TOKYO (AP) -- Athens Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi and Kenyan Selina Kosgei were among a list of invitees for next month's Tokyo International Women's Marathon, organizers said Monday.

Noguchi, who won the gold in Athens with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes, 20 seconds, will be among 11 Japanese invitees taking part in the Nov. 18 race, which is one of three qualifying races for Japanese runners for next year's Beijing Olympic Games.

Reiko Tosa, who won the bronze medal at the world championships in September, has already booked a place on the squad for Beijing.

Six non-Japanese runners have been invited to the Tokyo race. They include Kosgei and 2005 runner-up Zivile Balciunaite of Lithuania.

The Blue Man Group, by far Off-Broadway's most popular show, will be performing in Japan for the first time this winter -- and throughout next spring.

A special theater dedicated to their performance will open in Tokyo's Roppongi district on Dec. 1, great news for Japanese audience who have waited fervently to se them live here.

The Blue Man Group was created in New York City back in the late 1980s, when its three founding members, including Matt Goldman, started to give street performances.

In 1991, the three men painted themselves in blue from the neck up and started to give comical performances. Since then, the show has gained constant popularity over the past 16 years, and now seven cities across the globe have hosted the show.

So, what's the secret behind their long-standing popularity?

First of all, the Blue Man Group show doesn't have lines in any particular language, which makes it easier for audiences like the Japanese to understand their performance.

Just step into the Astor Place Theater in New York, where the Blue Man show is played, and you see a lot of Japanese couples. While they find it difficult to enjoy Broadway shows that are predominantly in English, Off-Broadway gives them a chance to enjoy the show without language worries.

Secondly, the Blue Man show brings the performers and the audience together. Blue Man Group actors walk through the seats and invites watchers onto the stage, or allows spectators to join the show by letting them play with toilet paper.

Finally, their artistic quality is very high, especially in musical and theatrical senses. Blue Man Group members tap on metal barrels filled with water, and the water splashes out in colorful illumination. The sound of beating the barrels, coupled with the back-up band music, and the luminous splash of water make an overwhelming view.

Goldman, one of the three founding members of Blue Man Group, told the Mainichi, "It has been our long-held dream to put on a show in Japan. A lot of Japanese who visited New York asked us, 'So, when are you guys coming to Japan?' and we always felt bad about that. Now, they have a theater just for us.

"People often ask us what the theme of Blue Man is, and we think that it's human bonds and passion. With our Japanese version of theater, we would like to incorporate Japanese pop culture, animation and technology into our show, making it a Tokyo-exclusive performance."

Burglars have stolen about 100 million yen worth of cash and jewelry from a Tokyo jewelry store, police said.

About 200,000 yen in cash and 8,000 items, such as rings and necklaces, were stolen from Victor's Pearl, a jewelry store in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo's Chiyoda-ku.

A woman working at the store discovered the theft when she arrived at the store on Sunday morning to find it had been ransacked.

Police said the burglars had climbed into the store via the ceiling after passing through a 40-centimeter hole hacked into the mortar roof of the establishment. The burglars broke in some time from 7:20 p.m. Saturday when the last employee went home and 9:30 a.m. Sunday, when the woman arrived to discover the theft. The burglars broke the locks on jewel showcases and stole the contents, while also taking all the cash from the registers.

TOKYO (AP) -- Citigroup shares began trading Monday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 5 percent higher than their New York close after the weekend departure of its CEO.

Citigroup shares closed the day at 4,550 yen (US$39.70), down slightly from an intial quote of 4,580 yen (US$39.90), but up from Friday's close in the U.S. of US$37.73, or 4,300 yen at current exchange rates.

But the debut was overshadowned by the turmoil at Citigroup after it announced on Sunday the resignation of Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Prince.

Citigroup also said it would take additional losses of US$8 billion to US$11 billion. In the third quarter, it already took a hit of US$6.5 billion in asset markdowns and other credit-related losses.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, once co-chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., will be chairing the beleaguered bank, Citigroup said. Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citi Europe and a member of the Citi management and operating committees, will serve as interim CEO.

Citigroup canceled its Monday news conference in Tokyo initially scheduled to follow the shares' debut, although officials refused to give a reason for the last-minute cancellation.

"Today's TSE listing is a milestone for Citi in Japan," Douglas Peterson, CEO of Citigroup Japan Holdings, said in a release.

Last month, Citigroup, the largest U.S. financial institution, announced it would make Nikko Cordial Corp., Japan's third-largest brokerage, a wholly owned unit. Citigroup already held a 68 percent stake in Nikko Cordial, bought earlier this year.

Citigroup has said it hopes to draw on Nikko Cordial's retail brokerage business in Japan to boost its product offerings here.

Peterson also said the listing and its alliance with Nikko Cordial was preparing Citigroup for growth in Japan.

"Our TSE listing is a natural next step in Citi's long-term commitment to Japan, which is an important part of our global growth strategy," he said.

Citi's acquisition of Nikko Cordial came after the Japanese brokerage was embroiled in an accounting scandal that eventually forced its chief executive and chairman to resign and dealt a heavy blow to its business.

A drunk Kyodo News reporter was arrested for molesting a woman on a downtown Tokyo street early Thursday morning, police said.

Takafumi Motoki, 40, a sports reporter with the Tokyo-based news agency, stands accused of violating a Tokyo metropolitan ordinance prohibiting people from creating a nuisance. He admitted to the allegations during questioning.

"I wanted to have fun and show off," Motoki was quoted as telling investigators.

Kyodo News has expressed regret over the incident. "We'll take strict punitive measures against him after law enforcers complete their investigation into the case."

Motoki fondled the buttocks of a 22-year-old woman on a street in the Roppongi district of Minato-ku, Tokyo, at about 5:10 a.m. on Thursday, local police said. A 28-year-old man who was with the victim overpowered Motoki at the scene.

He committed the crime after drinking at a nearby bar.

A former yakuza was shot dead in a busy street in downtown Tokyo on Sunday morning, police said.

At around 10:55 a.m. on Sunday, police received an emergency call from a passer-by, reporting that a man had been shot on a street in the Ueno district of Taito-ku, Tokyo.

The man, who had been shot in the back three times, was rushed to a hospital where he died shortly afterwards. He has been identified as Shinichi Nakanishi, 42, a former adviser to a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate. He had been expelled from the organization last month.

A number of men were spotted fleeing the scene immediately after the incident. The Metropolitan Police Department anti-gang division is searching for the men on suspicion of murder.

The scene is situated near the popular Ameyoko shopping district.

A man accused of groping a female commuter threw Tokyo's busy rail network into disarray over the weekend after he jumped onto the tracks and ran away to elude capture, police said.

The man, who was described as being about 50 and clad in a T-shirt and trousers, jumped onto the tracks at Shinagawa Station and ran away.

He disrupted train traffic, causing delays in 42 trains, sometimes for as long as 26 minutes, affecting an estimated 27,000 commuters.

Police said that at about 6:15 p.m. Sunday night the man got onto a JR Yamanote Line train at Gotanda Station and thrust himself from behind into the rear of a woman in her 20s. When the train arrived at Shinagawa Station two stops away, the woman grabbed a station attendant and told him that the man was a groper. The man jumped onto the tracks and ran away.

CHIBA (AP) -- The far-from-average cars that the Japanese "Big Three" automakers' top executives chose to drive on to the stage at the Tokyo Motor Show Wednesday said it all.

Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn rolled out in the GT-R, a flagship muscle car. Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe scooted out in a wheelchair-like "personal mobility" vehicle. Honda President Takeo Fukui chose a rubbery bubble-shaped fuel-cell model.

As starkly different as they may be, the tiny fuel-efficient cars and the expensive sports car are the undisputed stars of the Tokyo Motor Show. Similar offerings, spotted everywhere at a sprawling hall, shed light on how global automakers are hoping to woo buyers in mature markets such as the U.S., Europe and Japan _ by appealing to their conscience about the environment and to their passion for speed.

Nissan General Manager Francois Bancon hopes the show will entice interest in cars, which he said was fading not only in Japan but also in Europe, especially among young people. "They are somehow rejecting the car as an icon," he told The Associated Press.

Christopher J. Richter, analyst with Calyon Capital Markets Asia in Tokyo, said Japanese are not only buying fewer cars but also holding on to them longer.

"The decline in personal incomes particularly among young people has had a negative impact on the vehicle market," he said.

Tokyo is notoriously unfriendly to car-owners, with expensive taxes and parking fees. And most urban-dwellers use commuter trains. The growing gap between the rich and poor here has also hurt car sales, analysts say.

Last year, Japan's passenger car sales totaled about 3 million vehicles, down around 7 percent from the previous year.

Automakers say they hope the razzle-dazzle of the more than 500 models on display in this Tokyo suburb, from the jet-like GT-R to the futuristic electric cars, will perk public interest in cars and help revive the lagging sales.

Reporters got a preview look Wednesday at the biannual event, which is opening to the public Saturday.

The 7.8 million yen (US$68,000) GT-R from Nissan Motor Co., unveiled last week with much fanfare, is a rare offering from the Japanese, more reputed for small cars with solid mileage than the GT-R's twin turbo engine and carbon-fiber components.

The GT-R is being promised for under US$80,000 in the U.S. next year. They go on sale in Japan in December. Ghosn said the company has received orders worth three months of production and plans to sell 1,000 GT-Rs a month.

Fancy sports cars like the GT-R are crucial for enhancing an automaker's image, but environmentally friendly technology that eases consumer conscience about being green is another image-booster.

Honda Motor Co. combined the allure of both in the sleek CR-Z gas-electric hybrid sports car, which President Fukui said outdid rivals with its new hybrid system.

Hybrid vehicles tend to be bulky because of the size and complexity of the hybrid systems, which include a battery, motor and engine. They're usually not known for their torque, acceleration, handling and innovative design.

Fukui didn't say when the CR-Z will go on sale but promised it for "the near future."

"As a leader in ecology, Honda also hopes to show the fun of driving so that mobility can be enjoyed on this planet forever," he told the crowd gathered at the Honda booth.

Besides the scooter-like I-Real, which President Watanabe rode onstage, Toyota Motor Corp. showed a stripped down experimental version of its popular Prius gas-electric hybrid.

Watanabe said the upgrade will be a plug-in hybrid, which can travel longer as an electric car by recharging from a household socket, and will offer double the mileage of the current Prius.

"Our theme is harmonious driving," Watanabe said. "What we have on display shows the direction of where Toyota is going."

Japan has long been an elusive market for the U.S. "Big Three" _ General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC _ whose combined sales make up about 1 percent of the Japanese market.

The top executives of the U.S. automakers skipped the Tokyo show. GM, which had one of the smallest booths at the show, showed only a handful of vehicles, including a Cadillac luxury model.

Upbeat, by contrast, was Lamborghini, which is doing booming business among Japan's burgeoning upper class. Annual sales jumped from just 30 in 2002, to 150 or 160 forecast for this year.

The top-of-the line Lamborghini costs 34 million yen (US$298,000), but a Japanese customer has bought even the euro 1 million limited-edition model, Carlo Zambotto, representative at Lamborghini Japan, said in an interview on the sidelines of the show.

"The more money it takes, the better it goes -- strange as it may sound," he said of the auto market here.

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan plans to conduct military exercises to defend the Tokyo area from a missile attack in November, a news report said Sunday, amid ongoing concern over North Korea's weapons programs.

The maneuvers will be carried out at several sites around Japan's capital based on the U.S.-developed Patriot PAC-3 missile system, the Nikkei business newspaper reported, without citing sources.

No missiles will actually be fired, it said. Rather, the drill will assess the best way to move the PAC-3s around the city, test tracking systems, and identify buildings and topographic features that present obstacles to the deployment.

Japan and the United States held a regional ballistic missile defense drill in July, with another round of maneuvers scheduled for November.

It was not clear if the PAC-3 drill will be conducted as part of the joint November exercises.

Defense Ministry officials could not immediately be contacted for comment Sunday.

Japan and the U.S. jointly developed an advanced missile defense system since North Korea's missile launches and nuclear test last year.

Japan deployed its first Patriot missiles earlier this year, and plans to introduce SM-3 interceptors on its destroyers in the next few years, including on one in December.

On Friday, the U.S. military deployed a mobile missile-tracking system in northern Japan to protect against the North Korean missile threat as part of a bilateral security treaty.

The United States keeps about 50,000 troops in Japan under the pact.

TOKYO (AP) -- Cute, communicative and cubic seem to be the fashion statement as far as offerings from Japan's "Big Three" automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan, debuting at the Tokyo auto show later this month.

Sporting whimsical names -- Rin, Puyo and Pivo 2 -- the toylike "concept," or show, cars appear to be inspired more by the iPod, futuristic space capsules and Japanese manga animation than what we are used to associating with vehicles.

Indeed, they're all being billed as therapeutic. And none of them are promised for sale to the public anytime soon.

Behind the offerings is the growing view among Japanese automakers that more must be done to fight the image of cars as culprits of pollution, global warming and traffic accidents.

Their answer: Transform the car into a friendly companion -- not just a machine for getting around.

Honda Motor Co. even says its white bubble-shaped rubbery-surfaced Puyo, equipped with a panoramic window, is supposed to be a pet.

The cabin part of Puyo, a fuel-cell vehicle, rotates so it never has to go into reverse.

The body glows in various colors of lighting under the car's silicone body surface to communicate with people, such as turning green when it's happy about its condition, according to Honda.

The speedometer glows in a subdued blue tone from its dashboard that resembles gray cloth so the interior feels more like a room.

In a preview presentation to reporters, Honda compared the aesthetics of Puyo, whose name is based on the Japanese word that describes floating or soft objects, to cute things like a bunny and balloon.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Rin looks similar to Puyo, but it has some dashes of green on white to highlight what the automaker says is its serenity so the driver feels at one with nature.

Rin, which means "upright" and "graceful," has a transparent floor and big windows.

Its beige seating enhances passengers' skin tones, and the seats are designed to improve posture, according to Toyota.

"This car is about a beautiful and healthy mind," says Satoru Taniguchi, who oversees Rin, a plug-in gas-electric hybrid.

Plug-ins run longer on electricity than a regular hybrid because it recharges in a household socket.

The cabin of Nissan Motor Co.'s Pivo 2, an electric vehicle, can rotate on its wheel base so that it can face the opposite direction.

The vehicle's tires can also turn 90 degrees, allowing it to move sideways into tight spaces.

To make sure its message of cuteness isn't lost on visitors at the Tokyo Motor Show, opening to the public Oct. 27, Pivo, derived from "pivot," has a bobbing robotic head near the steering wheel that talks in a high-pitched voice.

A 17-year-old schoolgirl who burned down her 32-year-old Tokyo lover's apartment has been arrested, police said.

The second year private high school student, who can't be named because she is a minor, was arrested for arson of an inhabited structure.

The girl admits to the allegations against her, saying it was sparked by her feelings for her 32-year-old company employee lover of over two years.

"He had adult DVDs and a note with another woman's name on it that made me mad," police quoted the schoolgirl as saying.

She is apparently apologetic.

"I've done something terrible," she said.

Her boyfriend has pledged to support her.

"I suppose I've got to think about her feelings, too, and I'm thinking about marriage," the 30-something salaryman said.

Police said the girl set fire to candy wrappers in a trash can in the man's apartment in Suginami-ku, Tokyo, on the morning of Sept. 20, gutting the 17-square-meter room in which it was located. The boyfriend was out at the time, but the girl suffered minor burns.

The couple had lived together in Osaka Prefecture for the past two years, but had been torn apart when the man was transferred to Tokyo in April. Since then, the schoolgirl had traveled up from Osaka to meet him. There had been talk of the couple separating. On the night before the arson, the schoolgirl torched an adult movie she found in the man's apartment.

A man died after jumping in front of a train at a station in Tokyo during morning rush hours on Wednesday in an apparent suicide, inconveniencing more than 90,000 commuters, police and the railway operator said.

At around 7:25 a.m. on Wednesday, a man jumped in front of a northbound train on the Keihin-Tohoku Line at Oji Station in Kita-ku, and died instantly, local police said. Investigators suspect the man, believed to be a Chiba Prefecture resident in his 50s, committed suicide.

Six trains on the line were cancelled following the incident, delaying 21 trains and eight others on the Tohoku and Takasaki lines that run along the Keihin-Tohoku Line by up to 40 minutes, inconveniencing some 96,000 commuters.

A man died after jumping in front of a train at a railway station in downtown Tokyo Friday night, police said.

At about 9:30 p.m., a man jumped onto the tracks of the JR Yamanote Line at Ebisu Station in Shibuya-ku, and was hit by an arriving train. He died from massive injuries he sustained to his whole body. Police are trying to confirm his identity.

Services on the Yamanote Line that circles in downtown Tokyo were suspended for nearly an hour following the accident, inconveniencing about 45,000 passengers.

A man died after he was hit by a train on a railway crossing in western Tokyo late Thursday night, police said.

At about 10 p.m. on Thursday, a young man walked onto a crossing on the Keio Railway Line in Tama, and was hit by a 10-carriage train bound for Shinjuku, investigators said. He died instantly.

The train resumed operations about 25 minutes later. The accident delayed about 30 trains by up to 20 minutes.

Local police are trying to identify the man, and are unsure whether he committed suicide.

A man is still unconscious after he was hit by a train on the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line at a station in Tokyo late Friday night, police said.

Investigators are trying to identify the middle-aged man, suspecting that he accidentally fell onto the tracks while drunk.

The incident occurred at around 11:20 p.m. on Friday, when he fell onto the tracks of the Keihin-Tohoku Line at Kanda Station in Chiyoda-ku, and was hit by a local train bound for Isogo from Omiya, local police said. He suffered serious injuries to his whole body and remains unconscious.

Services on the line were suspended from 11:20 p.m. to 12:20 a.m. on Saturday, inconveniencing about 12,000 passengers.

BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Red Sox will open the 2008 season in Tokyo, and the World Series champions could be leaving behind one of Japan's biggest baseball stars.

Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka might miss Boston's March 25-26 series against the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome because his wife is expecting to deliver their second baby around that time. Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said the team and the Major League Baseball commissioner's office were aware of the potential conflict.

"We're hopeful that their second child will be born at such a time to allow him to participate," Lucchino said on Wednesday in a conference call. "We are hopeful, but we do recognize that he has an important obligation with respect to the birth of that child."

Matsuzaka's first child was born in Japan. It's not clear whether the Matsuzakas plan to deliver in Japan or the United States this time.

The Red Sox paid a record $51.11 million for the rights to talk to Matsuzaka last offseason and another $52 million to sign him for six years. He went 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA as a rookie, and after stumbling in his first two playoff starts he won his last two to help the Red Sox win their second World Series in four seasons.

Even if Matsuzaka can't pitch in his homeland, the Red Sox won't be visiting empty-handed. Lefty Hideki Okajima, who was a key part of the Boston bullpen in the regular and postseason, could return to the stadium where he spent most of his 12-year Japanese big league career.

The Japan trip had been in the planning for months as MLB officials tried to make the trip more comfortable for the players and gain their consent. Lucchino said the team would fly on a "bigger, better" plane, and stop in California on the way back for three exhibition games against the Dodgers and their U.S. opener at the A's on April 1.

Pitcher Curt Schilling said on a Boston radio stadium the players met last week and discussed their concerns.

"They're trying to build in safeguards around it, and if they can do that, from a travel standpoint, it's a great idea," he said. "I'm not going to pitch over there, so I'm going to have fun. But this is definitely going to present a challenge and the one thing I know is this organization will do everything it can to make sure we're rested and ready to go when it kicks off for real."

To ease the discomfort, there will be days off after crossing the Pacific and before the games in Oakland. Also, the Red Sox and A's will be allowed to leave three players, probably pitchers, behind and add three others to their roster for the Japanese portion of the trip.

Here's how the schedule works out:

* The Red Sox and A's will play exhibition games on March 22-23 against Japanese teams.

* Boston and Oakland will open the 2008 season with games on March 25-26; Oakland will be the home team. The Red Sox will leave after the second game and, because they cross the international date line, arrive in Los Angeles the same day.

* Boston will take March 27 off and then play a three-game exhibition series against the Dodgers, with two games at Dodgers Stadium and one planned for the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Dodgers played for four seasons after moving West from Brooklyn 50 years ago.

* The Red Sox and A's will resume their regular-season schedule with a two-game series at Oakland on April 1-2.

The Japan visit is one of two Asian trips MLB hopes to make next year. Talks have been under way for months to have the Dodgers and San Diego Padres play exhibition games in Beijing, most likely on March 14-15, at the ballpark to be used for the 2008 Olympics.

That would be MLB's first trip to China.

Boston and Oakland will be the third set of teams to open the regular season at the Tokyo Dome, following the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs (2000), and the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004). A scheduled 2003 series between Oakland and Seattle at the Tokyo Dome was canceled because of the threat of war in Iraq.

A moderately strong earthquake registering 4.3 on the open-ended Richter Scale struck the Izu Islands administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Monday, the Meteorological Agency said.

The 9:35 a.m. quake registered 4 on the Japanese earthquake intensity scale of 7 in Kozushima Island and 3 on the nearby island of Shikinejima.

The epicenter of the earthquake was near the waters surrounding Kozushima and Niijima islands and located about 10 kilometers beneath the earth's surface, the agency said.

Agency officials said the earthquake posed no threat of causing a tsunami.

TOKYO (AP) -- Myanmar authorities released a journalist working for a Japanese newspaper on Wednesday after six days in detention, a paper official said.

Min Zaw, a Myanmar national working for the Tokyo Shimbun, was taken from his home early Friday by plainclothes security personnel who said he would be held temporarily for questioning.

Min Zaw was released late Wednesday, according to Tokyo Shimbun official Hisao Ichikawa. He said other details were not immediately available.

The reporter had been covering the ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations against the military regime, according to the paper.

TOKYO (AP) -- Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi won the Tokyo International Women's Marathon on Sunday, moving a step closer to qualifying for the Beijing Olympics.

Noguchi clocked a time of 2 hours, 21 minutes, 37 seconds in near-perfect conditions to win her first Tokyo marathon.

"The road to Beijing opened up a bit more today," Noguchi said. "There are still two more qualifying races and it's a big relief to win this one."

Noguchi, running in her first full marathon in two years, pulled ahead for good with less than 6 kilometers left to hold off Kenyan Salina Kosgei, who had a time of 2:23:30.

Japan's Reiko Tosa, who finished third, has already secured her ticket to Beijing with a bronze-medal performance at this summer's world championships in Osaka.

The full squad of Japanese runners for the women's marathon in Beijing will be named after the two remaining qualifying meets -- in Osaka in January and Nagoya in March.

Police are poised to conduct an autopsy on a human leg found floating in a river in downtown Tokyo, officials said.

At around 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, a left leg that had been severed from the thigh was found floating on the surface of a branch of the Tsukuda River in the Tsukuda district of Chuo-ku.

Local police are set to examine how it was severed from its body.

A power failure suspended operations on the Toei Subway Oedo Line in Tokyo on Tuesday morning, stranding about 1,300 passengers inside trains and affecting some 93,000 people in total.

About a dozen passengers underwent medical treatment but their conditions were not serious, metropolitan officials said.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Transportation, which operates the subway system, a power failure occurred twice between Nakai and Toshimaen stations on the Oedo Line at around 7:55 a.m. on Tuesday and later at 8:08 a.m.

The power failure brought the entire Oedo Line to a halt, but its operations were resumed shortly before 11:00 a.m. Officials suspect some kind of trouble in the electric substation caused the problem.

A train bound for Tochomae Station was forced to stop about 200 meters before Shin-Egota Station, stranding passengers inside carriages. About 12 minutes later, railway staff started to guide passengers along the tracks toward Shin-Egota Station.

Some passengers complained of feeling sick, and 10 women were rushed to hospital. Three other women were treated on the spot. There were 1,300 passengers inside the train and it took some of them up to two hours to reach Shin-Egota Station, according to officials.

An 18-year-old high school girl who was on the train said, "I opened the window as I was told in an announcement, but it opened only a little and it was so hot and stuffy inside.

A 15-year-old high school boy, Naoto Hosoda, who was also on the train, said, "I wanted them to get me out as soon as possible. It suddenly got dark (inside the train) and I was confused."

SEOUL -- The South Korean government admitted on Wednesday that the country's intelligence agency was involved in the 1973 abduction in Tokyo of then opposition leader Kim Dae-jung, who later became president.

A fact-finding panel within the Korean Intelligence Service on Wednesday published a report that its predecessor, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), was systematically involved in the case. It also hints that then President Park Chung-hee may have ordered the agency to carry out the abduction.

Tokyo demanded Wednesday that Seoul officially apologize for infringing on Japan's sovereignty over the incident, and that law enforcement authorities in South Korea question those involved, which could develop into a major diplomatic issue between the two countries.

The report states that the KCIA carried out the abduction of Kim as an entity at the instruction of then KCIA head Lee Hu-nak, and attempted to cover up its involvement.

Kim Tong-un, then first secretary at the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, whose fingerprints were found at the scene, also reportedly admitted to his role in the incident during questioning by the fact-finding panel.

While stating that there is no evidence that then President Park was involved in the case, the report says the possibility that he gave instructions to the KCIA over the incident cannot be ruled out and goes on to state that he at least gave tacit approval for the abduction.

The report makes no mention of the need to apologize to Japan for infringing on its sovereignty, and instead accuses Tokyo of involvement in assisting the KCIA's cover-up of the case through a political settlement.

It also underscores the need to apologize to Kim and take measures to restore his dignity.

Kim, who was leading an anti-government movement, was abducted from the Hotel Grand Palace in Tokyo on Aug. 8, 1973, and was released near his home in Seoul five days later.

CHIBA -- Thousands flocked to Makuhari Messe Saturday as the 40th Tokyo Motor Show opened to the general public.

This year's show has a strong focus on the environment and conserving energy, with automakers displaying their efforts to combat global warming and escalating oil prices.

There are 542 cars on display at the show, including futuristic electric-powered models and vehicles powered by fuel cells.

Among the activities visitors will be able to take part in are test drives of a fuel cell-powered car and plenty of hands-on workshops aimed at kids.

Organizers believe the number of visitors will exceed the 1.51 million the last show attracted in 2005. The Tokyo Motor Show will remain open to the general public until Nov. 11, with entry costing 1,300 yen, though students at junior high or high school pay only 600 yen and children younger than that are free.

CHIBA -- The Tokyo Game Show, one of the world's biggest video game conventions, kicked off at Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba on Thursday, displaying hundreds of software titles along with a lineup of video game hardware.

A record 217 companies are participating in the 11th year of the show. A total of 720 software titles and pieces of video game hardware are on exhibit.

On Thursday and Friday the convention is open to the media, invited guests and other related participants. It will be open to the general public over the weekend.

Likely to gain attention are the many game titles available for Nintendo's Wii console, Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3, and Microsoft's Xbox360. This year visitors can freely play games and the number of software titles for popular cell phone games has increased.

On Thursday, participants were led into the venue when the doors opened at 10 a.m. and people crowded around the most popular games. The entry fee is 1,200 yen for those of junior high school age or older, and free for those of elementary school age or under.

The show is being sponsored by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association. Officials said they expected about 160,000 visitors. (Mainichi)

Police are investigating the shooting death in Myanmar of a Japanese journalist as a murder case under a legal provision on serious crimes committed by non-Japanese nationals outside Japan, investigators said.

The Metropolitan Police Department has set up an investigation task force at Nakano Police Station that has jurisdiction over the area where the victim lived.

It is considering applying a Penal Code clause that deals with punishment for serious crimes that non-Japanese commit against Japanese nationals outside Japan's territorial jurisdiction.

Tokyo police suspect that freelance journalist Kenji Nagai, 50, was shot at point-blank range in Yangon as he covered a pro-democracy demonstration, judging from the video footage taken during the protest on Sept. 27. Nagai's body arrived at Narita Airport on Thursday morning.

Police are set to conduct an autopsy on the body while questioning officials at Tokyo-based APF News for who Nagai worked.

A suburban Tokyo riot squad police sergeant caught while stealing a woman's panties has been arrested, police said.

Keisuke Kanbara, 27, the Metropolitan Police Department riot squad sergeant, was arrested for breaking the Picking Prevention Law.

Kanbara admits to the allegations.

"I broke into a first floor apartment and stole some women's panties," police quoted him as saying, adding that he has hinted at further thefts.

Kanbara is the second MPD police sergeant to be involved in an embarrassing scandal in recent months following a case in August where a cop shot a bar hostess and then took his own life. Masahito Kanetaka, the head of the MPD's police affairs department, apologized.

"I deeply apologize that one of our members has done something like this at a time when we are instructing all staff not to commit wrongdoings," he said.

Police said Kanbara picked the lock on a woman's apartment in Tachikawa using a driver, then entered and stole some of her underwear. Kanbara told investigators he had dumped the undergarments and a search of the nearby area uncovered over a dozen pairs of women's underpants.

Kanbara joined the MPD in April 2002 and was posted to the riot squad in October 2005. He lives in a police dormitory with his family. As he has told investigators he has committed other thefts, police are looking around his workplace and the dormitory to uncover any possible stealing that may have taken place.

The Supreme Court has upheld a high court's decision to overturn the acquittal of three leftist radicals for producing a mortar that was fired during a G-7 summit in Tokyo in 1986 and has ordered a retrial over the case.

The No. 1 Petty Bench of the Supreme Court handed down the decision in response to an appeal by the three including Taketoshi Suga, 63, a member of the Chukakuha ultraleftist organization.

With the decision, the Tokyo District Court will shortly begin to retry the case.

In 2004, the Tokyo District Court found the three not guilty of violating the Explosives Control Act after concluding that there is no proof that they conspired with the person who launched the weapon in a bid to obstruct the summit conference. The person who carried out the attack has never been identified.

In 2006, the Tokyo High Court overturned the acquittal and ordered the lower court to retry the case, pointing out that it had failed to examine materials that could serve as concrete evidence concerning the defendants' involvement in the attack.

The defendants then appealed the high court decision to the top court.

A homeless man in his 60s was found dead in a Tokyo park early Thursday morning, police said, adding that they suspect he was involved in a dispute with another vagrant in the park.

A 60-year-old man who was taking a walk in Ohjima Komatsukawa Park in Tokyo's Edogawa-ku found a man lying in the grass and reported it to police at around 8:00 a.m. Thursday.

Investigators rushed to the scene and found the man lying on the ground barefoot in a blue jumper and jeans. He had sustained no major injuries. Police suspect he died a few days earlier

According to police, the man, who appeared to be around 60, had apparently been living in the park since July. He was seen quarrelling with another homeless man in the park last Saturday, and police are probing the link between the trouble and the cause of his death.

A woman accused of cutting up the body of the former wife of a man she lived with admitted to the charges against her as her trial opened in the Tokyo District Court on Thursday.

The 34-year-old defendant, Tomoko Hitomi, is accused of mutilating the body of 40-year-old Miho Shiga, the former wife of a man she was living with, in Tokyo's Adachi-ku in June.

Public prosecutors branded the crime "heinous" and demanded that Hitomi be jailed for 18 months. Lawyers argued that she should be given a suspended sentence.

A ruling on the case is set for Oct. 23. (Mainichi)