Hawker's killer had plastic surgery in Nagoya?

The Mainichi reported that Lindsay Ann Hawker's accused murderer is suspected of having had plastic surgery at a clinic in Nagoya late last month.

Tatsuya Ichihashi has been on the run ever since he managed to elude a football team's worth of police officers that cornered him at the scene of the crime (his apartment) back in March 2007.

Police apparently headed to Nagoya soon after they received the news that someone resembling Ichihashi underwent a cosmetic procedure. There is no word yet on what type of appearance-altering procedure he had done.

Update (11/5/09; 11:30 AM):

The TV news is finally running with this story, and Ichihashi's face is once again all over the place. It is pretty remarkable, however, that he was able to waltz all over the country visiting different clinics and not sounding any alarms. The Japan Times carried this more detailed story today.

Update (11/6/09; 10:55 AM):

The Japan Times posted the before and after photo of Ichihashi (above right) that police obtained from a clinic in Nagoya. It appears as though the fugitive has been hard at work remolding his facial features.

Hawker's killer had plastic surgery in Nagoya?

Vermont Folks

Big ole Vermont reunion in Tokyo at a Swallows home game versus their cross-town rivals, the Yomiuri Giants.

We (the Tokyo Swallows) got stomped.

But everyone had a good time anyway. Pizza and beer will do that.

Vermont Folks

Christmas 2008 in Karuizawa: Random Photo

With Scott Lawson's bachelor party set to kick off tomorrow morning, I thought it might be the right time to remind him what he's getting into.

This is a photo taken from the evening gift exchange at our Christmas 2008 getaway to Karuizawa. Just came across it while deleting files from my camera's memory card.

I believe that the sparring set was a gift from Andy (he always gives the most creative/hilarious gifts), and Yuki went straight to work on Scott's jaw.

Definitely a match made in heaven! Wedding date: October 3rd, 2009.

Christmas 2008 in Karuizawa: Random Photo

FitWit Foundation

Some college friends of mine in Atlanta are doing something that I greatly admire. They're trying to improve the community where they live by mentoring and providing healthy lifestyle choices to the youth in the city. They are doing so through a foundation that they created called The FitWit Foundation.

My friends Ben and Josh are spearheading the foundation's efforts, and I know that they also run a separate fitness and tutoring program called FitWit that I believe involves Josh's wife, Erin.

It sounds like things are going well for them in Atlanta, and the best part is that they're truly helping to make a difference.

If you're interested in donating to The FitWit Foundation (registered nonprofit) to help them with their mission to battle childhood obesity rates, please register at Network for Good so that you can do so right now online.

Alternatively, you could write to Ben (ben@fitwit.com) or Josh (josh@fitwit.com) and share your thoughts on what they're doing.

[photo stolen from FitWit's website]

FitWit Foundation

Koenji Awaodori Festival 2009: Drums

This is a video I shot with my digital camera at a festival that I went to last weekend in Koenji, Tokyo. This is the rhythm section of one of the dozens of troupes that dances down the street during the parade. Definitely one of my favorite summertime festivals in Tokyo.

Koenji Awaodori Festival 2009: Drums

RENT: Broadway Farewell World Tour

We had the distinct pleasure of seeing RENT in it's final world tour as a Broadway musical. It's final stop happens to be Tokyo, and original cast members Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, and Gwen Stewart have joined the cast for this last hurrah.

The show was fantastic, as expected, and was blocked differently from the way that I remember it, but then again there's always so much happening on stage that every time I see the show I'm probably just seeing something that I missed before.

I was fortunate enough to see the original cast production of the show in New York City back in 1995 (?), and again in London in 1998.

And the biggest thrill of the evening for me, actually, was getting to meet Anthony Rapp briefly outside a restaurant (Delerium Cafe) in Akasaka about an hour after the show's conclusion.

Of course I made sure to get my program signed, and had about a 15-second chat before I decided to stop wasting his time.

RENT: Broadway Farewell World Tour

Leicester City begin with a win

My favorite football team (no they're not in the Premier League) is Leicester City, a team that made its way back into the English Championship this season.

As everyone on the team has been saying that they needed to do, the Foxes started the season with a come-from-behind win (2-1) over Swansea on the opening day of the 2009 campaign yesterday.

This is fantastic news for me (as well as all of their other fans, no doubt) because supporting Leicester was becoming a lot like rooting for the Tokyo Swallows.

You see, Leicester got relegated to League One for the first time in team history two years ago, and that's exactly what would have happened to my favorite baseball team several times over if such a system were in place (thankfully it's not).

But there back up on the doorstep of the Premier League, and a strong start to the season might mean an outside shot at the playoffs.

At the very worst, fortunately, a return to League One appears to be out of the question.

Leicester City begin with a win

The Hitman

I played a hitman in an episode of Hanchou which aired on Monday nights on TBS in Japan. It's finished its' run now, but it was a reasonably popular drama about a team of police officers and detectives that dealt with the various n'er-do-wells that haunt the crowded confines of Tokyo.

The headliner of the series was Kuranosuke Sasaki, and he played the lead detective of the team.
In episode number 12, Michael Shorter was my name, and shooting mafia-related types hanging out in Tokyo was my game. But in the end I was rather easily apprehended by the cops. The featured guest of this episode was kabuki actor Kamejiro Ichikawa who played the role of Andy Matsuo.

The episode took several days to shoot, of course, and the longest of those days was spent out at a complex of warehouses in Chiba where the episode's climax occurs and the bad guy gets nabbed.

One of the highlights of the day was the BBQ that the crew set up for dinner. They brought out a very good variety of beef and pork cuts and had three separate grills going at the same time.

It was just what the doctor ordered as I had spent the previous two hours on set with a gun pointed at my nose.

There's a quick preview of episode 12 viewable here. If you go to that page, you should see a small, round, red button on the left side of the screen. Clicking that will open a player that will show you the very short trailer for the show.

And yes, that's me in the beard.

The Hitman