Japanese man jailed in U.S. child porn bust

A Japanese man is the latest to face a lengthy U.S. prison term after investigators shut down a global child pornography ring, officials said Tuesday.

The “Lost Boys” online bulletin board acted as a forum for men to trade child pornography involving young boys and was shut down about three years ago, the Justice Department said.

Dozens of child victims were identified and located in Norway, Romania, Brazil and other nations during the course of the investigation, including 27 in the United States.

Futoshi Tachino, a Japanese citizen most recently residing in Winnipeg, Canada, was sentenced to 17 years in prison and lifetime supervision for conspiracy to advertise child pornography on Monday.

Tachino, 32, was arrested in Chicago in July 2009 and pleaded guilty in March 2011.

Investigators determined the forum had 35 members in the U.S., Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and New Zealand.

Some 16 members were identified and arrested in the United States and six more U.S. men were charged with child molestation as a result of the investigation.

Lady Gaga will have to cancel Indonesia concert

Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt the youth.

National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar, responding to the pressure, said Tuesday that the permit for her June 3 “Born This Way Ball” concert had been denied.

Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other. Although it is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

Hard-liners have loudly criticized Lady Gaga, saying the suggestive nature of her show threatened to undermine the country’s moral fiber. Some threatened to use physical force to prevent her from stepping off the plane.

Lawmakers and religious leaders, too, have spoken out against her.

Worried they could not guarantee security, local police recommended the permit for the show be denied, said Amar, adding that national police decided Tuesday to comply.

It was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga’s Asian tour, with fans snapping up every seat in Jakarta’s 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium―half of them in the first two hours of sales.

Permits usually are issued about three weeks before a concert in Jakarta, so it is common to sell tickets well ahead of receiving the permit. It was not immediately clear if the ticket sales would be refunded. The local promoter, Michael Rusli, could not be reached for comment.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Mariska Renata, who had tickets to the Jakarta show.

She said by bowing to the wishes of “troublemakers,” authorities only give them more power. “We are mature enough to be able to separate our own moral values from arts and culture,” Renata said.

Lady Gaga’s Asian tour started late last month and many of the stops have sold out. The South Korean concerts were limited to fans 18 or older because conservatives there raised objections.

Rei Kikukawa to become co-host of Fuji TV's 'Tokudane'

Actress Rei Kikukawa, 34, will become co-host of Fuji TV’s weekday morning variety program “Tokudane,” replacing Minako Nakano as of July 2. “Tokudane” airs from 8 a.m.

Nakano is leaving the network to move overseas with her husband.

Kikukawa’s last regular TV work was as a co-host of NTV’s Sunday night program “Bankisha” from October 2002 until September 2009.

Japanese social networking company mixi Inc. is considering putting itself up for sale as its users defect to increasingly popular U.S. rival Facebook Inc., Nikkei Business Online reported Tuesday.