Author: Adamu

Saipan, Desperate for Japanese Tourist “reparations,” Offers to Open its Own Version of Yasukuni

The governor of Saipan has made a morbidly cynical offer to the Japanese families of those who died in the bloody Battle of Saipan:

Banzai Cliff as cemetery for Japanese war dead?

By Agnes Donato
Reporter

Monday, March 13, 2006

The Banzai Cliff in Marpi could soon turn into a cemetery for the Japanese war dead, with the governor offering the property to the families of World War II soldiers who lost their lives on Saipan.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial announced Friday that he had received two pledges of donation amounting 10 million Japan yen (about $84,000) each for the planned cemetery.

A separate offer of $100,000 has also been made for the sole benefit of the Public School System, he said.

“I am making land available at Banzai Cliff for Japanese groups to build a temple. This temple will be a token of our appreciation for the Japanese people visiting Saipan. I am also offering the same property to all the families and relatives of 47,000 war heroes who lost their lives here on Saipan to come and erect monuments,” Fitial said during his weekly press conference.

I can’t think of a more depressing idea. The Banzai Cliff was what hundreds of Japanese civilians jumped from in the aftermath of the battle. They chose to end it all rather than be raped and tortured by the Americans (UPDATE: …or so they may have believed. Another blogger, objecting to this “spin” – though it was unintentional – helpfully pointed out some of the sacrifices US soldiers made to save Japanese civilians in Saipan. Take a look.). I remember seeing on the History Channel a mother jump with her child no more than 50 feet from the American soldiers who looked on with a video camera rolling.

But will this save Saipan’s embattled tourist industry? It remains to be seen:

Tourist arrivals from Japan continue to drop as a result of Japan Airlines’ decision to cease all regular, scheduled flights to Saipan in October 2005.

Data from the Marianas Visitors Authority showed that the CNMI received only 25,555 visitors from Japan in January 2006. This represents a 29-percent decline compared with the 35,795 Japanese who came to the islands in January 2005.

But MVA is hopeful that the Japan market would recover when Northwest Airlines increases the frequency of its Tokyo flights beginning next month.

Northwest, which currently operates seven weekly flights between Saipan and Narita, will have 10 flights a week between the two points starting April 24, 2006.

The new service will operate a second Boeing 747 jumbo jet from Tokyo, flying three times a week. The aircraft will carry 400 economy and 30 business class passengers.

Homework assignment: Does anything similar exist in the world? There are certainly things like the Normandy memorial or Auschwitz, but are there any war memorials designed almost purely as tourist traps? I’m kind of offended — maybe Saipan does suck!

Even the departing editor of the Economist isn’t above chopstick praise

The Financial Times’ Emiko Terazono recently interviewed Bill Emmott, the soon-to-be-departing editor of The Economist (OOPS! The FT took it down but you can still read the interview here). The interview was conducted at a Japanese restaurant in London over lunch (scroll down to the bottom to see what they ate and how much it cost). In the article, Terazono describes Emmott‘s truly enviable career as a journalist and noted Japan expert, and toward the end makes the following observation:

He holds his chopsticks perfectly, and lifts his rice bowl when eating from it – as the Japanese do. He also does not make the common gaijin faux pas of pouring soy sauce on his rice.

I did a little (very little) digging to make sure Terazono is not simply an adopted Briton who kept her Japanese name (a la Kazuo Ishiguro, the author of The Remains of the Day). Turns out, according to this interview, Ms. Terazono was born in Japan 40 years ago, spent her junior high and high school years in Canada, went to a Japanese college, worked at a bank, hated it, and then got work at the FT Tokyo Bureau, where she fought hard for six years to get out before getting assigned to the London headquarters. So that confirms that she is writing from the perspective of a member of Japanese society, not that of a gaijin herself.

IMO, the observation works well to drive home the point that not only is Mr. Emmott a well-received author on Japan (whom I have not read, unfortunately), he actually took the time to get the little things “right” about Japanese culture and thereby truly understands it. Don’t you get that impression?

But wait a minute – do his table manners really matter? I mean, would a journalist in India, for example, earn the respect of the locals by eating with his/her fingers and refusing to carry around toilet paper? Would his analysis ring untrue if he didn’t?
Continue reading Even the departing editor of the Economist isn’t above chopstick praise

When Robots Are Used for Evil, Nobody Wins (Except the robots)

Somehow, political robotic telemarketing seems even more annoying than robotic telemarketing that’s trying to sell me something. Thankfully, I haven’t gotten any of these calls:

Column: Just a bit of hypocrisy in Simmons’ attitude regarding robo calls


By RAY HACKETT
On Politics

Congressman Rob Simmons wants to share a phone number with his constituents in the 2nd Congressional District, and he’s urging people to call it: (202) 393-4352.

The number belongs to “American Family Voices,” the group behind the recent rash of the so-called robo calls — automated phone messages — that have flooded homes in Eastern Connecticut, urging residents to call Simmons’ office and tell him they don’t like his position against federal funding for port security.

Simmons has, in the past, claimed these calls have caused a major disruption of his staff’s ability to do its work as hundreds of constituents have called to complain about receiving the unwanted automated messages. So his solution to the problem is ask residents to call “American Family Voices” — and tell them to knock it off.

According to Simmons — and these are his words — American Family Voices is “notorious,” “a shadowy, partisan” organization using “these sleazy and deceptive” calls to distort his voting record.

I don’t recall the congressman being as equally outraged back in 2002 when another organization — United Seniors — flooded the homes of Eastern Connecticut with automated calls asking residents to call the congressman and “thank him” for passing a prescription-drug bill for seniors.
Continue reading When Robots Are Used for Evil, Nobody Wins (Except the robots)

Now You Can Listen to anti-Japanese Rap Song “Fuck Zapan” Courtesy Mutant Frog Travelogue

DJ Doc
One of my first posts for Mutant Frog Travelogue concerned the strange case of an anti-Japanese rap song from Korean rap group DJ Doc (pictured above). In my infinite magnanimity, I translated the unintentionally hilarious lyrics:

Are you going to lie about your own history?! (Hai!) Go ahead and lie, you deceitful pigfeet!
Pussies! How much will you lie, pigfeet?! Keep on lying, Japs!
Lie to your mom and dad! Lie to your mom and dad!
Will you eat your mom? (Hai!) Is that OK? Yeah, that’s fine! That’s just fine!
Retard bitches! Go and have a seizure!
You barbarian, epileptic Japanese!
Mouse-dicked Jeps “Japan is our toilet!”… FUCK!
Pucking nation.. Chapan is a Pucking nation*4 (repeat 2x)

The post proved to be one of our most popular and generated comments that ranged from the merely curious (“Can’t we ALL just get ALONG?!”) to the downright deranged (“You’ll never look as good as the white man. so go eat some kemchi or sushi or shrimp fried rice you slit/slant eyed freaks.”).

Unfortunately, the site I originally linked to took down the audio clip, and I accidentally deleted the MP3 I had. But now I’m feeling generous again, so here it is again in all its amateurish glory! I’ve saved the file here, so this song will never again be lost to history. Try singing along using my English version of the lyrics!

(Thanks to ZMPK for making the song available again and Saru for taking the time to search for it)

Energy Crisis SOLVED

Check this out!

Friday, March 3, 2006

Japanese Scientists Extract Gasoline From Cow Waste

TOKYO (Nikkei)–Once considered useful only for fertilizer, scientists are finding new uses for cow excrement as a result of technological developments.

Researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have found a way to produce gasoline out of cow waste in a tie-up with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

Using metal catalysts, the partners have successfully produced 1.4 milliliters of gasoline out of 100 grams of such waste after applying 30 atmospheres of pressure on it and heating it to 300 C.

The research partners believe a large facility capable of converting cow excrement into a significant volume of gasoline will be in demand from livestock farmers, who have a hard time disposing of the waste. They hope to commercialize such a facility within five years.
Continue reading Energy Crisis SOLVED

Takara, Tomy Merge, Force Creepy Flagship Characters to Fight to the Death in Thunderdome-like Battle for Supremacy

Just kidding about the fighting part, but get a load of that walking nightmare on the left! I can feel her extracting my soul with her plastic eyes.

(Link on picture goes to Japanese story. English press release here. Takara makes the Game of Life and Tomy specializes in licensed baby toys like Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine)

Goro Miyazaki’s Blog 2-24-06: The Only Way for Me to Know My Father was Through His Works

UPDATE: The official site has posted an interview with producer Toshio Suzuki that once and for all lays out why Goro Miyazaki was chosen to direct AND why his father Hayao Miyazaki was against it. In short, Hayao Miyazaki is one of those guys who has to be in control at all times. He was OK with Goro working on the film but was dead set against letting him direct until he saw that Goro could draw just as well as his father… stay tuned for a translation!

In celebration of the best comment I have yet received on this site, I bring you another exciting installment of Goro Miyazaki’s blog!

I don’t know what things were like before, but ever since I can remember my father was often not around. That said, just as I loved my mother, I loved my father, and when I was small I wanted him to pay attention to me and play with me. However, there were almost no chances for that.
Continue reading Goro Miyazaki’s Blog 2-24-06: The Only Way for Me to Know My Father was Through His Works

Asahi Irresponsible on Iran? Not really.

Commenter Jim Moore of the blog “Moore Than This” suggested that Japan is taking an extremely irresponsible stance on Iran’s nuclear ambitions based on an editorial he picked up from the Asahi Shimbun’s English edition:

Iran’s publicly stated intention to advance its nuclear technology threatens a key element of Japan’s energy strategy–development of the Azadegan oil field … If Tehran does not alter its position, Japan could lose its rights to the field.

The article is indeed impactful, but the Asahi English edition seems to have taken it out of context a bit. The original Japanese piece was a part of the regular column “Reading the Economy” which focuses on economic aspects of current events.　It runs in the back pages and is not intended to serve as the crux of the newspaper’s editorial position.

One advantage that newspapers have over online news sources is their effective allocation of space to individual news stories/editorials. For people like me who only have occasionaly access to Japanese newspaper, this can be a problem. Asahi’s English site, for example, gives the paper’s editorials equal space next to background pieces like the one described. The Japanese site separates the op-ed section by column. Note to Asahi: PLEASE edit your English Op-ed section to make it less confusing!

For a better idea of what the Asahi really thinks of the Iran crisis, check this Asahi editorial, which puts them much closer to mainstream opinion:

That means Tehran should stop enriching uranium on its soil. It should allow the process to be done in Russia. That will provide the much-needed proof that it does indeed seek to build nuclear power plants as it claims. Once it becomes clear that Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, Tehran will receive international support for its nuclear program.

While denouncing the IAEA resolution, Iran has shown a willingness to accept routine inspections by the IAEA. That seems to be a ploy to shake international unity on the issue through a combination of hard-line and soft-line tactics. It may also be aimed at prodding China and Russia, which have taken a more conciliatory stance toward Iran, into avoiding any sanctions against Iran. For that, the roles of China and Russia in persuading Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions are very important. Time is limited. The international community should work out a formula to ensure a diplomatic solution to the crisis before resorting to forceful means, such as sanctions.

And indeed, MOFA’s official position on the issue is even clearer:
Continue reading Asahi Irresponsible on Iran? Not really.

10,000 yen curry – If I eat it all within 30 minutes can I have it free?

ZAKZAK!

Signs of a Fancy Curry Boom Emerging – High-Class Traditional Japanese Gourmet Restaurants Also Getting Involved, One Place Even Offers 10,000 yen Curry

Recently, curry rice, loved by children and easily made with stock bought at supermarkets, has been undergoing a transformation in Japan. Long-standing ryotei (high-class Japanese restaurants) and French restaurants are entering the market one after the other. Even a 10,000 yen premium curry with carefully selected ingredients has come on the scene. Perhaps the next star after the ramen boom will be fancy curry?

“The Flavor of the Old Ryotei“

Funaba Kitcho Shinsaibashi in Osaka’s Chuo Ward started selling curry for lunch limiting their offering to 20 meals (per day) in September 2005 for customers “to casually enjoy the taste of a ryotei.”

Famous Hyogo Prefecture beef brand “Sanda Beef” sirloin and more than 10 types of vegetables, including sweet potatoes from Kagoshima Prefecture, are cooked in a Japanese-style curry stock that uses a dashi broth of skipjack tuna and kombu seaweed for a touch of flavor.

Though somewhat expensive at 2100 yen, the meals are almost sold out every day since they have gained popularity since diners can enjoy a ryotei’s “curveball.” Manager Noriyoshi Kawaura (43) explains, “We have a good reputation from a wide demographic including women eating together and (male-female) couples.”

Selling 10,000 yen curry is the “Yokohama Curry Museum” in Yokohama City. The dish is full of top-class ingredients such as top-grade Yonezawa beef, 40 types of spices, and a gold-medal winning wine for a touch of flavor.

The Museum began offering the high-class curry last September on a limited basis, but changed its plans and continues to sell it due to unexpected popularity. The Museum’s analysis: “Curry’s base has spread even to those with deep pockets.”
Continue reading 10,000 yen curry – If I eat it all within 30 minutes can I have it free?

Japan and Iran: Good vs. Evil?

Saw a great headline this morning:

Monday, February 27, 2006

Aso Urges Iran To Halt Uranium Enrichment, Iran Says No

TOKYO (Kyodo)–Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday said his country will not suspend its uranium enrichment, rejecting a request from his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso at their meeting in Tokyo, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

Mottaki was quoted by the official as telling Aso that Iran is currently engaged in ”research activities” and that halting such resumption of uranium enrichment operations is ”impossible.”

Nice try, Japan! It’s unlikely that the international community will hold this diplomatic exercise in futility against you, so no worries! Aso gets an “A” for effort:

[February 04, 2006]

Japan viewed most positively in world poll, Iran most negatively

(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, Feb. 4_(Kyodo) _ Japan was most widely viewed as having a positive influence in the world, while Iran displaced the United States as the nation with the most negative rating, according to a BBC World Service survey released Friday.
Continue reading Japan and Iran: Good vs. Evil?