アイルランドと日本とアメリカの３国間での人間・家族模様。日本の代名詞・東京で、アメリカの人気ミュージシャンＮＭコンサートが絡み、しかも業界でちょっと名前がしられたＮＭのバックダンサーが容疑者の一人。まだ事件が起こったばかりで余波は小さい。関係者は日本警察の動きを見守っている状態だ。だがニュースが広がり、国際的に注目されるのではないか。日本の警察・行政の外国人への対応や情報公開・報道の仕方や留学生の安全性、日米文化論、アメリカの黒人問題、アメリカラッパーの若者文化論等、事件が意外な方向に向かう気配を感じる。国際間やアメリカ国内で大きな議論が今後起こると予想される。
*****
Police: 2 Americans Arrested After Death Of Irish Woman In Tokyo Hotel Room
Sun 11:15 AM, May 27, 2012A Reporter: CNN, Posted by Chelsey Moran
Tokyo (CNN) -- Police have detained two American men as part of an investigation into the strangling death of an Irish exchange student in Tokyo, Japanese authorities said Sunday.
Nicola Furlong, 21, was found dead in a hotel room with one of the men, according to Tokyo police.
The men were not charged in Furlong's death. Rather, police arrested the men on suspicion of improperly touching Furlong's friend in a taxi early Thursday, as the four headed back to the hotel, authorities said.
Authorities would not say how the four ended up together, but Japanese media reported that the women were attending a Nicki Minaj concert in Tokyo when they met the men and decided to accompany them to their hotel rooms.
Police said both men in custody were entertainers -- a 19-year-old musician and a 23-year-old dancer -- but did not say if they were part of Minaj's entourage.
The hotel staff found Furlong unconscious after customers complained of loud noises coming from the room, police said.
When the staff got to the room, they found her in the room with the 19-year-old and called the fire department, Tokyo authorities said.
The death is believed to be as a result of suffocation by cervical compression, police said.
Furlong's parish priest, the Rev. Jim Fitzpatrick, described her as an "outgoing, bubbly sort of girl and very well liked," and said she was looking forward to coming home after having been in Japan since October.
"Everyone's a little devastated," in her close-knit rural community, which has only 300 or 400 families, he said.
"When the death of a young person happens, everybody knows and is in some way involved or concerned," he said. "When it happens in tragic circumstances and so far away from home, it has a double impact on people."
Her parents last spoke to her the day she died, he said.
She was "very close" to her siblings, particularly her sister Andrea, Fitzpatrick said.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the arrests, but could not provide additional details, citing privacy concerns.
