The Asahi reports that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, while having a dinner meeting with attendants including LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe on the evening of July 6th said, “I’m glad that the Taepodong didn’t come flying while I was at Elvis’s estate.” One attendee said in response, “The Prime Minster does have good luck,” to which several others agreed.
Earlier post on the PMs visit to Graceland here.
I was just watching Korean TV from my posh executive digs here in Washington and a fun ad for a Korean-language emergency hotline came on. I’ll describe it for you:
There’s been a car crash. A besuited Korean man, bleeding but coherent, has called 911 on his cell phone. The music is urgent and dramatic. He speaks in slightly halting but proficient English:
“Hello my name is Park and I’d like to report an accident… no Park is my name! I have a rent-a-car… Hello? No, there has been an accident!”
Then an announcer begins speaking in Korean. The only word I can pick up is “hangukeu” (Korean language). Then an 800-number appears on the screen with some Korean text. End of commercial.
I can’t tell if the hotline is at all government-sponsored, but if there’s a real need for such services maybe it should be. I hope the 800-number doesn’t connect you to an ambulance-chasing lawyer or something.
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.
Reader mail on our ever-popular “Fuck Zapan” Post:
Mr. Berman (of Mutant frog)
I stumbled across your posting on the song F_UCK ZAPAN, and was so offended that I looked up information in the Internet to find out more information about this racist hate.
However, I checked DJ DOC’s Japanese website, and they emphatically deny that they were the group responsible for this single. It’s a song by the indies band Kudara. http://ampoko.daa.jp/djdoc/
Since I don’t read Korean, would it be possible to find the source that lists the artist for this single? Maybe we could check the Korean indies chart to see if this song even made it to #2 on the indies chart.
Your help would be appreciated. Right now, a Japanese band (DJ Ozma) has made a cover of DJ Doc’s Run to You, and so interest in DJ Doc has run high in Japan. If you read
Japanese, you can read about the rumors of DJ Doc and F_ck Zapan at:
http://music4.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/dj/1143802542/
Indeed, it would be um, irresponsible of us to…you know.. report facts without checking them out, right? So, my Korean brethren: who feels like taking a trip to the library and looking up chart information? Little help here? Does this so-called “Kudara” group exist? If so, did it include any members of this DJ DOC group?
Before we go that far, thanks to the rise of easy video sites like youtube.com, we can compare the original anti-Japan rap and songs that are verified to be by DJ DOC.
Here‘s the original song. Give it another listen, why don’t you?
Now let’s listen to that “Run to You” song – it’s a very professionally produced remix of Nirvana’s “Come as you Are”! What about “Street Life“? Different! Watch as these thugs rock out in their rollerblades! None of the amateurish qualities of the anti-Japan song. These DJ DOC people seem like actual professionals who might even be above using Starcraft samples. If it’s really not DJ DOC, then we at MF certainly owe them an apology.
Now here are some more clips available at the website of major Korean broadcaster KBS (clips require Windows Media Player). Here we learn that the DOC stands for “Dream of Children”… makes me think more of the Neverland Ranch than “street life” but whatever.
But I have to admit… the chubby guy with the blond hair does sound like one of the guys in the “Fuck Zapan” song… could it be that the Fuck Zapan group was some kind of precursor to DJ DOC? According to the KBS biography,
However, from their 4th album, the hip-hop group started to experience some difficulties in performing in public. As the lyrics of some songs contained vulgar and too direct expressions of criticizing the society and sexual depictions, some words had to be changed in order to be performed in public. Although there were some obstacles in pursuing their music, DJ DOC still managed to record a hit, probably their biggest, with the song “Dance With DJ DOC” included in their 4th album.
This is too confusing! We need our Korean friends to look this up for us please!
I just got to Thailand on a trip to visit Mrs. Adamu. The flight over on Korean Air was awesome. Let me tell you why:
All in all a great ride and I highly recommend it – they don’t seem to have a restriction on carry-on bags either.
A Korean bee farmer was stung over 200 times in a puzzling statement of protest over Japanese claims to the Dokdo/Takeshima Islands:
“The honeybee dares to abandon its life when enemies are attempting to attack, to protect its own home. From now on, I hope these bees will contribute to protect our Dokdo”, Ahn Sang-Gyu said.
An impressive feat, not to mention a very creative way to attract attention to the issue.
While it can’t really be considered a “beard” of bees, the sheer number and weight of the bees beats out Grandpa Simpson‘s old fictional record of 15 pounds. Since Ahn wore a “symbolic” 187,000 bees, that means his bee suit weighed in at 41.1 pounds, assuming an average weight of 100mg per honeybee.
UPDATE: WOAH – this story is way cooler than I imagined – this guy wasn’t just standing around in a bee suit – he did a full-on cannonball on the Japanese flag covered in bees!
DOUBLE UPDATE: This guy is the world record holder for bee beards, so basically he decided to cheapen his accomplishment by rehashing the act to attach a small-minded political agenda to it. Way to go, chump. You’ll regret that on your deathbed, at which time ocean levels will have risen to the point that Dokdo no longer exists.
Update by Mutantfrog:I found a video clip of this online. Enjoy everyone!
This Japanese blog that also linked to the video has a little more to say.
* He first stood on a scale model of Dokdo and stripped off his outer hanbuk and stood in place for two hours so the bees could settle in place, and then jumped from a 60cm high platform onto a Japanese Hi no Maru flag that was laid out on the ground, so that the bees would “attack” it.
* The 187,000 bees represent the cumultative 187,453 square meter total of the Dokdo islands.
* He was stung in over 200 places, but isn’t allergic and the pain has faded in the 2 days since the stunt.
* He said, “No matter how much it hurts, I will not run from Japan’s provocation,” and “I wanted to show that not jus the people of Korea, but also the bees are angry.”
Some Harvard kids got some intimate time with Shinzo Abe and Seiji Maehara. So guess what the Korean wanted to ask about?
Wait for it…
A student from South Korea said Abe’s stance on visiting Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead as well as Class-A war criminals, did not come up during the meeting due to time constraints.
Hahahahaha. Riiiiight.
“If he (Abe) becomes the next prime minister, there would be no improvement in Japan’s relations with South Korea and China,” the student said on condition of anonymity.
However, the student also said Maehara was an engaging politician who gave “clear comments” on the party’s stance against acts of worship at the contentious Yasukuni Shrine by top Japanese political figures.
Meanwhile, the Anglosphere types are more concerned about different issues:
Andre Stein of Australia held a different view, criticizing the DPJ’s contradictory stance on national security.
“While Maehara agrees with U.S. (military) protection of Japan, the party is not interested in supporting the allied forces in Iraq,” he said.
One’s concerned with mismanaging the past; the other’s concerned with mismanaging the future. To be fair, the Japan Times only published two opinions; perhaps they’re just looking for what they think is most conventional.
A man almost completely severed his left hand with a machete in front of the National Diet Building on Tuesday, apparently to protest policies toward North Korea, police said.
The 54-year-old man approached the front gates of the building by car, stepped out, silently placed his left hand against the hood of his car and swung the 40 centimeter blade down across his left wrist, according to Tokyo police official Hideyuki Yoshioka.
The man, who identified himself as a member of a right-wing organization, then mumbled a few words about Japan’s handling of the abduction of its citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s. Police snatched the machete and rushed him to a hospital, Yoshioka said.
The man “appeared to be in a lot of pain and his hand was hanging by a piece of skin,” according to Yoshioka.
[…]
Last October, another man linked to Japan’s extreme right tried to commit suicide outside the prime minister’s office by downing pesticide. Police said he was carrying a letter demanding that the prime minister pay his respects at a Tokyo shrine that honors Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals.In the past year, a woman has also tried to kill herself by ritual disembowelment in front of Koizumi’s office, demanding the leader resign.
Curzon, if this keeps up, it looks like you may not be able to make fun of Korean as easily. What’s a few psychos over there cutting off fingers compared to entire hands in Japan?
A commenter asked us whatever happened to Nasubi, the aspiring comedian who allowed Japanese TV to kidnap him and force him to survive by entering sweepstakes in 1998.
Well, as usual, Wikipedia has the answer (paraphrased):
Nasubi’s feature is, as noted by his stage name (Nasubi means “eggplant” in Japanese), his 30cm-long face. He has sought a dramatic acting career since he started, and is currently active mostly in stage productions. In 2002 he founded the “Eggplant Way” and serves as its chief.
Recently most of his television appearances have been on local programs in his native Fukushima, but in 2005 he appeared in national TV dramas “Train Man” and “Trick New Special.”
Looks like he survived his near-starvation experience to go on to moderate success as an actor. Good for him! Check Nasubi’s official website (Japanese only) for appearances. He also keeps a pretty regular diary (latest entry):
So, so strong!!
The World Baseball Classic semifinals… The overall game made me numb, but the third time’s the charm! This game showed us Japan’s sticktuitiveness? or its latent energy, it was 110% worth seeing (*^_^*)
Both teams…had very fine plays, also plays where they had to make up for mistakes, and I got the deep impression that we can be proud of Asia’s high level of baseball throughout the world!!
But truthfully? Don’t you feel kind of bad for Korea?
3/19/2006 (Sunday)
Umm, not really! I was just watching Japan trounce Cuba in the finals (right now it’s 6-3 in the bottom of the 8th). Once, when Ichiro was running home, he actually stopped the 3rd baseman from throwing home by intentionally blocking his line of vision. That’s some superhero shit, my man.
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)
