Banzai! We just screwed Japan!


The postal privatization bills failed. The Lower House has been dissolved, and there will be an election on Sept. 11. The picture is of Diet members cheering “Banzai” for the emperor (?) after their official dissolution.

Mrs. Saru said it best:

I am super disappointed that the bill did not pass. We have a great Foreign Minister right now who is good for Japan and U.S. relations. Great. So much of what is wrong in the Japanese socity and foreign policy is due to narrow-minded politicians and those who vote for them.

Masturbating for 15 Minutes on the Train “Not Public Indecency”?

The masturbation station
ZAKZAK is better than Waiwai:

Masturbating for 15 Minutes on the Train “Not Public Indecency” Says Man Arrested for Said Crime

Nobody likes a woman who thoughtlessly applies makeup on the train, but this case of a man, driven mad with desire for a woman, furiously masturbating for 15 minutes on the train home was a matter for police. This idiotic man, while admitting his unlawful act, claimed he wasn’t bothering anyone — he is said to be giving the absurd excuse that “it’s not public indecency.” He was working for a big company, had a wife, even bought his own condominium… This man, who was fulfilling the Japanese dream, threw it all away in a mere 15 minutes.

“I saw a girl that was my type, so I just went and did it,” said the 31-year-old employee of Dai-Nippon Printing Co. from Sakura District, Saitama City.

According to the investigations of Saitama Prefectural Police, Tokorozawa Precinct, the man got on the Musashi-Urawa Station on the Musashino Line after midnight on August 2 and sat down next to a woman in her 20s, whereupon he exposed himself and began spanking his monkey. He continued to pleasure himself even after he missed his stop at Nishi-Urawa, not stopping until 15 minutes later when he reached the end of the line, Higashi-Tokorozawa.

Since the few people in the train didn’t seem to notice, the housewife who endured this display of perversion finally barked, “What do you think you’re doing?” when her station drew near.

A male corporate worker (33) sitting nearby made himself useful and held the man down, but thankfully, according to the man, “he didn’t ejaculate.” You might think this was the act of a drunken man acting out in the night, but source say he was “totally sober.”

After graduating from a Hokkaido university, the suspect entered the nation’s largest domestic printing company, Dai-Nippon. He married a classmate from college and only recently moved into a condominium he had purchased near the station [ed: Living near the station is a big perk in Japan].

A neighbor living in his building described him as “small and not terribly handsome, but he was a diligent person who would say hello to you in the morning.

“The room he bought cost 20-30 million yen [about $200-300k] and was the biggest 4-bedroom condo in the building.” The neighbor couldn’t hide her surprise over the incident, saying that he thought they planned to have a big family.

Another neighbor spoke to us about the couple’s relationship.

“The wife worked for a charity, so she didn’t pay much attention to fashion, but she is the type of person who normally has a smile on her face. 5 or 6 of her friends from college would often come to visit, and the two of them would often go out together as a couple. I think they got along well.”

“The couple was married in June at a church in Australia, which reminded them of Hokkaido where they met. The pictures of expansive ocean and white beaches were most memorable for me,” says the neighbor.

When we arrived at the man’s home on the night of the 2nd, his wife would only say, “Nothing happened. Leave us alone, please.” I wonder what evil spirit now haunts what was once a life of smooth sailing.

In an unbelievable development, the man at first told investigators with a straight face, “(The masturbation) was just for my own pleasure, so it’s not public indecency.”

This is a man who, instead of just talking to a woman who’s his type, instead decides to sit next to her and jack off for 15 minutes. It was only a matter of time before he was caught with his pants down.

A Model for Japan?


The Washington Post has this article on the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to deport gang members who have immigrated to the US. The big ingenious move here was to have local law enforcement call customs and let them know that there is a Guatemalan gang hanging out in Adam’s Morgan or what have you:

Customs Jails 1,000 Suspected Gang Members

Federal immigration and customs officers have arrested more than 1,000 suspected gang members and associates so far this year as part of a nationwide campaign aimed at deporting illegal immigrants with suspected ties to violent criminal organizations, officials said yesterday.

Much like similar efforts after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to target suspected terrorist sympathizers, the Department of Homeland Security’s anti-gang program seeks to use immigration laws to remove many alleged gang members from the country rather than pursue them through U.S. criminal courts, officials said.

The campaign, dubbed Operation Community Shield and overseen by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division, has resulted in arrests of 1,057 alleged gang members over the past five months — including 582 suspects apprehended during a concerted push in the last two weeks of July. Eleven of the suspects were arrested in the Washington area, officials said.

The operation got its start in March as a way to target Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a violent street organization active in Northern Virginia and other parts of the South. But the program has quickly expanded to encompass alleged members of 80 gangs in 25 states, including Latin Kings, Asian Boyz and Jamaican Posse.

The crackdown comes as part of a renewed concentration on violent street gangs by the federal law enforcement agencies after several years of focusing primarily on terrorism issues.

Under the ICE anti-gang program, local and state police departments have supplied federal immigration and customs agents with the names of thousands of suspected gang members. Federal agents are comparing those lists with federal immigration databases to target members or associates who are in the country illegally or who have committed serious crimes that make them eligible for deportation, officials said.

Chertoff said that more than 900 of those arrested so far are eligible for deportation. The rest will probably be prosecuted for crimes including immigration violations and illegal possession of a firearm, officials said.

Perhaps Japan could try something like this to deal with its Chinese gang problems. Of course the cops are probably in bed with the mobsters so it probably won’t work. But it’s an idea.

Just cuz this shouldn’t go unnoticed — Japan Just Lost to NK in Soccer


First NK shuns Japan at the 6-party talks, now their soccer team is making Japan look like a bunch of fancy boys. I gotta say, the North Koreans sure know how to make someone feel unwelcome:

Japan stunned by N. Korea at E. Asian c’ship

Monday, August 1, 2005 at 07:38 JST
DAEJEON — Japan’s hopes of lifting their first east Asian championship title suffered an unexpected blow on Sunday after a shock 1-0 defeat to North Korea on the opening day of the four-team tournament in South Korea.

Kim Young Jun capitalized on some poor defending to strike the decisive goal in the 27th minute at Daejeon World Cup Stadium as North Korea avenged their recent 2-0 defeat in the Asian zone qualifying competition for next year’s World Cup finals.

I couldn’t find any pictures from the game but this was linked on Xinhua’s site:

Yowzer!

People are going to find this article on search engines for all the wrong reasons and that scares me

GTO, my favorite manga of all time, featured a teacher who got caught doing exactly this except it was more of an outhouse instead of a church:

Pastor Allegedly Videotapes Women, Girls With Hidden Camera
Four Girls On Tapes Were Under Age 10

GREENVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina pastor is charged with sexual exploitation and peeping after investigators found videos of women and girls at his church undressing and using the bathroom.

The 54-year-old minister, Leon Harris, has been released on bond, but was ordered to stay away from Rose Hill Free Will Baptist Church.

Pitt County detectives said at least eight females were videotaped on June 9, including four girls under the age of 10.

The arrest warrant said the videos are believed to have been recorded by two miniature cameras installed in a church bathroom.

Ew.

Help My Friend Masaco With Her English

I’m a little late in posting this, but here goes:

A friend of mine, Masaco (who has helped out with the content of MF several times, notably here and here), has opened a blog to help her practice her English. She is a highly-skilled Maki-e (traditional Japanese lacquerware) artist and eventually wants to be able to sell her wares on eBay.

Please take a look at her blog and feel free to comment on the English. You may get a chuckle out of some of the entries:

Gion bayashi(musical accompaniment in Japanese classical music at Gion festival) have expressed “♪Kon Kon Chikichin Kon Chiki Chin”.If you croon the Phrase after hear the Gion music, you wouldn’t hear except “Kon chiki chin”. It’s strangely. “Kon Chiki Chin” force out your original description.

The truth is that “Kon Chiki Chin” was only beginning.
I was once told by my father, The music at Aoi festival(one of 3 big festival in Kyoto) is expressed “Pii hyaaa la,hottoite”.By the way, “Hottoite” means “Leave me alone!!”. I could hear Aoi music “Hottoite” for sure, but somehow I can’t concent. Because…it’s too nonsense “leave me alone”.
Japanese has a lot of interesting expression, but I can’t concent that phrase “Chin ton shan”.This is sound of Samisen guitar.

I stray from the subject.At Gion festival, “Yoi Yoi saa! Yoi Saa!!” the reader’s word of command is 5/8 time signature……isn’t it??. Like a progressive rock or a jazz…..isn’t it???

Gambatte, Masaco!

Washington Post Lets You Know What it’s Like Living Here


Preach it, brother:

In the nation’s capital and environs, the infrastructure had deteriorated to what sometimes seems like Third World standards. In some cases, make that below Third World standards. In most of the developing countries I’ve visited, for example, they manage to keep the power on during a garden-variety thunderstorm. But here, in the most powerful city in the world — a city of humid summers, where thunderstorms are to be expected all season long — all it takes is a few flashes of lightning, and inevitably at least a few thousand households are left in the dark.

The highways around here are so clogged that there’s no longer a predictable rush hour, just random times when the Beltway is at a standstill and other random times when the traffic is merely oppressive. You could take the subway, but whatever station you use, the escalator will probably be broken. Our engineers can design a cruise missile that will turn a 90-degree corner, knock on the target’s door and say “Candygram!” to bluff its way inside, but we can’t quite master the intricacies of the escalator.

You could just walk, but be advised that occasionally something beneath a heavily trafficked sidewalk will short out and explode, turning innocent manhole covers into Frisbees of Death.

That manhole thing is either made up or blown way out of proportion. But he has a point about the other stuff. But hey at least Washington has some cool statues (See above and below):


Tensei Jingo Reveals the Shocking Truth of Aichi Expo: No Awnings

Asahi’s venerable bottom-of-the-front-page anonymous column Tensei Jingo (“Vox Populi, Vox Dei” in Latin, I’ll be damned if I know what it means in English 😛 ) warns against waiting in line at the Aichi Expo in the hot summer sun:

I was told the waiting time for the Japan Pavilion was 90 minutes. Normally, I would give this a miss, but I decided I might as well give it a try.

As the queue crept forward, I waited in the direct sun for quite a while. I dampened my handkerchief with bottled water and covered my head with it.

The waiting came to an end after 75 minutes, but I was in the pavilion no longer than 15 minutes. It was still hot when I came out at 4 p.m. The temperature was over 30 degrees in the nearby city of Nagoya.

I could tell various measures were being taken to beat the heat. For instance, there was a long corridor where an artificial mist was generated to bring relief to many visitors. And throughout the Expo site, the extensive use of wood is apparently meant to tame the reflective heat. But the real summer heat has yet to hit, and I had to wonder if these measures were sufficient.

For instance, if long waiting lines are the norm, the Expo organizers should install more awnings and sun shades. Visitors themselves should bring fans or parasols or wear hats; make sure they have plenty to drink; and not force themselves to keep standing in line if it gets too uncomfortable.

The horror!