Cartoonist’s Bones Are Held for Ransom

TOKYO — Grave robbers have demanded a ransom for the bones of one of Japan’s best-loved cartoonists, a police spokesmen said Friday.

Family members told police last week that robbers had taken the remains of Machiko Hasegawa from her grave in a Tokyo suburb and sent a letter with a picture of the urn containing her bones and demanding money.

On police instructions, the family followed the extortionists’ demands and placed an advertisement in a newspaper to indicate that they were ready to pay. There was no response.

The work of Hasegawa, one of Japan’s earliest cartoonists, was widely enjoyed in newspapers, television and books until her death last May at the age of 72.