'I was too busy to feel I was doing something wrong.'

[Captain Japan]

I quickly fired off an email to Paradise asking why I wasn't informed beforehand. No response yet.

Here's the response:

Dear Captain,

I am sorry for this. I was not informed by our publicity department until the shooting day. I actually knew about this program during the shooting.
Paradisetv sometimes produces such a scandal program. Of course, it suddenly happens. Most information of new titles are not so open
to everyone. But, I will let our publicity department to inform you before such programs. Again, I am sorry for this.

Best,

Paradise Television Inc.

[Taro Toporific]

Wife of disgraced architect found dead in suspected suicide
Crisscross - News -Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 19:52 EST
CHIBA ---The wife of Hidetsugu Aneha, a disgraced architect at the center of a quake-resistance data fabrication scandal, was found dead in a car parked at a parking lot of a condominium in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in a suspected suicide Tuesday, police said.
The police suspect the wife, 49, jumped off the condominium, which is about 150 meters away from Aneha's residence....more...

[Taro Toporific]

LEAD: Ex-architect Aneha pleads guilty to building data fabrication
Kyodo--Wednesday September 6, 12:56 PM
Disqualified architect Hidetsugu Aneha pleaded guilty Wednesday to fabricating quakeproof data for six buildings at planning stages, causing them to be built with substandard quake resistance, as he appeared in the first hearing of his trial at the Tokyo District Court.
Aneha, 49, is accused of fabricating data on four condominiums and two hotels in Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture and Nara in two years to February 2005 -- only a small portion of the dozens of weak buildings attributed to his wrongdoings in a widespread scandal that shocked many in the quake-prone archipelago. ...more...

[Captain Japan]

Ex-Kimura Kensetsu boss pleads not guilty over falsified quake-resistance data scandal
Mainichi

The former president of the failed Kimura Kensetsu construction company pleaded not guilty on Thursday to fraud charges for constructing a hotel based on falsified quake-resistance data and swindling the hotel owner out of the construction fee.

"I didn't know that the structural data for the building was false. I never attempted to defraud (the hotel owner) out of any money," Moriyoshi Kimura, 74, said in his first hearing at the Tokyo District Court.

However, he admitted to charges of violating the Construction Business Law by submitting window-dressed accounts to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry to make it look as if his firm was profitable to maintain its construction business license....more...

[Greji]

Ex-Kimura Kensetsu boss pleads not guilty over falsified quake-resistance data scandal
Mainichi

Capt'n, I thought I'd point this out before they return your indictment. This is your basic Construction company union problem. Under union rules, Aneha is supposed to take the blame for everyone in any construction or engineering scandal surfacing during the next five years. According to the script, he must plead guilty receives a five year sentence, suspended for seven years and all other people are released and/or go uncharged. Aneha must then drop out of sight for a convenient length of time, only to show up at a later date as a member of the board of directors for several small engineering firms.

[Captain Japan]

Condo owners see dreams shattered in Aneha scandal
Japan Times

When Mitsuhide Taira moved into his 150-sq.-meter condominium in Grand Stage Kawasaki Daishi in November 2004, he thought he had found the perfect place for his wife and him to raise their three preschool-age children.

But just a year later, his dreams lay in ruins.

The Kawasaki Municipal Government told all 23 homeowners in the complex, near Keihin Kyuko Higashi Monzen Station, they had to move out right away because the building was not strong enough to withstand a big earthquake.

The complex had been built using falsified quake-resistance data from architect Hidetsugu Aneha and had only 30 percent of the resistance level required by law....more...

This is interesting...

The infrastructure ministry has said there are nearly 100 substandard condos and hotels built with Aneha's fabricated quake-resistance data.

They are just the tip of the iceberg, said Toshio Kawai, a lawyer who has handled numerous cases involving defective buildings. And without changes to the system, more cases will surface in the future, he added.

The lawyer said the problem is that the construction firms control the architects and the subcontractors, which makes it more difficult to check building safety.

"Aneha is a rare case. Usually (companies) cut corners in building houses and complexes by watering down the concrete and reducing the number of reinforcing steel bars without leaving any evidence," Kawai said. "Nobody knows if a building is defective until it collapses in a quake."

I don't understand that. Why is Aneha a rare case if the situation is just the tip of the iceberg? Or is the fact that anyone bothered to arrest him rare?

[Captain Japan]

I really hope I am outside in an open field when the Big One hits Tokyo...
Tokyo government refused to provide quake data on building to academic societies
Mainichi

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has refused to provide data on one of its headquarters buildings to academic societies for studies on the impact powerful earthquakes could have on high-rise buildings, it has emerged.

As the owners of commercial buildings also refused to cooperate, a study group established jointly by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers and the Architectural Institute of Japan could only conduct a hypothetical simulation.

Experts have criticized the metropolitan government that is responsible for disaster prevention measures throughout the capital for being uncooperative in studies to assess possible damage that powerful quakes could cause to high-rise structures.

In 2003, the two academic societies jointly launched studies on the impact that lengthy ground motions caused by powerful quakes have on high-rise buildings, as large quakes that are predicted for Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai are expected to cause such slow motions. High-rise buildings are vulnerable to such motions, according to experts....more...

I don't understand this part at all...

The metropolitan government defends its response. "The data is useless because our seismometers are not properly maintained. They must be replaced by new seismometers. However, we don't think we should urgently introduce new ones for academic research on an earthquake that will not likely occur soon," an official said.

[Taro Toporific]

Actually, didn't one of the company presidents gracefully take his own life? At least he died with honor leaving the blame on his comrades

The criminal creepazoid, Aneha, has been all over daytime TV "wide shows" for the past 24 hours....Not because he's lying mass-murder wannabe, but because because he somehow lost his Donald-Trump-seque wig. [floatr][/floatr]
[INDENT]
Disgraced architect Aneha freed on bond
japan today > japan > crime
Friday, December 22, 2006 at 06:00 EST
TOKYO -- Disqualified structural engineer Hidetsugu Aneha, currently on trial for allegedly fabricating earthquake-resistance data for condominiums and other buildings, was freed on a 5 million yen bond on Thursday.
Aneha, 49, was arrested April 26 and later indicted for fabricating structural engineering data for four condominiums and two hotels in the planning stages between February 2003 and February 2005, which resulted in buildings with substandard quake resistance. He is also charged with committing perjury before a Diet committee in December last year over the question of when he began engaging in data fabrication....more...[/INDENT]

[Captain Japan]

Ex-architect Aneha to spend 5 years behind bars for falsifying quake-resistance data
Mainichi

Former architect Hidetsugu Aneha, accused of falsifying quake-resistance data for condominium complexes and hotels, was ordered Tuesday to spend five years behind bars and slapped with a 1.8 million yen fine.

The Tokyo District Court convicted Aneha, 49, of violating the Building Standard Law, the Diet Testimony Law and the law governing architects' activities.

Aneha pleaded guilty to all charges in his first hearing on Sept. 6.

Aneha falsified quake-resistance data for six structures -- condominium complexes and hotels -- between 2003 and 2005 in violation of the Building Standard Law, according to the ruling. The six structures that were built based on the falsified data are substandard.

He was found guilty of lying in his sworn testimony before a Diet panel in December 2005 by saying that he had been under pressure by developers to reduce the amount of reinforcing steel in buildings for which he calculated quake-resistance data....more...

[Captain Japan]

Capt'n, I thought I'd point this out before they return your indictment. This is your basic Construction company union problem. Under union rules, Aneha is supposed to take the blame for everyone in any construction or engineering scandal surfacing during the next five years.

Aneha seen as just part of problem
Flaws in building designs, inspection system slip though cracks
Japan Times

Architect Haruyasu Kawaguchi thought something was wrong when he looked at the blueprints and concrete pillars of a condominium high-rise in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. This was on Nov. 22, 2005, for a TV program, a few days after a major shoddy construction scam was revealed.

The condo, still under construction, was one of dozens of structures using faked quake-resistance data provided by Hidetsugu Aneha, who was at the center of the scandal and was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.

"Pillars on the second floor up to the 10th had the same amount of reinforcing rods, and the amount was less than normal. It was unbelievable," because usually the amount differs depending on the floor, said Kawaguchi, a member of Kenchiku G Men, a nonprofit group in Tokyo that provides consultation for people living in defective housing.

He also considered it unlikely the builder of the Funabashi structure did not notice the problematic design....more...

[Greji]

Aneha seen as just part of problem
Flaws in building designs, inspection system slip though cracks
Japan Times

Capt'n, ain't it simply amazing how all these experts just "happened" to notice all of these flaws AFTER the announcement of the scandal!

Really gives ya faith in the ole J-QC system!

[Captain Japan]

Capt'n, ain't it simply amazing how all these experts just "happened" to notice all of these flaws AFTER the announcement of the scandal!

Really gives ya faith in the ole J-QC system!

Like I said, I want to be outside in a big, big grassy field with no buildings in sight when the Big One hits.

[IkemenTommy]

Aneha handed five years

The Tokyo District Court sentenced architect Hidetsugu Aneha to five years in prison Tuesday and fined him 1.8 million yen for fabricating earthquake-resistance data on six condominiums and hotels.

You know that once he is out, he'll come up with some new elaborate scam.

[IkemenTommy]

Wassup wassup bitches.

[Captain Japan]

2 hotels deemed unsafe; falsified reports cited
Ashia Shimbun

KYOTO--Two hotels here are unsafe and should be evacuated because they were built based on falsified structural-strength reports, government officials said Thursday.

The announcement came more than a year after a similar scandal over fabricated earthquake-resistance reports surfaced and led to fears among residents across Japan that their homes could collapse in a big earthquake.

Based on information provided by the Kyoto city government, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the strength reports for the two hotels--APA Villa Hotel Kyoto Ekimae and the APA Hotel Kyoto-eki Horikawadori--had been falsified....more...

[Mulboyne]

[b]2 hotels deemed unsafe]
Asahi Shimbun

The shacho of the APA Hotel group is a regular on TV programmes looking at successful female entrepeneurs:



Looks like the hats come off for gomen nasais:

[Captain Japan]

Osaka shuts down Apa hotel due to quake-safety flaws
Japan Times

OSAKA (Kyodo) A hotel in Osaka run by the embattled inn chain Apa Group has failed to meet the required quake-resistance standard and was shut down, city officials said Wednesday.

This is is the fourth Apa Group building to be confirmed as defective.

Last month, the Kyoto Municipal Government announced that two of the group's hotels in the city did not meet required building safety standards. Earlier this month, an Apa Group condominium in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, was also confirmed to be defective.

The structural strength for the Osaka hotel was calculated by Toyama-based Tamura Mizuochi Sekkei, the same firm that did the calculations for the other three buildings.

This time, however, the Osaka Municipal Government did not uncover any evidence of data fabrication for the Apa Hotel Tennoji Ekimae building in the city's Abeno Ward, the officials said.

According to the officials, the Osaka hotel only had some 70 percent of the legally required structural strength. They said the building could tilt -- or even collapse in the worst case -- if an earthquake of intensity 5 on the Japanese scale to 7 hit the city....more...

[Greji]

Osaka shuts down Apa hotel due to quake-safety flaws
Japan Times

Capt'n didn't they have something out the other day that Apa had filed bankruptcy, or possibly just their Tokyo operations?

Be a shame, that used to make a fine cheap stop for the evening in Hiro, when you didn't want to tell the bird you were taking her to a love hotel!

I would know myself, that's just what the other guys tell me. Apa doesn't allow goats.

[Catoneinutica]

The shacho of the APA Hotel group is a regular on TV programmes looking at successful female entrepeneurs:

Take away the Japanese printing and you'd have a fine inspirational poster for mentally-challenged children!

Still, I notice that the Makuhari Prince Hotel is now APA-branded. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's star seems to be falling even more rapidly than that of the Behatted One.

[Mulboyne]

More apologies due from APA:

Yomiuri: Legionella bacteria found in condo's hot spring water

An excessive amount of Legionella bacteria has been found in a hot water circulation system at a Tokyo condominium building that supplies hot spring water to the residents, it was learned Tuesday. Apa Group, which manages Apa Garden Court Ayase in Adachi Ward, suspended the hot water supply system in September after an inspection by the ward health center. The Minato Ward, Tokyo-based company that manages hotels and condominiums, has 31 condominium buildings with onsen hot water supply throughout the country. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the law on public baths does not apply to home bathrooms, so hygiene control for hot spring water supply systems in such condominiums is left up to management firms.

The high level of Legionella bacteria was detected when the Adachi Ward health center inspected the water system with Apa's permission in the wake of a spa facility explosion in Shibuya Ward in June, in which three spa employees were killed. The health center checked four spots, including the hot water storage tank and faucets, on Sept. 4 and 13. The level of the Legionella bacteria was 6,900 to 89,000 colony forming units per 100 milliliters, whereas the government's safety standard is 10 CFU per 100 milliliters or less.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Steel rods missing from luxury high-rise

Construction was suspended on a 45-story luxury condominium building after inspectors found that 128 reinforcing metal rods were missing in columns that help to support the weight of the structure. Without the rods, the building would fall below the standard for earthquake resistance, officials said...Shimizu officials said the problem stems from a mistake by the company that supplied the metal rods and insufficient checks by workers in charge of construction... The repair work will require the chipping away of concrete in the columns and installing the additional rods. Shimizu officials said the repair work will not delay the construction schedule and that the problem of earthquake-resistance strength can be resolved...An Ichikawa city official said, "We are very disappointed because the project has been promoted as a symbol of the city."

[Catoneinutica]

I had TBS's English news (5:50 PM) on in the background a couple of weeks ago and there was some story about a bunch of museums and rest-stop buildings having to be closed because the Saitama-based architect had falsified the earthquake-resistance data. This sort of thing really seems to be as common as sell-by date tampering - hence the massive devastation in Kobe in '95 (this one year after J-gov't officials sneered that the comparatively mild destruction wrought by the '94 Northridge, California, earthquake couldn't have happened in Japan because of Japan's ultra-high-quality construction standards).

And by the way, the president of Kimura Konstruction (for whom Aneha designed many a mansion) received a suspended sentence, ie, not even a slap on the wrist - he's a retiree, and a criminal conviction isn't exactly going to harm his career prospects. So why not fudge? (Anyone one know what the current status is of the private-helicoptered Huser president?)

[Captain Japan]

And by the way, the President of Kimura Konstruction (for whom Aneha designed many a mansion) received a suspended sentence. So why not fudge? (Anyone one know what's up with the Huser guy?)

Indeed, why not? My company (construction) got busted for bid-rigging again in September (or thereabouts). Our penalty? We were unable to participate in tenders for a 10-day period in October. Given that the number of tenders that come about aren't that many (a couple a month, maybe) this is the equivalent of a starting pitcher being suspended for 5 games (i.e. he'll miss one start). We had a problem with one tender, however. And for that we wrote a letter to the client suggesting that the tender date be pushed back a week. I don't know if that happened or not.

I love Aneha's new look. It would seem he's getting 5 years...

High court upholds 5-year prison term for ex-architect Aneha over shaky condos
Mainichi

An appeal court on Wednesday upheld a five-year prison term for former architect Hidetsugu Aneha for falsifying quake-resistance data for condominium complexes and hotels and for providing false testimony before the Diet.

The Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal filed by Aneha, 50, against a Tokyo District Court ruling that sentenced him in December last year to five years in prison and ordered him to pay a 1.8 million yen fine.

"The defendant's falsification of quake-resistance data developed into a major social issue, and still is having a huge impact on society," Presiding Judge Kunio Harada said as he handed down the ruling.

Aneha falsified quake-resistance data for six buildings including condominium complexes and hotels, according to the ruling. As a result, the structures ended up being substandard.

He was convicted of perjury for lying about his falsification when he testified before the Diet as a sworn witness.

Aneha was also found guilty of lending his name as a first-class architect to another person.

[amdg]

This idea that foreign construction methods are not suitable for Japan because of the earthquakes is so deeply ingrained as one of those “facts” that you hear it everywhere. But if you go down to Kobe, along near harbourland, beside the hanshin highway, there are a few buildings that are built in the “western” style, like granite banks of times gone by, and they are at least 100 years old. So obviously they stood up to the Great Hanshin Earthquake well enough. Maybe they were just lucky?

[L S]

It's a retro mafia thing...

[Mulboyne]

AFX: Japanese government to offer emergency financing for homebuilders

The Japanese government plans to offer loan guarantees to small and midsize companies in 15 housing-related sectors in response to a recent plunge in housing starts triggered by the enactment of a revised building standards law, the Nikkei reported...Up to 150,000 small and midsize firms in sectors such as design, construction, steel wholesale and housing materials manufacturing will be eligible for assistance... The new framework will serve as a safety net aimed at increasing guarantees for companies reeling from a structurally driven market slowdown or the bankruptcy of their lenders, the report said. Housing starts have been plummeting at double digit pace since July due to the introduction of tighter building permits.

[Captain Japan]

It looks like Aneha's appeal got rejected...Here's the story (in Japanese).

[Greji]

It looks like Aneha's appeal got rejected...Here's the story (in Japanese).

What a shame. Have you hired a replacement yet?

[Captain Japan]

Aneha's handiwork replaced
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Residents of a Tokyo apartment building, torn down after its architect fudged earthquake safety data, welcomed the completion of their new home Sunday on the same Ota Ward site.

However, many residents are stuck with two mortgages--one for the demolished condominium and one for the new project. The pain was eased somewhat by public subsidies and cost-cutting measures.

This is the first of 10 defective buildings designed by architect Hidetsugu Aneha to be rebuilt. Aneha received a five-year prison term for fabricating quake-resistance data for hotels and condominiums.(IHT/Asahi: July 1,2008)

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Damages ordered in landmark case

A court here Tuesday ordered the Aichi prefectural government, a Tokyo-based consultancy and its chief to jointly pay damages to a hotel operator for failing to stop construction of a faulty hotel designed by disgraced former architect Hidetsugu Aneha. It is the first time that a court has found a local government responsible for overlooking fabrication of quake-resistant structural data in a series of lawsuits over the work by Aneha. The district court awarded damages of 57 million yen. Handa Denka Kogyo Co., which operated the Centre One Hotel Handa in Handa, Aichi Prefecture, had sought 516 million yen in damages from the prefectural government, consulting firm Sogo Keiei Kenkyujo and its director, Takeshi Uchikawa.