June 2006 – Page 4 – Mutantfrog Travelogue

BBC special report on Burma

We`ve mentioned Burma/Myanmar a few times before on this page, but rarely hear much about this bizarre and secretive nation unless they`ve, say, just extended the house arrest of their democratically elected president. Of course, one reason we hear so little about Burma is because, whatever newsworthy events may be ocurring within the borders, communication and traffic between Burma and the outside world is so restricted that it often doesn`t get out. This is why it`s so nice to see this series of articles written by a BBC reporter who was actually allowed into the country.

The first article can be found at this address, with links to the later parts contained within. Having previously posted about speculation that the sudden relocation of the Myanmar capital was inspired by, of all things. feng-shui, this tidbit from the second article was particularly amusing.

The latest government campaign is an initiative to grow nut trees, not only as a source of bio fuel but also because government fortune-tellers believe they will shore up the military’s power.

When everything you read about an entire country is depressing, you have to take whatever little amusement you can get.

ANA’s president talks about the future of Japanese air travel

And it looks good for the rest of us, because he speaks of cheaper domestic and international flights out of Haneda. Which means that people in Tokyo can save a few hundred bucks on their airfares, plus the money and time it takes to get to Narita.

“We think we will see low-cost carriers in Haneda in 2009,” President and CEO Mineo Yamamoto told journalists in Tokyo last month at an event organized by Star Alliance. Speaking through a translator, he noted that current plans call for the number of operational slots at the airport to increase by 40% vis-a-vis the current level to 407,000 annually.

ANA accepts that it will lose some travelers to budget carriers but intends to maintain focus on higher-yield passengers. However, this may not be possible. “What we are most afraid of,” Yamamoto explained, is that Japan Airlines “will follow the strategy of LCCs like Skymark and enter the low-fare quagmire.” He said ANA is studying launching a domestic low-fare airline, although it appeared from his remarks that this more likely would be a countermeasure.

The carrier also is concerned that Tiger Airways or another Southeast Asian LCC will be given slots at Haneda to operate discount flights in Asia. ANA is evaluating using Air Japan, its leisure/holiday airline, to counter this threat. In this case, it would look at opening a base in Bangkok or Singapore staffed with foreign cockpit and cabin crews. In spite of the concern over LCCs, Yamamoto told ATWOnline that ANA is asking the Japanese government to double the number of new slots dedicated to international operations at Haneda from 30,000 to 60,000 annually.

In related news, the BIG CHANGE NAA took place earlier this month, in which the South Wing of Terminal 1 opened up for ANA, United and the other Star Alliance airlines. (The ads for it, with a girl deplaning from a hot pink Learjet followed by a badly-rendered Colonel Sanders-ish porter carrying her shopping bags, seem to personify all that is fecked up about Japan to me, but anyway.) The reshuffles will continue later this year when American, BA and the other oneworld airlines move to Terminal 2. Hopefully Keisei will use this as an excuse to change those old and busted seats on the Skyliner.

NHK goons about to get leaner and meaner

It won’t be pretty:

NHK has eight TV and radio channels: two for terrestrial TV broadcasting (general and education); three for satellite TV, including one for high-definition programs; and three radio channels including an FM service. Heizo Takenaka‘s panel argued that one satellite channel is enough and three radio channels are too many for public broadcasting.

The proposed reduction in the channels should be combined with substantial streamlining and downsizing of NHK’s bloated operations to allow a sharp cut in the viewing fees, the panel says. In return, viewers would be legally required to pay for NHK’s services under a new fee system, possibly supported by penalties for nonpayment.

If you’ve lived in Japan, you probably have some experience with the NHK henchmen who troll around apartment blocks trying to collect NHK service fees. Everyone has their own method of dealing with them: say you don’t have a TV, say you don’t get NHK reception, answer the door stark naked, scream in Turkish, etc. But I’m going to hate the day when NHK is legally empowered to collect from me. Sod off, Domo-kun.

“Youse guys bedda ‘habla espanol'”

Geno’s, one of Philadelphia’s best-known spots for crap sandwiches, is being threatened with a smackdown by local regulators:

The city’s Commission on Human Relations planned to argue that the policy at Geno’s Steaks discourages customers of certain backgrounds from eating there, said Rachel Lawton, acting executive director.

Geno’s owner Joseph Vento posted two small signs at his shop in south Philadelphia proclaiming: “This is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING ‘PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH.'”

Lawton said that violates the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodation and housing.

“It’s discouraging patronage by non-English speaking customers because of their national origin or ancestry,” Lawton said.

Prepare for war in Souf Philly! Man the wooder ice windows!

Intelligent English-language Japan Blogs

Just thought I’d point our readers toward some stuff I’ve been digging lately:

Neomarxisme: I’ve been following this one for a while, but reading Marxy’s posts has proven especially cathartic these past couple of months or so. His writing on social trends in Japan lets me both vividly recall and better understand my prior experiences in Japan while making me want to get back there more and more each day. Not all posts are on Japan, especially since he turned the site into a “post-blog” (nevertheless still made up of blog posts), but the ones that make sense are usually interesting (the earlier posts are especially educational for the uninitiated).

Asia Logistics Wrap: A business blog by an honest to goodness expert in supply chains. As someone with an interest but only basic knowledge of the subject, my plan is to read through some of these posts and get whatever insight I can. He’s a Marmot reader – always a plus – and calls Thomas Barnett a “visionary” – a minus to some but meaningless to me.

The Bass Harp: Haven’t read much of this, but the concept alone deserves a mention. It’s dedicated to translations of Japanese-language public domain literature, obtained from the awesome online public domain library Aozora. Go there if you’re sick of bookies and transvestite exhibitionists!

An Eternal Thought in the mind of Godzilla: Read this blog in case you thought all so-called “American otaku” who are interested in Japan have nothing interesting to offer. The most fun part of this site has been the podcasts – my favorite is the one about the Japanese Fonzies known as The Cools.

Kaiju Shakedown: I’ve plugged (and contributed) to this site before, but this guy remains the best source of info for Asian movies that I have no intention of seeing.

So there you have it. If you’re lucky, I’ll eventually clue you into what podcasts I’m listening to and the best places to watch “Internet TV” on the web!

Child repellant backfires

Curses! They’re feeding off the rays!

Students find ring tone adults can’t hear

NEW YORK – Students are using a new ring tone to receive messages in class — and many teachers can’t even hear the ring.

Some students are downloading a ring tone off the Internet that is too high-pitched to be heard by most adults. With it, high schoolers can receive text message alerts on their cell phones without the teacher knowing.

The ring tone is a spin-off of technology that was originally meant to repel teenagers — not help them. A Welsh security company developed the tone to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected. The company called their product the “Mosquito.”

Moving tomorrow

In about six hours I will be on my way to Newark airport where I will board a flight to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (with 3 hour layover in Detroit). When I get there I will be starting my new job as a translator in the administrative office of the College of IT and Engineering at Ritsumeikan University’s Biwako Kusatsu Campus (BKC) which is located in the small city of Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, about twenty minutes by train east of Kyoto Station.

Time to pack up my computer-more later in the week.

What to do with 10,000 yen?

A criminal who found his way to a new life through the love of a woman has returned the money he stole from a post office in March:

Repentant robber returns cash, with interest

TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese man who robbed a post office returned more money than he stole and turned himself in after deciding to come clean for the sake of his girlfriend.

The 33-year-old stole 340,000 yen ($2,300) at knifepoint from a post office in western Tokyo in March. Ridden with guilt, he went back to the post office at the end of May and left 350,000 yen in an envelope on the counter before running off.

The Mainichi newspaper quoted the man as saying he gave an extra 10,000 yen back because he was sorry for what he had done.

A Tokyo police department spokesman said they were still discussing what to do with the extra cash.

How much discussion does it take to decide what to do with 10,000 yen in cold hard cash? I have some suggestions:

Buy 1 air-conditioned T-shirt at the special online price of 9,500 yen. That would leave enough for a beef bowl, with 20 yen leftover to phone home and let your mom know how delicious it was.

Acquire 1 share in Fast Retailing, operator of bargain clothes chain Uniqlo. With Japan’s economic reform drive set to stall before it comes to true fruition, the prospects of the low-price retail market in Japan continue to look brighter and brighter! Again that would leave you with 500 yen left over, which you could use to celebrate your soon-to-be-newfound wealth with some ice cream at the Cold Stone Creamery located in the swanky Roppongi Hills office complex.

Save it at Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Bank. With interest rates at 0.001%, assuming that Japan’s prices are just about exactly flat at this point, in a year’s time you’d have 10,010 yen!

Get the luckiest guy in the precinct to play pachinko and double the money to buy a semi-legal prostitute. You can use the 80 minutes that can be purchased at 20,000 yen to convince Yuki to leave this sinful lifestyle a la He Got Game.

Anyone else have some suggestions for the Tokyo police?

B-grade News from Nikkan Gendai: Man in Women’s Clothing Whips Out Penis in Train

This type of thing (men in women’s clothing doing weird things) seems to keep happening all the time recently:

B-grade News from Nikkan Gendai: Man in Women’s Clothing Whips Out Penis in Train
56-year-old Amagasaki City Section Chief Arrested

On June 5, the Yodoyagawa Precinct of the Osaka Prefectural Police arrested Hiroshi Ikeuchi (56), Section Chief of the Amagasaki City (Hyogo Pref) Health and Welfare Section on suspicion of red-handed public indecency for exposing his lower body in a train. The man has reportedly admitted to the crime, explaining, “It was a thoughtless act. I will properly make amends for the crime I have committed.”

According to investigations, Ikeuchi boarded a Hankyu train, bound for Hibarigaoka Hanayashiki on the Takarazuka line, at Umeda station. Dressed as a woman, he sat on the bench and exposed his lower body to a female technical school student and others sitting across from him by spreading his legs and so forth.

He ran from the train after the women approached him, but a male rider stopped him at Mikuni station and brought him to the nearby precinct.

Ikeuchi lives with his wife and no children. He has testified that since approximately 13 years ago he cross-dressed by wearing wigs and miniskirts and “felt freedom by wearing women’s clothing.” He reportedly had consumed alcohol at an Osaka transvestite club and was on his way to an apartment he had rented in Toyonaka City in order to drop off his women’s clothes.

According to the city of Amagasaki, Ikeuchi was hired in 1973, and started his current job in April after previously serving as section chief of the Industry and Labor and City Planning Sections. He was, they said, a man who proactively engaged issues.

This is precisely the area where I stayed as a high school exchange student. Always amazing to see what sort of stuff is going on behind closed doors.

Koreans in Washington Protesting US-Korea FTA

Yesterday and today Starbucks-addled workers in Washington DC have been irked by booming drumbeats and shouts of “tawn dawn FTA!” (I think it means “turn down FTA”?). The people responsible are Korean protesters (see Fox News for the story), the same kind that made their presence felt during the recent WTO talks in Hong Kong. On my way to an appointment today, I literally bumped into the group of about 100 protesters in the crosswalk in front of the White House on 17th Street and H. Of course I got out my brand spanking new camera phone and took some snapshots:

These people are chiefly farmers who don’t want their “crops” ravaged by exposure to free trade. I’m sympathetic to the argument that it’s necessary for a country to preserve a certain amount of farmland just in case the globalized system collapses. And I am not 100% in favor of free trade in every sector, such as entertainment, whose protection allows for business models that foster diverse expression that could easily be stamped out by major countries’ imports. But the fact of the matter is the Korean agricultural interests just want to preserve their cushy government protection at the expense of consumers. They can’t be allowed to derail an agreement that’s going to be crucial for the economies and trade policies of the US and Korea.

UPDATE (6/7/2006): The protester are marching past my office again. The drummers sound like an actual marching band, except I think they’re using some kind of Korean drums. One reason the protests are so small (100 or so) is because many of the Koreans who wanted to join them were denied visas. The irony is that one of the benefits that the US-Korea will be Korea’s addition the State Dept’s visa waiver program, which would make it easy for any Korean who had the notion to come to Washington and protest the hell out of free trade.