'Salaryman Yamada' checks on 'ghost expertise'

'Salaryman Yamada' checks on 'ghost expertise'

YONAGO, Japan - A person dressed in the costume of "Salaryman Yamada," a character from a cartoon by Shigeru Mizuki, hands out information to solicit participants to take a test to check their "expertise in ghosts" in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, the hometown of renowned manga artist Mizuki, the author of cartoons about traditional Japanese phantoms, on Aug. 1, 2014. Acceptance of applications began the same day.

Don't-commit-suicide sign board erected at Mt. Fuji woodlands

Don't-commit-suicide sign board erected at Mt. Fuji woodlands

KOFU, Japan - A civic group offering assistance to people with heavy credit-card or personal-finance debts, the All-Japan Credit Card Salaryman Finance Victims Council, erects a sign board on the edge of Aokigahara woodlands in Yamanashi Prefecture-- a popular place for suicides -- urging people with heavy debts to think twice before taking their lives. ''There will be solutions to debts,'' the board says. Last year, about 100 people were found have to have committed suicide inside the woodlands, located at the base of Mount Fuji.

Tsutomu Hata

Tsutomu Hata

Born on Aug. 24, 1935 in Tokyo. Hata was elected to the House of Representatives from Nagano Prefecture in 1969 at the age of 34 after working as a ''salaryman'' for 10 years. Hata held key cabinet portfolios as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He and his close ally Ichiro Ozawa formed Shinseito (Japan Renewal Party) with a group of LDP dissidents in 1993. Hata served as prime minister between April 28 and June 30, 1994. Photo was taken Jan. 18, 1999.

Costume characters hand out leafets for "yokai" monster knowledge exam

Costume characters hand out leafets for "yokai" monster knowledge exam

Costume characters "Salaryman Yamada" and "Kitaro" distribute pamphlets for the upcoming examination for "yokai" monster knowledge certification in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 15, 2015. The exam will be held on Oct. 25 in Sakaiminato, the hometown of Shigeru Mizuki, author of the "GeGeGe no Kitaro" ghost comic series, as well as in Chofu, a western Tokyo suburb. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Costume character calls for taking "yokai" monster knowledge exam

Costume character calls for taking "yokai" monster knowledge exam

A bespectacled "Salaryman Yamada" costume character promotes an examination on Aug. 15, 2015, for "yokai" monster knowledge certification scheduled for Oct. 25. The exam, for which registration started the same day, will be held in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, western Japan, the hometown of Shigeru Mizuki, author of the "GeGeGe no Kitaro" ghost comic series, as well as in Chofu, a western Tokyo suburb. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Don't-commit-suicide sign board erected at Mt. Fuji woodlands

Don't-commit-suicide sign board erected at Mt. Fuji woodlands

KOFU, Japan - A civic group offering assistance to people with heavy credit-card or personal-finance debts, the All-Japan Credit Card Salaryman Finance Victims Council, erects a sign board on the edge of Aokigahara woodlands in Yamanashi Prefecture-- a popular place for suicides -- urging people with heavy debts to think twice before taking their lives. ''There will be solutions to debts,'' the board says. Last year, about 100 people were found have to have committed suicide inside the woodlands, located at the base of Mount Fuji. (Kyodo)

Salaryman Yamada' checks on 'ghost expertise

Salaryman Yamada' checks on 'ghost expertise

YONAGO, Japan - A person dressed in the costume of "Salaryman Yamada," a character from a cartoon by Shigeru Mizuki, hands out information to solicit participants to take a test to check their "expertise in ghosts" in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, the hometown of renowned manga artist Mizuki, the author of cartoons about traditional Japanese phantoms, on Aug. 1, 2014. Acceptance of applications began the same day. (Kyodo)