Gourmet Watermelon “Densuke” auctions for 280,000 yen

The first-ever auction of the black-skinned watermelons known as “Densuke”, a delicacy of Hokkaido’s Tohma village, took place in markets in Asahikawa and Sapporo on June 10th.

The 15 melons auctioned in Asahikawa weighed, on average, 8kg with a diameter of about 30cm. A-Coop Asahikawa, a regional supermarket, paid the highest price, or 280,000 yen for one. This price was the same “charity price” as last year (tr: i.e. the Coop overpaid to support the farmers).

The melons this year are smaller than usual due to poor sunlight but are reported to be sufficiently sweet. During the peak time at the beginning of July, the melons will sell for a few thousand yen apiece mostly in retail stores in Hokkaido and the Tokyo area.

Tohma began raising the Densuke 「田助」 melons 22 years ago, and the unique name comes from a comic actor’s stage name. It also has the meaning of a rice field whose crops were rotated due to yield reductions (tr: or a slang term for a portable tape recorder).

I just can’t get used to this クールビズになじめない僕

I mean… he looks good… but all these years of seeing stuffy politicians in suits make this somehow feel wrong:

And the ads are attractive enough:
(More Cool Biz goodness at Nichinichi)

I just can’t get my head around it.

Thankfully, Koizumi’s still wearing a suit to Diet sessions at least (but forgetting his badge, the klutz):

They just look so… relaxed:

But umm.. wtf is this and what does it have to do with not wearing a tie?!

Continue reading I just can’t get used to this クールビズになじめない僕

【和訳】北朝鮮に関する米政府の最近の発言 Just because: Stuff American officials have said about North Korea (Japanese ONLY)

If you care about this stuff, go to the White House (boring and patriotic), State Dept. (elegant and easy to navigate), and Defense Dept. (slick and expensive-looking) websites. It’s all there in English.

ブッシュ大統領
5月31日の記者会見にて

Q:イラク戦争の前にあなたは「イラク戦争は他の国のWMD開発の抑止となる」と言っていたが、実際はイランや北朝鮮では何の抑止にもなっていないじゃないか。

A:北朝鮮は2000年以前にも隠れた兵器プログラムを持っていた。我々は北朝鮮と2カ国協約を結んでいたが、北朝鮮はそれを破った。それで、私は政策を変えて、北朝鮮が核開発プログラムを廃止するように他の国の参加を呼びかけた。
中国が「責任のある国家であれば、兵器プログラムを廃止しろ」と我々と同じことを言っていることが重要だ。 日本、韓国、ロシアも同じことを言っていることも重要だ。
北朝鮮の件で問題が山積みであるがやめるわけではないし、責任のある国家として扱って欲しいなら、参加している5カ国を聞かなければならないとはっきり分からせることに努力を続けるつもりだ。

Q: 今朝あなたは北朝鮮を扱うのに外交がベストな手法だと言っていたが、失礼だけど、「外交は何の成果を果たしておらず、むしろ北朝鮮核開発を進歩させたじゃないか」と言う人がいる。
A: はい。
Q How do you — what do you say to them? そういう人にたいしてどう言い返すか。
A: さて、考えよう。もし外交が間違った方法であれば、次は軍事だ。それは私の考え方、外交か軍事かだ。私は外交に賛成である。だから、あらゆる提案は検討中だが、外交で解決する機会がある。

チェイニー
先週:チェニー「金正日は無責任」とののしったことに対して、北朝鮮の報道はCHENEYのことを「血に飢えた獣性」と言い返した。

ライス国務大臣

5月26日・BLOOMBERGとのインタビューにて

Q:アメリカと中国にとって今年でもっとも重要な成果とは何か。

A: 色々な面で米中関係が強くなったので、全体的に米中関係は強くなっている。江沢民の完全なる引退をゆえに実力を固めた胡錦涛大統領はとてもいい関係を確立している。北朝鮮の核問題で協力と調整を維持している。未だに解決されていないが、アメリカと中国が、特に北朝鮮と近隣国家である中国が受ける大変なプレッシャーを受けているにもかかわらず、外交を通じて「非核の朝鮮半島」に関して継続的に取り組んでいることはかなりの成果だと思う。
対テロの面でも協力を強くなっており、ほぼなんでも正直に、そして露骨に話せるような関係を作った。

Q:中国が6カ国協議において役立っていると言っているが、中国は米国が(北朝鮮と)もっと実質的な2カ国協議を行って欲しいと言明している。なぜアメリカは2カ国協議をしないか。

A: それは、既にその道で1994年に協約を結んだが、違う手段で核開発を図ってそれをすぐ破ったからだ。
アメリカは北朝鮮と2カ国協議を行うと、NKがケチを言って米朝間の問題にすることができる。しかし、米朝間の問題ではない。地域はどんな形になるのかや、核を持った北朝鮮は朝鮮半島に存在するのかという問題で、それは日本、韓国、中国、ロシア、それからアメリカの安保にとってどんな意味を持つかという問題だ。
6カ国協議の本当の成果は何かというと、いまだに北朝鮮問題を解決していないが、核を持った北朝鮮はアメリカの問題だけじゃなく、北朝鮮の近隣国全部にとって問題であることをハッキリさせたことだと思う。その枠組みを維持しなければならない。我々は(北朝鮮と)はなしている。コミュニケーション目的(交渉目的じゃない)でニューヨークを通じて(北朝鮮と)はなしている。6カ国協議の形でも話している。北朝鮮と話すことが怖いわけではない。ただ、その会話がどんな形を取るかという問題だから、その形が米朝の二カ国関係についてであれば、話すことはあまりない。

Q:この5年で核技術を拡大してきたのにかかわらず、それに対する罰は極めて軽かった。そのまま続けないと思わせる理由はあるか。

A: 罰は軽かったとは思わない。機会費用ならいっぱい費やしているに違いない。1999,2000,2001年には、ロシアと拡張的な関係について協議があった。ルーチンは北朝鮮を訪れた。日本と外交正常化についても協議があった。南北対話も大きく進歩していた。我々も2002年に北朝鮮に対して「大胆なアプローチ」という政策を準備していた。それはリビアに対するアプローチとよく似ており、アメリカや地域全体にももっと改善した関係への道でもっと正常的な関係につながるはずだった。

ラムスフェルド防衛大臣
6月4日・International Institute for Strategic Studiesにて

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, Saturday, June 4, 2005.

世界で最も自由と圧制の違いがはっきりと現れているところは朝鮮半島と言えよう。
私は「夜で見る朝鮮半島」の衛星写真を机の上に飾っている。DMZの下、南の半分にはほとんど光に覆われている。それは電力、活発している経済、それから生き生きしている民主主義のある国家を意味している。そして、DMZの北をご覧になれば、ピョンヤンのわずかな光を除いて暗闇しか見えない。北でも南でも同じ国民で、同じ資源を持っている。その違いは自由だ。政治的自由と経済的自由。
現場に行けばその対象がさらにハッキリして、意味深いである。大韓民国は自由な国民と自由な市場における活力(DYNAMISM)の一例である。
比較すると、北朝鮮におけるスターリン主義政権を考えてみてください。あそこでは:
反体制の人の子供や孫が強制労働をさせられる
逃れた難民が外国から拉致される、それから
飢餓に遭っている国民が一粒のご飯を見つけるために荒地を探す。

北朝鮮で数ヶ月子供の医療をしていた欧州の医者はこう言った。「北朝鮮では二つの世界がある。ひとつは軍事高官・高層の人たちの世界と、もう1つはそれ以外の人たちのための生き地獄。
北朝鮮の「核の野望」は地域の安保・安定の脅威となり、拡散の前科からみれば世界の脅威ともなる。ブッシュ大統領や後の4カ国の首脳は6カ国協議に戻るよう促している。
それから、アメリカは近隣国の成長を支援してきた開放性と自由を抱くよう促している。
北朝鮮が6カ国協議に戻るのに大きな役割を果たせる国家といえば、その国は中国である。
アメリカや多くの国々は外交、経済、世界の安保など多くの場面で中国と協力したい。多くの国々は平和的で豊かで自由な地域という目標を促進させるようなアジア太平洋構造作りに賛成的である。他国間の取り組みは重要である。中国はその協力に大きな役割を果たせる。

Post Computex Photo gallery. Part 2 – Girls (and gawkers)

Continuing from part 1 (gear) of my Computex photo gallery/a>, here are a few sample thumbnails. Or just browse the album directly.

Anyone who has ever been to, or read about, any kind of large trade show related in any way to the computer technology field will be familiar with the show models or ‘booth babes’ hired by major presenters to lure attendees to their booth, where they can have their arms filled up with brochures and worthless branded knick-knacks. While for most attendees, the booth-babes may only be a pleasant distraction from the more serious business of checking out the new hardware, there is a serious contingent of people who are there just to check out, and photograph the dancing, scantily clad, attractive girls.

As good looking as most of the girls are, most of them are surrounded by so many excessively eager, desperate, camera-bearing men that you can’t just stand there and enjoy the show, except in some of the smaller out of the way booths. Larger, more popular booths such as Shuttle or Nvidia were just so hideously jam-packed that seeing the models up close would require about as much effort as pushing your way through a moshpit to the front row of an overcrowded rock show.

After seeing the ridiculous effort that these photographers exert to attend each little dance number and photograph the models at each company’s stall, I realized that the photographers themselves were just as amusing as the models, and decided to present a photogallery interleaving portraits of the photographers with the photographed. For the ideal presentation, start with this first model photo and view the rest sequentially within the gallery.


Click here for an obsessively complete photo gallery of models from this year’s Computex, as well as past computer trade shows..

Digital photography too easy?

New York Times June 8:

“And also, with film you had to wait hours or days to see what you had come up with,” he added. “With digital you can see instantly what you’ve missed, so it can really help you fine-tune your composition. That’s a big benefit.”

Nonetheless, when listening to Mr. Burnett talk about the evolution of photo technology, you hear a bit of the priest whose temple has been invaded by heathens.

“The change really started with autofocus,” he said. “That opened up much of what used to be a more craft-based part of the business to almost anybody. I mean, if you can hold it steady and aim it and push that button, you can get an in-focus sharp picture a great degree of the time. And digital, I mean, now anyone with a camera can shoot one, see how bad they screwed up, try and fix it, shoot another one.”

SignonSandiego.com

One of the benefits of digital photography – the fact that amateurs can take better-looking photos and doctor them using photo-editing software – is also becoming a bane. Photofinishing labs increasingly are refusing to print professional-looking photographs taken by amateurs.

The reason: Photofinishers are afraid of infringing on professional photographers’ copyrights.

Japan’s Vocabulary Power: 19% of Private University Students at Middle School Level

From Mainichi Shimbun via Yahoo News:

It was found that the vocabulary strength of Japan’s university students is decreasing in a survey of major universities and 2-year colleges. The survey, conducted by independent government-run organization Media Education Development Center (Located in Chiba City), found that 19% of private university students and 35% of 2-year college students have the vocabulary of “a middle school student’s level.” An increasing number of universities are instituting classes or supplemental courses such as “Japanese Techniques” or “Japanese Communication Practice,” but this survey underscores colleges’ unease about this issue.

Professor Hiroshi Ono and others at the Center conducted a preparatory survey of approximately 20,000 middle and high school students. Based on those results, they rated college students’ Japanese skill from “first-year of middle school” to “better than 3rd-year of high school.”

For the survey, the Center created a “Japanese Skill Diagnostic Test”, a multiple-choice format test in which takers must choose the correct meaning of 75 words, since it is possible to decipher the “speaking, writing, and reading skills” that make up “Japanese skill” based on the richness of a person’s vocabulary. 7052 freshman at 19 universities, 6 2-year colleges, and a national college of technology (a total of 26 schools) took the test, and their levels were determined by comparing them to the preparatory survey.

The results? The percentage of students at national public universities (3 schools) who were under “3rd year of middle school,” meaning they didn’t understand words like “鶴の一声” (Tsuru no hitokoe = voice of authority/ word from the top) and “露骨に” (rokotsu ni = frank/conspicuous/broad), was 6%, but at private universities (16 schools) that number jumped to 19%. 35% or more than one third of 2-year college students were at a middle school level. The number stopped at 4% for the national college of technology students.

It is necessary to have high school level Japanese in order to understand a college class. In a similar survey conducted from 1998-2000, the rates of middle school level Japanese were 0.3% at national public universities, 6.8% at private universities, and 18.7% at 2-year colleges. The decline in vocabulary skill is striking.

Professor Ono said of the survey, “On top of the relaxed education policy and the decline in reading among students, Admissions Office Policies that do not require major-specific exams and recommendation admission (practice of high schools making deals with universities to accept a certain number of students each year) are creating a situation where a diverse group of students are mixed together at private universities. At 2-year colleges as well there is a worry that students won’t be properly educated without supplemental Japanese classes.” (Yukiko Motomura Reporting)

Click below to test YOUR Japanese (I stopped at Chu-2 🙁 )! あなたの語彙力を判定しよう!下をクリックしてください。
Continue reading Japan’s Vocabulary Power: 19% of Private University Students at Middle School Level

Much madness is divinest sense

The NYT reports today:

A new study suggests that 55% of Americans will suffer from a mental disorder during their lifetime.

Well, if the majority of the population suffers from it, can it really be called a “disorder?”

Dr. Paul McHugh of Johns Hopkins University breaks it down like this:

Pretty soon we’ll have a syndrome for short, fat Irish guys with a Boston accent, and I’ll be mentally ill.

Won’t we all rue that day.

The study also reveals that 13.2% of Americans will suffer from alcohol abuse at some point in their lives. Only 13.2 %? Come on. On any given Thursday night this summer in the District the only thing measured by the number 13.2 is the percentage of interns and 20 somethings sober after 8pm.

Then finally, there’s this gem:

Mood disorders like depression typically first struck people in early adulthood, in their 20’s or early 30’s.

No kidding? Unhappiness in your 20’s? Why on earth would anyone be unhappy in their 20’s?

I mean, after busting your ass to get through college, which only after the fact do you realize to be the period of your life with the least amount of responsibilty required to survive (I don’t care what your high school teacher said to you about how tough college was. They were all lying.), you have to take a shit job making far less than your age multiplied by one thousand, and in all likelyhood having absolutely nothing to do with your undergraduate course of study. And that’s if you’re lucky. Otherwise, you wind up waiting tables or temping for even less money and no insurance to boot.

After a few miserable years of that, you realize that you’re going to need another degree to get anywhere, and so then you cram your ass off for the GRE or LSAT, go further into debt, and then work your ass off studying all over again. And for what?

Unless you went to law school, you’re still probably only making your age multiplied by one thousand. And if you did go to law school, you’re still working your ass off. (But at least you’re being fairly compensated for it for the first time in your life!)

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do. But sometimes that’s the only consolation I’ve got. And some people don’t even have that. I’m only speaking from my experience in DC and things could be quite different elsewhere. But should we really be all that surprised that people in their 20’s and early 30’s struggle with occasional unhappiness or depression?

Where’s the Niurou?

The Asahi reported today that as of June 1st, Yoshinoya resumed sales of gyudon at all 45 of its stores in Taiwan. This is the first time Taiwanese gyudon lovers have been able to buy the bowls in one year and four months since Yoshinoya halted sales last February following the Taiwanese ban on U.S. beef imports. Taiwan reopened imports in April, but only for cattle under 30 months of age.

According to the article, the price is some 20 percent higher than before sales were halted, but this apparently hasn’t stopped large numbers of visiting Japanese businessmen from frequenting Yoshinoya outlets.

Since MFT founding contributor Roy is in Taiwan this summer, and in keeping with the challenge issued by Adamu last week, and Curzon and Joe‘s intrepid trek to consume coffee flavored ramen, perhaps Roy might be willing to visit and give an eyewitness account. Five points for every photo you get of a Japanese salaryman chowing down on gyudon! And ten for any still beating hearts you find in the bowl!

Man on date “kidnapped”, cash stolen using a woman from a matchmaking site as a decoy

From ZAKZAK:

At around 2am on June 6 in Ohashi 1chome, Okayama, 3 or 4 men forced a company worker (25) into their car while he was with a woman he met on an internet dating site. The men beat the man on the head while the car was moving, taking 5,000 yen and his mobile phone, and freed him an hour later on a city street 3 or 4 km from where he was kidnapped.

The man sustained a broken nose which will take 3 weeks to heal. Okayama’s East Precinct is investigating the incident as a robbery and assault.

According to reports, the men threatened the man before kidnapping him, saying, “What are you doing with my woman?!” They consider it a strong possibility that the woman was friends with the men. The men were all 18-20 years old.

Comment: Poor guy!!