TOKYO: More than 1,000 Japanese police were on the hunt Friday for a “model” inmate who fled an open prison, officials said.
Tatsuma Hirao, 27, who was serving time for multiple thefts, had been working at a shipbuilding yard at the Matsuyama prison in the southwestern city of Imabari.
But he gave guards the slip on Sunday night, disappearing from the facility he shared with around 20 other inmates.
“We deployed a total of 1,200 officers” to find the prisoner as soon as possible, said Masafumi Shigematsu, a local police investigator.
Hirao was caught on security cameras running away from the dorm, according to the investigator.
It was “an open institution” where inmates can walk around freely, said prison official Mutsuhiro Kawauchi.
“The inmates at the facility are trusted. They are believed to be able to control their desire to run away,” Kawauchi said.
A total of 21 inmates have escaped since the opening of the prison in 1961, but Kawauchi said it had no plans to increase security.
“The purpose of the facility is to teach prisoners about building a relationship of trust... We have a lower re-offending rate, so that’s the merit” of the facility, he added.
After Hirao’s escape, a car was stolen nearby and later found abandoned on Mukaishima island, which is tens of kilometers (miles) away.
Residents on the island reported to police that socks, a mobile phone, a wallet and a pair of sandals were stolen, according to local media.
A resident on the island also reported his car keys had been stolen and said he found a note saying “I’m borrowing your car but I’ll never damage it.”
Japan enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the developed world but a relatively high re-offending rate.
Massive Japan manhunt for ‘model’ convict who fled open jail
Massive Japan manhunt for ‘model’ convict who fled open jail
Some Warren Buffett wisdom on his last day leading Berkshire Hathaway
OMAHA, Nebraska: The advice that legendary investor Warren Buffett offered on investing and life over the years helped earn him legions of followers who eagerly read his annual letters and filled an arena in Omaha every year to listen to him at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings.
Buffett’s last day as CEO is Wednesday after six decades of building up the Berkshire conglomerate. He’ll remain chairman, but Greg Abel will take over leadership.
Here’s a collection of some of Buffett’s most famous quotes from over the years:
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“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
That’s how Buffett summed up his investing approach of buying out-of-favor stocks and companies when they were selling for less than he estimated they were worth.
He also urged investors to stick with industries they understand that fall within their “circle of competence” and offered this classic maxim: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.”
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“After they first obey all rules, I then want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper to be read by their spouses, children and friends with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.
“If they follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them: Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm and I will be ruthless.”
That’s the ethical standard Buffett explained to a Congressional committee in 1991 that he would apply as he cleaned up the Wall Street investment firm Salomon Brothers. He has reiterated the newspaper test many times since over the years.
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“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
Many companies might do well when times are good and the economy is growing, but Buffett told investors that a crisis always reveals whether businesses are making sound decisions.
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“Who you associate with is just enormously important. Don’t expect that you’ll make every decision right on that. But you are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people you work with, that you admire, that become your friends.”
Buffett always told young people that they should try to hang out with people who they feel are better than them because that will help improve their lives. He said that’s especially true when choosing a spouse, which might be the most important decision in life.
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“Our unwavering conclusion: never bet against America.”
Buffett has always remained steadfast in his belief in the American capitalist system. He wrote in 2021 that “there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America. Despite some severe interruptions, our country’s economic progress has been breathtaking.”
