Going once, going twice: your very own pagoda

Going once, going twice: your very own pagoda

NAGOYA, Japan - This five-story pagoda located at Sedaiji temple in Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture, will be auctioned off to pay tax arrears owed by the temple's owners -- the now-defunct real estate company Sogo Fudosan and its corporate parent Sogo Taxi. The city of Katsuyama seized the 75-meter-high pagoda and other properties of the temple as liens on overdue property and local corporate taxes. Interested bidders must pay the city a deposit of 350 million yen by Nov. 27. Results of the auction will be announced two days later. Kiyoshi Tada, once known as the ''taxicab king of Kansai,'' built Sedaiji in 1987 as a tourist attraction in his native Katsuyama.

IOC inspectors begin full-scale evaluation tour of Osaka bid

IOC inspectors begin full-scale evaluation tour of Osaka bid

OSAKA, Japan - Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation team watch a table tennis match at the Maishima Arena in Osaka's Konohana Ward on Feb. 26. The team began the first day of its evaluation of the western Japan city, which is among five bidders for the 2008 summer Olympics.

Going once, going twice: your very own pagoda

Going once, going twice: your very own pagoda

NAGOYA, Japan - This five-story pagoda located at Sedaiji temple in Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture, will be auctioned off to pay tax arrears owed by the temple's owners -- the now-defunct real estate company Sogo Fudosan and its corporate parent Sogo Taxi. The city of Katsuyama seized the 75-meter-high pagoda and other properties of the temple as liens on overdue property and local corporate taxes. Interested bidders must pay the city a deposit of 350 million yen by Nov. 27. Results of the auction will be announced two days later. Kiyoshi Tada, once known as the ''taxicab king of Kansai,'' built Sedaiji in 1987 as a tourist attraction in his native Katsuyama. (Kyodo)

IOC inspectors begin full-scale evaluation tour of Osaka bid

IOC inspectors begin full-scale evaluation tour of Osaka bid

OSAKA, Japan - Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation team watch a table tennis match at the Maishima Arena in Osaka's Konohana Ward on Feb. 26. The team began the first day of its evaluation of the western Japan city, which is among five bidders for the 2008 summer Olympics.