had orally offered to pay US$33 per share, or US$47.5 billion, for Yahoo, up from an initial bid valued at US$44.6 billion, or US$31 per share. At the time the negotiations collapsed, the value of Microsoft's original offer had fallen to US$42.3 billion, or $29.40 per share, because half the deal was supposed to be financed with Microsoft's declining stock.

Yahoo's board wanted US$37 per share _ a price that the company's stock hasn't reached in more than two years.

Microsoft trails Google in the online search and advertising markets, and the bid for Yahoo was an attempt at turning that around.

But Gates said that Microsoft was determined to make "advances" in its own search offering and meetings were in the works in Seattle to hammer out more specific plans.

"We will make the advances that give people a great choice there," he said.

Microsoft's intense pursuit of Yahoo was widely seen as an acknowledgment of weaknesses in Microsoft's solo Web search and advertising strategy, and the software maker now needs to prove it can innovate without Yahoo as a partner.

Gates makes periodic trips to Asia, and he was in Japan two years ago. He said he met with business partners in Japan, which he sees as an important market. Talks covered digital broadcast software for Windows-based personal computers and giving free downloads of Microsoft software to Japanese students.

In South Korea, where he visited before arriving in Tokyo, Gates had said Tuesday he wasn't ruling out alternative partnerships after the failure to buy Yahoo.

Possibilities include large Internet companies such as Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and News Corp.'s MySpace and promising startups such as Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn Corp.

Microsoft already owns a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook, the second-largest social network behind MySpace.

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TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese shares rose on Wednesday, led by gains on Wall Street and boosted by growing optimism over prospects for the U.S. economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 53.22 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,102.48. Japanese financial markets were closed Monday and Tuesday due to public holidays.

Investors chased gains in automaker and financial stocks amid more positive signs for the outlook of the world's largest economy. But traders said market players remained cautious as oil prices hit a record near US$123 a barrel this week on worries over supply disruptions.

"The bottom line is that the market is still in a cautious mood after a quick rebound and the 14,000 point level is a place to lock in profits for many," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

Despite the cautious mood, the Nikkei index managed to close higher on the overnight gains on Wall Street and on Friday's better-than-expected U.S. job-loss numbers. The data was seen as a sign the U.S. economy could muddle along, neither growing or declining dramatically. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.40 percent to 13,020.83.

Among gainers in Japan, financial giant Mizuho Financial Group rose 2.8 percent to 554,000 yen and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group added 2.6 percent to 1,160 yen. Japan's top brokerage firm Nomura Holdings rose 2.5 percent to 1,881 yen.

Shares in Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-biggest automaker by annual vehicle sales, increased 2.8 percent to 5,580 yen.

The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section rose 1.2 percent to 1,393.28.

In currencies, the dollar was quoted at 104.76 midafternoon in Tokyo, little changed from 104.79 in New York late Tuesday. The euro stood at US$1.5492, down from US$1.5536 late Tuesday in New York.

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TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second biggest automaker by annual vehicle sales, is raising its U.S. prices later this month.

Starting in the middle of May, Toyota will raise the price on some models, including the 2008 Yaris sedan by US$200, or 1.6 percent, to US$12,425. The 2009 Camry, with a gasoline engine, will go up US$200, or 0.9 percent, to US$18,920, the automaker's U.S. unit said in a statement.

The hybrid Camry, introduced as a 2007 model in late 2006, will cost US$300 more, or 1.1 percent, at US$25,650, according to a May 2 release.

Like other Japanese automakers, Toyota is enjoying sales growth while American automakers are struggling. Soaring gas prices have been a boost for the small cars the Japanese are reputed for.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC saw double-digit U.S. sales declines last month, compared to last April. Toyota's U.S. April sales edged up 3 percent on year.

Toyota is also raising the U.S. prices of some Lexus luxury models. Among others, the Lexus IS entry sport sedans will rise in price 0.9 percent, or US$300, overall so the IS 350 will cost US$36,305. The 2008 Lexus IS F high-performance sports sedan won't change its pricing, it said.

Toyota faces a challenge in maintaining profits partly because of a relatively weak dollar. A strong yen erodes the value of overseas earnings of Japanese exporters. Worries are also rising about how a U.S. economic slowdown may hurt sales.

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TOKYO (AP) -- Super Aguri's brief stint in Formula One ended Tuesday when the Japanese team withdrew from the F1 World Championship due to financial difficulties.

"I have participated in the championship for two years and four months," team president Aguri Suzuki told a news conference. "I regretfully must inform you that the team will be ceasing its racing activities as of today,"

Super Aguri, which has struggled since its debut in 2006, held talks with its backer Honda on Friday in Tokyo to discuss the team's future, but was unable to find a solution to its problems.

The team was denied access to the Turkish Grand Prix circuit ahead of this weekend's F1 round at Istanbul amid reports Honda does not want the team to be a drain on its own racing unit.

The future of the Japanese team has been in doubt since a potential buy-out by British auto company Magma Group fell through last month.

The team has reportedly also been in talks on a buy-out with German automotive firm Weigl Group.

"I knew after we weren't able to reach a deal with Magma that it would be difficult to go on," said Suzuki, a former F1 driver.

Suzuki said "a breach of contract" by promised partner SS United Oil & Gas Co. resulted in the loss of financial backing and put the team into financial difficulties.

Super Aguri signed a sponsorship deal with the oil and gas company before the start of the 2007 season.

The team, founded by Suzuki in 2005, scored four points from 41 Grand Prix races. With an annual budget of around euro 50 million (US$77.5 million) as well as receiving engines and technical support from Honda, it finished ninth out of 10 teams in the 2007 constructors' championship.

Super Aguri did not score a point in four races this season, with drivers Takuma Sato of Japan and Britain's Anthony Davidson both failing to finish in the opening race in Australia. Its best result was Sato's 13th place in Barcelona, where Davidson retired.

"There were a lot of fond memories over the years," Suzuki said. "But the thing I am most proud of is that we always fought hard and did our best despite the fact that we were a very small team."

Suzuki said he informed Davidson and Sato of his decision by phone and the two were extremely disappointed.

Suzuki became the first Asian driver to win an F1 podium place when he finished third at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. He drove F1 from 1988 to 1995.

Super Aguri initially had all-Japanese constructors, engine and tire suppliers, as well as Japanese drivers in Sato and Yuki Ide.

Suzuki said he would like to get back into motor sports if the conditions permitted.

"If I could just focus on racing I would think about it," Suzuki said. "The racing part I enjoyed, but lately all the discussions were about money and that's not for me."

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Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao has stressed the importance of Japan and China boosting their strategic reciprocal ties, in contrast to his predecessor Jiang Zemin, who emphasized the two countries' historical issues during his visit here a decade ago.

Hu is well aware that to achieve China's goal of a harmonious society, it is vital to strengthen ties with Japan. He also seems determined to use his visit to Japan to speak out against the ongoing international anti-China sentiment over Tibet.

As soon as he arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, Hu met with some of the 3,000 Japanese whom he hosted when they visited China as youths in 1984. Hu -- who chose Japan for his first official trip since the start of his second administration in October last year -- promised during a private dinner with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo on Tuesday night to lend two giant pandas to Japan following the recent death of "Ling Ling" at Ueno Zoo.

Through these gestures, Hu apparently hopes to improve the Japanese public's opinion toward China that has recently been dampened by a series of issues including Tibet, the export of poisoned dumplings to Japan and disputes over gas fields in the East China Sea.

In a joint statement signed on Wednesday for the promotion of strategic reciprocal ties, the two countries pledged that Japan-China relations are one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world and that the two nations are seriously committed to world peace.

On global issues such as energy and environment conservation, as well as poverty, the joint statement said the two countries will cooperate with each other and contribute to solutions on these issues.

In looking to quell international criticism over the Tibet issue that surfaced during the troubled torch relays for the Beijing Olympic Games, China's talks with the Dalai Lama's envoys on Sunday appeared designed to show a flexible stance over the problem and to seek Japan's understanding during Wednesday's Japan-China summit in Tokyo.

Furthermore, by securing Japan's support for the Beijing Olympic Games, China is seeking to display its unity with Tokyo as a warning to European leaders who are suggesting boycotting the game's opening ceremony.

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TOYOTA, Aichi -- The discovery of murdered schoolgirl Manami Shimizu's schoolbag suggests her killer was probably a local, police said Wednesday.

The schoolbag was found dumped on a riverbank near a seldom used road usually only traversed by locals in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture.

Investigators continue to probe residents for information about anybody acting suspiciously in the area.

Police said Shimizu's schoolbag was found about 15 kilometers away from the Toyota paddy where her murdered body was discovered on April 3.

The road is located in the middle of a residential district and is only narrow with barely enough room for oncoming vehicles to pass by each other. If the killer left the murder scene by car or motorbike and threw the bag away, they would have had to leave several major thoroughfares to find the road. Police believe that anybody not familiar with the area would likely get lost before finding the road where the bag was discovered.

A worker from a funeral parlor located about 100 meters west of where the bag was found said the parlor held ceremonies on April 2 until about 8 p.m., but nobody acted suspiciously. A man who worked for about 30 minutes from midnight on April 3 on his motorbike in a parking lot some 50 meters away from where the bag was found said he did not see anybody throw away Shimizu's belongings.

Police said Shimizu left on her bicycle from her high school affiliated with Aichi University of Education in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, at 6:45 p.m. on April 2. She did not return home and was reported missing. At about 5:30 a.m. the following day, her body was discovered in a rice paddy about 1 kilometer from her home.

Police said they believe Shimizu was attacked some time from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 2. Based on the assumption that statements made by those in the area where the bag was found are true, police believe Shimizu's killer disposed of her schoolbag some time between 8 p.m. on April 2 and midnight or from around 12:30 a.m. to about 6 a.m. the following day.

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A Tokyo doctor has been arrested after he grappled with police and fired a warning shot into the air in Suginami-ku on Wednesday morning, police said.

Hiroshi Ogino, 42, the doctor from Setagaya-ku, was arrested for obstructing official business, theft and for breaking the Firearms and Swords Control Law.

Police defended officers' handling of the case.

"We questioned the suspect in an appropriate manner, but will look further into the case," a spokesman for the Ogikubo Police Station said.

Police said Ogino's wife called them just before 8 a.m. to say that her estranged husband was trying to prevent their children from attending their classes at Shinomiya Elementary School in Suginami-ku.

An officer arrived at the school's front gate and began wrestling with Ogino, who appears to have taken out the crimefighter's gun and allegedly fired it into the air.

The incident occurred in a quite residential district located about 400 meters from Iogi Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line. The incident that occurred at the entrance to an elementary school as pupils were going into class has shocked locked residents, especially as it involved a shooting in a country where gun control is strict and gun-related crimes are rare.

"It's not good to see guns taken away from police officers," one local resident said. A couple said they were eating their breakfast when they heard a large, banging noise they initially thought was a car tire puncturing but turned out to be a gunshot. But they were shocked to see several police patrol cars arrive on the scene and officers escort away a man wearing bluish clothes. The man was escorted into a patrol car and driven away.

Children heading toward the school were led away from its main entrance where the clash occurred and instructed to enter from a rear gate.

Officers set up police tape around the school's front gate and banned entry inside the perimeter. Parents asked police to explain what had happened and whether they would be safe.

"There were patrol cars and police motorbikes swarming around everywhere making all sorts of noise," a 60-year-old taxi driver said. "It's normally pretty quite around here."

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KUTCHAN, Hokkaido -- A Nepalese man has been arrested for the brutal murder of his wife because she had been seeking a divorce, police said.

The Nepalese man has also admitted to throwing the couple's 6-month-old daughter into a nearby river, police said, adding that a search for the missing girl will continue on Wednesday.

The suspect, 26, a restaurant operator, was arrested for the murder of his 29-year-old wife, Chie. A phoenetic reading of the man's name is Bahado Kami Shiemu. Kutchan Police Station said they do not know the spelling of his name. His wife used his surname.

He admits to the allegations.

"She started talking about a divorce, so I killed her," the suspect told the police.

Police said some time from late Monday to early Tuesday the suspect repeatedly kicked his wife in the chest and punched her in the head and face, killing her. The couple lived in a two story home, with a restaurant and store they operated on the ground floor and their living quarters on the upper story. Early on Tuesday, the clearly agitated husband raced into his in-laws' home on the same property, prompting his father-in-law to check up on his daughter and make the gruesome find of her battered body.

Chie was lying face up with injuries to her face, head and neck. An autopsy later revealed she had died of a combination of asphyxiation and shock brought on as a result of her facial injuries. A weapon believed to have been used in the alleged attack on her has been found at the scene. There was also a window broken at the home and furniture had become scattered.

Sources said Chie visited Nepal in 2005 where she met her alleged killer. He came to Japan in March last year and they married shortly after. Their daughter was born in the autumn of last year. In December last year, the couple opened a Nepalese curry restaurant and trinket sales outlet at their home, but business was not good. In April, Chie approached her parents, saying that she could no longer go on and wanted to divorce her husband. On Monday night, she had also talked to her parents about divorcing.

The scene of the horrific incident was located near the Niseko ski resort that is enormously popular among Australians in particular. Chie's parents have run lodgings in their current location for about 20 years and their daughter and her husband lived on the same property.

A farmer living nearby was shocked.

"I saw the three of them going to the convenience store in March. The husband was holding the baby and looked to be absolutely delighted," the 63-year-old neighbor said.