Category: Japan

Biker gangs a thing of the past? After 11 years, “Bosozoku” disappear


Via ZAKZAK:

Hiroshima Prefectural Police announced Mar 18 that their Bosozoku/Youth Crimes Division, which was responsible for controlling the activities of “Bosozoku” or Japanese youth biker gangs, would merge with the Youth Development Division on April 1 to become the new Youth Crimes Division. Most of the gangs have disbanded, creating less of a need to monitor them.

Since installing the Counter-Bosozoku Office in 1994, a Division with the word “Bosozoku” in it will disappear from the Prefectural Police after 11 years.

Bosozoku clashed with riot police in 1999’s Ebisu Matsuri (festival). Since then, a movement to eliminate the Bosozoku came into being, with a Bosozoku Banishment Ordinance and other measures. At the end of last year, membership in Bosozoku had decreased to under one third its peak number (in 1999), 119 people.

My Comment: I knew that Bosozoku were out of style, but at this rate maybe they’ll disappear entirely within a few years.

Japan Brings Judo to Iraq as Humanitarian Aid

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on March 18 that they will be providing 200 Judo uniforms to the Iraqi Judo Federation. Their stated purpose is:

to promote friendship with Iraqi people and to deepen their understanding about Japan and also strengthen their hope toward the future through Judo, which is one of the national sports of Japan that place importance on the spiritual side.

This is in addition to the $91,000 of judo and soccer (football for you non-Americans) equipment that they donated to Iraq just short of one year ago.

Apparently judo has a sizable presence in Iraq, with over 25,000 members in their national judo federation, and it seems that the sport is taken quite seriously there. According to this article on one Iraqi Olympic athlete (in another sport):

Iraq’s judo champion, who will carry the national flag at the opening ceremony, and his coach were once incarcerated in Uday’s private dungeons after performing below expectations.)

An ad I saw on my trip

Japundit brings us a translation of a kooky ad I saw on my trip. It’s a clever ad in that it appears to invite people to imagine how great learning English could be while in reality doing the imagining for them:

If I could speak English, I would . . .

  • I would live in Hawaii with lots of dogs.
  • I would eat all the desserts in the world!
  • I would buy the materials for aroma therapy and mix them myself.
  • I would lecture the loud foreigners on the train.
  • I would raise my children in America: one artist, one computer programmer.
  • I would go work in a foreign marketing firm.
  • I would start a dental office for foreigners.

    • Read the rest over at Japundit or NEOMARXISME. We can’t make these up folks!

    Classic Jappanica: Chinese Language Schools to Open Worldwide


    Here’s a blog post from my old Adamu’s Jappanica (now continuing as DC Honyaku) that takes us back to the good old days of December 2004:

    Nihao, everybody! I’m back from Thanksgiving break and don’t want to do any work, so I’m back blogging. This right here is the last sign I need to prove to me that the Chinese are taking over. We might as well just sign up for these classes now before it becomes mandatory. Here’s part of a Japanese report on it:

    “Confucius Institute” aims to open 100 schools

    China has embarked on a project to spread the Chinese language around the world. In cooperation with universities in various countries, they plan to open 100 “Confucius Institutes” specializing in Chinese education.

    Increased interest in learning Chinese as a result of China’s rapid development may behind this effort, but it is likely that far-reaching nationalist strategies to strengthen China’s global influence and presence may be afoot.

    Before the opening, a National Chinese Language Guidance Group signed a pact with Washington, DC-area University of Maryland to open America’s first Confucius Institute in an effort to promote the Chinese language in America’s legal, financial, and government centers.

    A representative of the Group, Vice Chairman Chang, said “Japan’s educational institutions are also cooperating on opening an Institute.” It has been reported that Sweden, Uzbekistan and other countries have also signed pacts to open schools. The Institutes work by the hosting institution providing the land and facilities for the schools while the Chinese government provides teachers and materials.

    Why the choice of “Confucius” for the name of the front-line headquarters for Chinese language propagation? Experts say it’s because it’s not only well known but also easy to understand, making it perfect as China’s “unified brand.”

    Chang pointed out that “there is a strong demand for the development of Chinese language guides in Africa and Egypt due to the rise in overseas tourism by Chinese people.”

    And here’s an excerpt of Xinwha‘s report:

    Zhou Ji, Chinese minister of Education and Li Bin, Chinese ambassador to Republic of Korea attended the opening ceremony, the Xinhua News Agency reported.


    Zhou said the Confucius Institute, as the school is called, is the first of its kind in a foreign country. He said his administration will spare no effort in promoting Chinese learning in the Republic of Korea by supporting the institute’s operations.


    Students from the Republic of Korea are the largest overseas student source in China and vice versa.


    The institute is seen as an effort to expand Chinese language in foreign countries, said Zhang Guoqiang, deputy director of National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL), sponsor of the institute.


    A rising number of international students are showing a keen desire to learn Chinese, he added.


    Confucius institutes, which have been globally approved, will be established in Asia, Africa and Europe.

    A search for “Confucius Institute” at Google News these days reveals that the University of Maryland is about to open its Institute in the near future.

    ［時事］Korean Public Execution UPDATE and more footage 北朝鮮の公開処刑

    UPDATE: The follow-up is just an analysis from Japanese TV where they interview people and stuff. THERE IS NO NEW FOOTAGE ON THE 2ND PART.

    映像：PART　1 (映像）、　PART 2（大いに解説）

    The video of the North Korean public executions has moved here.

    UPDATE 2: PHOTIOS provides some explanation for what’s happening in the video for those who don’t speak Japanese:

    The video shows two consecutive days. During the first day you see a group of people brought to watch the trial and execution. It occurs out at the execution ground with the posts prepared on the other side of a van. The trial takes about twenty minutes. The crowd is then led around the van and two of the prisoners are executed, the other nine sentenced to prison terms. The crime? Crossing into North Korea from China numerous times to help North Koreans escape and being paid by a broker in China to do it. Immediately after they are shot you can here a guard ask loudly “Are they dead?”.

    On the second day the “trial” is even quicker, with the execution posts being put up during the trial. One man is executed for the same crime. Following the execution a guard loudly announces to the crowd, “this is what you get if you do not respect and work for Kim Jong Il Shogun”.

    And here is a follow-up program from Japanese TV on the footage of public execution in the DPRK. The executions are reportedly part of the crackdown on defections that is taking place.

    Stay tuned for a more detailed look at the videos.

    Kawanishi’s Human Rights Ombudsperson Reports

    From Mainichi Local:

    Complaints about family, friends on the rise

    Kawanishi, Hyogo’s Children’s Human Rights Ombudsperson, the first such 3rd-party moderator in Japan, will release its yearly reporton Mar 19 at 1:30 PM at its general office in Hidaka-cho.

    According to the report, last year there were 179 complaints, and a total of 504 since the ombudsman was installed. The content of complaints was (in order from most to fewest cases): family, friends, mental-phyical health problems, bullying, teachers.

    Ombudsperson Tanaka Fumiko, who reported to the Mayor Takashibau on Mar 10, said, “Since I am a third party, I would like to continue listening to children and think about their problems with them.”

    An example of the very liberal local governing in Japan. Japan’s cities tend to be generous in offering socialized health care and living stipends for poor families due to their federal funding.

    Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki: Beyond The Mat


    I recently set up Google News Alerts, a wonderful service that e-mails you search results from Google News whenever they show up. My first big payoff is this story, going beyond the mat documenting the 1976 “boxer versus wrestler” match between Muhammad Ali and my favorite Japanese wrestler, Antonio Inoki. It’s a great read (excerpt quoted below):

    “Now Herbert [Muhammad, Ali’s manager] came to me and he said these Japanese people have come to him with all kinds of money to go over and fight this wrestler, Inoki, in Japan,” says Bob Arum, who promoted the exhibition. While Arum has promoted some of the biggest fights in boxing history, he has also promoted other extravaganzas, most notably Evel Knievel’s attempt to jump the Snake Canyon in a rocket car.

    Ali’s handlers began putting the fight together in April of 1975, when Ali met Ichiro Yada, the then-president of the Japan Amateur Wrestling Association, at a party in the United States. Ali asked Yada, “Isn’t there any Oriental fighter to challenge me? I’ll give him one million dollars if he wins.” Ali was probably joking but Yada brought his comment back to the Japanese press. When Inoki read Ali’s words, he relentlessly pursued a match, finally getting him to sign a deal in March of 1976.

    The money was without a doubt great: $6 million for Ali, $4 million for Inoki. And the bout seemed like it would be nothing more than fun, entertaining fare. As Arum put it, “Professional wrestlers are performers. The thing is a fraud.”

    However, Inoki had not planned to put on a show. To him and his manager, it was a serious fight between a boxer and a wrestler. According to Pacheco, “Ali’s fight in Tokyo was basically a Bob Arum thought up scam that was going to be ‘ha-ha, ho-ho. We’re going to go over there. It’s going to be orchestrated. It’s going to be a lot of fun and it’s just a joke.’ And when we got over there, we found out no one was laughing.”
    Continue reading Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki: Beyond The Mat

    Historical Value of the Yen

    Before I go, I just wanted to post an excerpt of an email I got from Saru the other day.

    * * * * *

    With regard to your question about the historic value of the yen. It
    was set at 360 to the dollar during the occupation. There is a story
    that attributes the choosing of this value because “yen” means round
    and someone thought it would be appropriate since there are 360
    degrees in a circle. At any rate, this may be apocryphical.

    It stayed at 360 until August 1970, when Nixon pulled the US off of
    the gold standard, effectively ending the Bretton Woods System. The
    Japanese call this “nixon shock.” By this point, because the Japanese
    were running substantial current account surpluses, the yen was
    considerably undervalued. The Japanese government tried to keep it at
    Bretton Woods levels, but eventually gave up and let it float. Since
    it was undervalued, it rose pretty quickly from about 360 at the start
    of 1971 to stabilize around the 300 mark until the mid-1970s. It hit a
    high of 183 in the late 1970s and then fell again back to the mid-200s
    by 1980. Then it skyrocketed in the mid-90s. You can check out the
    detailed numbers yourself at the address below if you’re interested.
    The Bank of Japan used to have great stats, but I checked today and
    for some reason they only have effective exchange rates indexed at 100 for March 1973.

    Yen/Dollar exchange rates history.

    Incidentially, when my boss first went to Japan back in 1971, he said
    it was his first real lesson in economics because the yen just kept
    getting more expensive and more expensive. On a similar note, 94-95
    would have been a great time to have been teaching English and getting
    paid in yen. Jesus I wish I were six or seven years older sometimes!

    Japanese Lesson Quickie #1

    なかったことにしよう　- Let’s pretend it didn’t happen.

    ↑ A sentiment that is communicated silently in Japan all the time, such as in encounters with people like this:

    I also had no respect for train etiquette. I learned that, first of all, it’s a real taboo to bust through the gates and not pay. It is also a taboo to talk on your keitei (Cell-Phone) and to make a scene by talking too loud and animated. Also, eating a meal while you ride the trains is a real no-no too!

    HOWEVER, some foreigners, like some of thhe people in my circle off work-friends, including myself do not ALWAYS follow these rules. I have tried hard, but on occasion, you recieve an important phone call while on the train. You can either just brush it off or answer it, and once you do that, you perpetuate the “Filthy Gaijin” stereotype. I have learned that you can bust through the games and no-onne, I mean NO-ONE will say anything. I have seen this point proven when someone I knew jumped through the games, and went back to ask for directions to the same train attendant who saw him do it.

    It was totally disrespectful of the norms of Jjapanese society, but what can you do? It was so easy and convenient. Sure, I would get pangs of guilt when I first did it upon arriving in Japan, but that lasts about as long as the walk from the platform to my seat. In less than a minute, my thoughts had shifted to that foxy little school-girl who’s rubbing her naked.. supple.. lovely smooth tanned thighs agaist my leg. Ahh, the upsides of being a young white man in Japan.

    I have also felt guilty when some drunken gaijin acts like a food on the last trinas, pissed drunk. I have seen the patience of some commuters tested to the limits when some drunken dude being so annoying that I’m sure he would have been beaten to a pulp anywhere else in the world.

    I have eaten entire McDonalds meals on the train, late for work and needing to fill my stomach before meeting a potential client. I have also talked on my cel phone, taking and making calls that could have easily been postponed until my desitantion.

    Lest it sound like I’m trying to criticize this guy, let me say that I’ve done all that and worse in Japan, and he atones for his sins later in the post. I totally understand where he’s coming from, for the most part.