61635 According to the crime white paper compiled by the Ministry of Justice, while heinous cases such as homicides, burglaries and abductions were decreasing at one point, they have been on the rise once again in the last year or two and their modus operandi has become more brutal.
61636 The number of criminal offences in the year before last was over 2.43 million, the highest on record.
61637 Such rising trend must be stopped immediately.
61638 We hope that the investigative authority will eradicate the "root" of such crimes with the speedy roundup of those who are responsible and a full investigation of the circumstances in order to prevent a re-occurrence of these crimes.
61639 "Create" is defined as "to produce something anew" in dictionaries.
61640 Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama adopted "creative partnership" as the keyword for the Japan-US Summit on the 11th.
61641 However, as far as what the media have reported, absolutely no "creative" pulse is detected anywhere in the talks.
61642 Be it security, economy, or nuclear issue, no new idea was offered in any area by the prime minister as he had simply been staying on the course the government officials in charge had set up.
61643 It is no wonder that the American media did not give him a good mark.
61644 At the press conference held just before greeting the prime minister, Mr. Winston Lord, the Assistant Secretary of State, put Mr. Murayama's visit as "a Japanese tradition where the prime minister pays a visit to Washington, DC at the earliest opportunity after taking office."
61645 It is, as they say, sankin kotai, or the "alternate attendance" system which required all daimyo (lords) to spend alternate years in Edo, the capital of old Japan.
61646 In light of Mr. Lord's perspective, it can be said that the US never expected a "creative" visit from the Prime Minister.
61647 However, it may be too harsh to have Prime Minister Murayama alone take the blame.
61648 Former Japanese prime ministers also emphasized a "new relationship" whenever they visited the US and made some commitments.