Culture – Page 73 – Mutantfrog Travelogue

Bandai lists top cartoon characters in Japan: Anpanman #1 4 years running

According to Bandai‘s “Children’s Favorite Cartoon Characters Ranking” released on June 22, “Go! Anpanman” was the top choice for boys and girls for the fourth year in a row.

At #2 and below were, in order: “The Precure Duo“, “Pocket Monsters“, “Winnie the Pooh“, and “Hello Kitty“.

Anpanman was overwhelmingly preferred by the 0-2 age bracket, with 58.6% choosing him as their favorite. For 3-5 year olds the top was “Precure” (LINK NOT SAFE FOR WORK), a show popular among young girls. “Pocket Monsters” was the favorite for both the 6-8 and 9-12 age brackets.

On Anpanman’s popularity, Bandai gathered, “There are lots of characters that show up on the show, and the stories, where the goodguys always win, are easy to understand and entertaining for both children and their caregivers.” (Metropolis magazine online has a good article on the origins and popularity of Anpanman)

The survey asked the opinions of 2000 caregivers of children 12 or under in the beginning of April of this year.

NEWS FLASH OMFG: FAMILY MART TO OPEN IN AMERICA!!!!!

AP brings good tidings:

Japan’s ‘Family Mart’ to Open in U.S.
06.21.2005, 09:14 AM

AWESOME Japanese convenience store operator FamilyMart Co. said Tuesday it plans to open 200 stores in the U.S. over the next four years, the first in California.

The inaugural U.S. store will open July 20 in West Hollywood, California, under the name “Famima,” the nickname widely used by Japanese.

It will offer traditional Japanese convenience store staples like “omusubi” rice balls, “bento” box lunches and sushi, as well as U.S. fare like takeaway sandwiches, the company said in a statement. < -- I've died and gone to heaven! "We would like our American customers to experience a new shopping style," it said. FUCK YEAH, I have been waiting for this for EIGHT YEARS!!! The store will also feature wireless Internet access, an ATM, a copy machine and an eat-in area, it said. COOL! The company said it plans to have three U.S. locations by the end of the year and about 200 by February 2009. OPEN ONE IN DC. I BEG YOU. FamilyMart already has about 11,500 stores, including franchises, in Japan and other Asian locations including South Korea, Thailand, China and Taiwan.

Guess what? When “Famima” opens in DC, I never have to go to Japan again! I’ll just eat lunch there every day! Haha! I never thought Forbes Magazine would make me feel like dancing on air, but then I never expected this either! Joy!

U.S. Receives Assurance From Japan on Beef Exports

NYTimes reports:

The United States Agriculture Department won assurance from the Japanese government on Tuesday that a second potential case of mad cow disease found on American soil would not affect negotiations to resume beef exports to Japan, the top American export market.

But critics of the department’s mad cow testing program said the case underscored the need for more intensive testing to determine how prevalent the fatal, brain-wasting disease was in the American herd.

The Agriculture Department said Friday that it had found bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in an animal that had tested negative last November. It would be the second case of the disease to be found in the United States, and the fifth in North America, since 2003.

On Monday Taiwan, which had resumed imports of American beef two months ago, and South Korea, which had been negotiating to restart them, expressed concern about the new case. Taiwanese officials said that if a final round of testing confirmed the disease that it would cease importing American beef. The news helped sink cattle future prices to their lowest level in 13 months.

But beef prices recovered slightly on Tuesday after Japanese officials said the latest discovery would not derail plans to restart exports to Japan, which imported $1.4 billion worth of American beef in 2003, or 36 percent of all American exports.

Soon people throughout Japan will once again be able to enjoy a nice gyu-don at Yoshinoya, just like here in Taiwan or back home in NYC.

Gourmet Watermelon “Densuke” auctions for 280,000 yen

The first-ever auction of the black-skinned watermelons known as “Densuke”, a delicacy of Hokkaido’s Tohma village, took place in markets in Asahikawa and Sapporo on June 10th.

The 15 melons auctioned in Asahikawa weighed, on average, 8kg with a diameter of about 30cm. A-Coop Asahikawa, a regional supermarket, paid the highest price, or 280,000 yen for one. This price was the same “charity price” as last year (tr: i.e. the Coop overpaid to support the farmers).

The melons this year are smaller than usual due to poor sunlight but are reported to be sufficiently sweet. During the peak time at the beginning of July, the melons will sell for a few thousand yen apiece mostly in retail stores in Hokkaido and the Tokyo area.

Tohma began raising the Densuke 「田助」 melons 22 years ago, and the unique name comes from a comic actor’s stage name. It also has the meaning of a rice field whose crops were rotated due to yield reductions (tr: or a slang term for a portable tape recorder).

Where’s the Niurou?

The Asahi reported today that as of June 1st, Yoshinoya resumed sales of gyudon at all 45 of its stores in Taiwan. This is the first time Taiwanese gyudon lovers have been able to buy the bowls in one year and four months since Yoshinoya halted sales last February following the Taiwanese ban on U.S. beef imports. Taiwan reopened imports in April, but only for cattle under 30 months of age.

According to the article, the price is some 20 percent higher than before sales were halted, but this apparently hasn’t stopped large numbers of visiting Japanese businessmen from frequenting Yoshinoya outlets.

Since MFT founding contributor Roy is in Taiwan this summer, and in keeping with the challenge issued by Adamu last week, and Curzon and Joe‘s intrepid trek to consume coffee flavored ramen, perhaps Roy might be willing to visit and give an eyewitness account. Five points for every photo you get of a Japanese salaryman chowing down on gyudon! And ten for any still beating hearts you find in the bowl!

Pagishikinda! Pagishikinda!

Outpost Gallifrey reports:

“Pagishikinda! Pagishikinda! Now the Daleks take on Doctor Who in Korea. In the first deal of its kind, BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has concluded a contract with Korea’s biggest public television station, KBS, for the smash hit BBC One series, Doctor Who.

This is the first time a UK drama series has been sold to a Korean public station, and KBS will launch Doctor Who on KBS 2 in a primetime, two-hour slot on Sunday 5 June. Viewers will be introduced to ‘Dacter Who’ (Doctor Who), his companion Rose, and enemy, the Daleks, who blast, ‘Pagishikinda!’ (‘Exterminate!’). KBS will broadcast two episodes per week, and the series will be dubbed for the Korean audience.

Russell T. Davies, writer and executive producer of Doctor Who said, ‘The Doctor has travelled far and wide and knows no boundary and now the programme is doing much the same! We are delighted that Korea has embraced this wonderful adventure.’

Jungwon Lee, Executive Director, KBS Media, said: ‘We are very excited to launch Doctor Who on our network. For the first time in a primetime weekend slot, we are bringing the latest hit BBC drama to our Korean audience and anticipate a great reaction from all age groups.’

Linfield Ng, Korea and Taiwan Territory Manager, BBC Worldwide (Asia) added: ‘We are delighted that one of Asia’s largest public broadcasters, KBS, is supporting one of the most recognised BBC brands. We thank KBS for being so ambitious in launching Doctor Who in such a great time slot.'”

Doctor Who has been my favorite television program since I was about eight years old, and I can’t wait to hear what Daleks sound like dubbed into Korean. Still though, I find it infuriating that the Doctor will be shown on Korean TV while no American station has yet decided to purchase airing rights to the series. It was reported that Scifi channel turned it down before the premiere of the new Doctor Who series, which after having seen the ten episodes so far I find utterly unfathomable. The show is fantastic, and has had some of the highest viewer ratings and media reviews in UK television history, and they had better be kicking themselves hard for having passed it up.

Philly Cheesesteaks Suck — My trip to Philadelphia

First, let me tell you why I’m writing this: THE HYPE SURROUNDING PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS IS A LIE AND MUST BE STOPPED. They are disgusting and deserve none of the fame that they have gained. Now let me explain:

I recently had the chance to visit beautiful Philadelphia with Mrs. Adamu. The first capital of the United States includes a major monument to its role in the American Revolution in the center, which was certainly very impressive but not quite impressive enough to actually make me wait in line to see the liberty bell. Mrs. Adamu and I were soon bored, on our way home we decided to try the famous Philly Cheese Steak at Geno’s Steaks in South Philly — the biggest mistake I’ve made in a long time.

I felt betrayed as soon as I took the first bite and was greeted with hot blandness. All the hype, all the anticipation amounted to this:

Listen to the ingredients: Steakums, cheez whiz, and chopped onions on a soggy Portuguese roll. WTF? That’s it? This is the same crap I’ve been heating up in the microwave as a last resort food for years! What gives, Philadelphia??

The only thing that made it edible was the hot sauce that was available in the condiments section. At least then there was something to taste.

Initially I blamed myself. Had Japan tainted my taste buds so that I can no longer enjoy classic American food? Mrs. Adamu, a native Japanese, supported this initial suspicion. But then, no, I reasoned, I still like root beer, cheeseburgers and pancakes, so I must still be American enough to have an objective opinion.

So how could this have happened? Millions of people must be cheated out of their money each year based on the false assumption that something is different about Steakum sandwiches in Philadelphia. What a scam.

Clearly the cheese steaks are popular — there were stands all over the historical district and both Geno’s and the place across the street were lined up. Why weren’t more people spitting out their food and demanding their $6.50 back? I mean that’s a lot to pay for what’s basically the equivalent of peanut butter and jelly.

The answer came to me in a message from God. Without warning someone in a car shouted “NAZI FUCKS!!!!” in our general direction and sped off. Were they talking to me? (I shave my head so who knows) I looked around:

(Read here for more about this guy and Mumia)

(Note the tribute to 9-11 next to the Freedom Fries — aside from us and some other tourists, the rest of the customers were cops and firemen)

It was at once obvious that this place that serves its dubious delicacies with a heaping help of local pride and admiration for the most prominent local heroes, cops and firemen. These people don’t come here for good food, they come here because it’s part of their identity.

Now, that’s all well and good, but why must cheesesteaks then become something pawned off on unsuspecting out-of-towners? Perhaps because without cheesesteaks and the liberty bell, there isn’t exactly much to differentiate Philly from, say, Boston, DC, or other second-tier American cities. Yet I can’t accept the idea that any claim to fame is better than none. You might as well brag about having the world’s best green beans. These things are BLAND, BORING, AND SHAMEFUL. All Philadelphians with any self-respect would do well to shut these scheisters down before they can do any more harm. Besides, I hear they’re run by Nazis.

Coffee-flavored Ramen Available in Tokyo’s Katsushika-ku

This message is intended for Curzon and Nichi Nichi:

I saw this on the Japanese news today:

That’s right. Coffee flavored ramen. It’s a 5-minute walk from Ohanachaya station on the Keisei line. And it’s apparently pretty good. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to eat this strange ramen and let me know how it tastes. Good luck and godspeed!

Poll on Mainichi Front Page

After how long can a couple be considered “sexless“?

1 month
2 months
6 months
1 year
4 years
12 years

So far 6 months (32%), 1 month (25%), and 1 year (20%) are in the lead.

“Sexless” has become a buzzword in Japan and is used to describe married couples who never get it on with each other. There are a lot of them and for a myriad of reasons, the most common one given is that marriage in Japan is meant for children and considerations like attractiveness often do no enter into the decision making process when it comes time to get married. Couldn’t tell you myself, but interesting nonetheless.

Japan and China United in Pedophilia: the unlikely diplomacy of Saaya Irie

I had heard about this a few days ago but was originally too disgusted to report on it. The very existence of this girl as a sex object makes me question my whole involvement with Japanese society. It looks like, however, she is helping to quell anti-Japanese sentiment in China. Here’s the story:

Busty child reported to ease anti-Japan tension in China

By GEOFF BOTTING
Shukan Bunshun (May 19)

The wave of anti-Japanese sentiment in China continues, more than a month since the first round of demonstrations against the Japanese government’s approval of a controversial school textbook flared throughout the country. Diplomats and politicians on both sides have been trying to diffuse tensions in a flurry of meetings and shuttle diplomacy, but so far these methods have had only limited effect.

At this point, it might seem that a miracle is required to put bilateral relations fully back on track.

Saaya Irie, an 11-year-old Japanese girl, may not be that miracle, but she has clearly played a part in pacifying a certain segment of China’s population, according to Shukan Bunshun.

If anything about Saaya is miraculous, it’s her body — she wears an F-cup bra, though she has yet to reach her teens. So when a photo of her in a bikini was posted on a Chinese Internet forum called “100,” she immediately caused a sensation.

The pic was accompanied by message — rendered in mock Marxist rhetoric — reading: “An 11-year-old Japanese girl with large breasts has a proclamation for all Chinese people! Dear elder brothers, a beautiful young Japanese girl is beseeching you.

“Please stop these anti-Japanese hijinks. If you don’t, I won’t like you anymore.”

At the end of the message, she states that her breasts would “rise up” if the people “unite for the sake of China’s democracy.”

According to an anonymous source described as an Internet expert, the message and photo were posted by someone involved in www.2ch.net, a Japanese online forum.

Thanks, 2ch, for helping bridge the gap. Here’s how the poor girl reacted when confronted with the news:

So how does Saaya feel about all the commotion? A bit frightened, actually, an official at her talent agency says .

“She had a worried look on her face and said, ‘I’m shocked. I wish they’d stop,’ ” the official quotes the starlet as saying when hearing the news. The official added that Saaya finds it hard to believe that she has played any kind of role to smooth bilateral relations.

But in a written message, Saaya says: “I would like to see good relations between Japan and China. If relations are good, I think everyone will be happy.”

Her very career should frighten her. I can’t express enough how sick this makes me. Her parents should be ashamed of themselves. She’s eleven freaking years old! (Here‘s a link if you must know what she looks like)