So today I found a dead body...

So, there we were, finishing up what was a quiet day's birding, standing on the banks of (my own lovely Lee, if only) the Yodagawa scanning the water one last time before getting on the train. In my usual, eloquent way, I uttered "Oh, jezus...". Neil, obviously thinking I found something to brighten up the day, asked me what I had in the scope. "Em...I think it's a body". Yup, while scanning the far shore/riverbank, slowly picking through the ducks, I came across a body, face down in the reeds. What I can only presume was an adult male due to the size of the corpse. Wearing dark trousers, runners and a white top. We couldn't discern the head as the upper torso was in the reeds while the lower body was on the mud. The water level was very low so this may be the reason why we picked it up in the scopes. Humming and hawing about what to do, Neil rang his wife who called the police and managed to get an English speaking policeman to call us. We gave directions as to where the body was and where we were. The scene of the discovery is across the river from where this photo was taken...
About 15 mintues later, a squad car arrives, picks us up and, with lights flashing and siren blasting, drove over to the other bank. Now, it might seem distasteful to say this, but it was kind of exciting being in the back of the squad car with lights and siren going on...you'd never think we were grown men. So, anyway, we were met by another squad car and about 4 other policemen. We showed them roughly where the corpse was, they took our details, thanked us and drove us back into Umeda. The body was very close to the city centre. It was funny watching the faces on the Japanese people as they saw two gaijins getting out of the police car, lights flashing, shaking hands with the officers and going in our separate directions, Neil to Hankyu and myself to JR. All in all an eventful day.