Category: China

Saaya Irie, cohorts to Stop Posing in Bikinis — MF Breathes Sigh of Relief

In an earlier story that provoked a lot of interest here at MF, we reported that Chinese internet forums were humming with interest over model Saaya Irie, an 11-year-old girl with gigantic breasts, pictures of whom were apparently uploaded by Japanese trolls (Good background at Wikipedia as usual).

Message to the sick perverts who flooded me with confounding rationalizations for why it’s OK to get wood to an 11-year-old: You should be ashamed! Your intense pedophilic interest for an 11-year-old girl has creeped her and her associates out so badly that she has decided never to pose in a bikini again, reports Nozomi Online (a Jpop news site in need of a proofreader) in October 2005:

As a result of all this attention, the members of [Irie’s] singing troupe “Sweet Kiss,” which include 13-year old Runa and 11-year old Jessica, have also considered no longer posing in bikini’s [sic]. A statement by Ishida Yuuichiro, the groups management, revealed that they had never expected such feedback from the internet and adult magazines. He concludes that although the media attention was beneficial for the group, he didn’t want them to focus on Saaya’s large breasts and wanted the group to be recognized for talent and not Saaya’s large breasts.

I and all other rational souls out there commend the decision to keep the girls clothed (But wait a minute! Run your mouse over the “News” section of Sweet Kiss’s official site — bikinis!). But one look at the cleavage-centric photos in question makes it clear that Ishida is being, shall we say, a little disingenuous. I can believe that he was surprised, and even disturbed, at how well the exploitation worked, but his claim that the supposedly immense “talent” of a group of preteens is getting unfairly outshined because of one member’s unfortunate growth spurt goes beyond ludicrous. In this light, Nozomi Online’s take on the issue is puzzling:

The most terrifying aspect of Sweet Kiss might be that the fledgling group, with next to no ties to the music and television industries, might depend on the media stir caused by the oversized bust of a girl yet to enter her teenage years. Only the future holds the answer to whether or not the artistic integrity of the group can overcome an overflowing F-cup.

Indeed, it is terrifying to think that the public exploitation and sexual objectification of young girls are considered normal in Japan. But don’t be so quick to exculpate the people who took the photos in the first place! Continue reading Saaya Irie, cohorts to Stop Posing in Bikinis — MF Breathes Sigh of Relief

Alternative Memorial for War Dead Left Out of 2006 Budget

The “Group to Consider a National [War] Memorial” is a rare ruling-opposition (LDP, Komeito, and DPJ) caucus of lawmakers that is campaigning for the Japanese government to establish an alternative to Yasukuni shrine. The idea, proposed by a 2002 advisory panel and supported by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, is popular among those in the Japan Policy Community (including influential types in Washington) who would prefer to see a speedy, concrete solution to the Yasukuni issue rather than all of Koizumi’s useless (and possibly dangerous) saber-rattling.

Well, don’t count on it this year, based on this year’s budget requests. This was covered in slightly less detail in the Japan Times, but you can enjoy my abstract of the Yomiuri:

Memorial Facility Survey Funds Left Out, PM Firms Stance: “Public opinion not ripe”

PM Koizumi has firmed his stance not to include funds to survey the possibility of a national war memorial in the national budget draft, a move seen to be caused by a lack of public interest.

Government sources explained that the “environment has not been prepared to include survey funds in next year’s budget,” which will be formally decided on Dec. 22. The funds were not included in the MOF’s budget recommendations, released the same day.

Another part of the decision, say government officials, was that including the funds would not likely have contributed to repairing relations with China and South Korea.

The govt plans to continue deliberating on the merits of including the funds while “carefully watching public opinion.” There is momentum within the “Group to Consider a National [War] Memorial,” which crosses party lines to include members from the ruling LDP and New Komeito as well as the main opposition DPJ, to demand the inclusion of such funding in next fiscal year’s revised budget or reserve funds. However, it is unlikely to be included in a budget during Koizumi’s tenure.

When SK President Roh Moo-hyun asked that Koizumi consider the establishment of a national war memorial during the Korea-Japan summit on June 20, the Japanese leader accepted, saying he would “consider it taking into consideration circumstances including public opinion.” However, the PM’s October 17 visit to Yasukuni Shrine is quickly becoming a diplomatic problem due to China and SK’s strong protests. It seems as if the PM thought that it would look like he would be giving in to their pressure if he included such funds in this year’s budget.

According to a November poll conducted by Nikkei, 49% of Japanese people would approve, while 31% would disapprove of a national war memorial. I guess in the Land of Consensus even clear numbers in favor of such a memorial smack of “divided public opinion.” Of course, Koizumi didn’t let a little thing like internal division stop him from pushing through postal privatization, did he?
Continue reading Alternative Memorial for War Dead Left Out of 2006 Budget

A dream deferred

From the Taipei Times Taiwan Quick Take section.

Academics from China and Taiwan will gather in Taipei next April to discuss ways to promote “exchanges” of the simplified and traditional Chinese characters that are used on each side of the Taiwan Strait. Liao Hsien-hao (廖咸浩), director of Taipei City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, said yesterday that some Chinese academics are calling for “restoring” the use of traditional characters in China since the historical background for adopting the simplified characters has changed. In the face of changes in information technology, he said, both sides should take a practical and scientific attitude toward Chinese characters.

Here’s my idea of a perfect compromise: China brings back simplified traditional characters, and Taiwan adopts the mainland’s Hanyu pinyin system for romanization, and bans all of the various gibberish versions used throughout the ROC.

Japundit gets it wrong on MOAG

Japundit is celebrating its comment-generating post about the “controversy” over the Memoirs of a Geisha movie with a victory lap. But really, who cares? The blog, I assure you, is just playing into marketers’ hands.

What no one seems to be mentioning is that putting a Chinese woman in a Japanese role was more than likely an intentional decision by the filmmakers to generate buzz. Or even if the initial casting decision wasn’t made specifically to ruffle feathers, the race mix-up angle has been played up way out of proportion for that reason. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the race-sensitive Asians and their apologists (at Japundit, MutantFrog.com, or other public forums) would get their panties in a bundle if those ignoramuses in Hollywood confused Japanese and Chinese people, so why not exploit that to get people talking about a movie that would otherwise not be very appealing to an uninitiated audience?

Because realistically, a movie about a “geisha” probably couldn’t sell itself. Enough people in the States are vaguely aware of what a geisha is to the point of it showing up in the dictionary, but are Americans dying to see a tragic tale of star-crossed love between two stiff, unemotional Asians? Most people would understandably say, “Geesha what?” And as we all know, Japan isn’t nearly as sexy as it once was, and with Japan-China tensions being the hot-button issue that they are, a good bit of controversy never hurt anyone.

So when you go see this movie, enjoy — but just remember that your thoughts on race relations, your expectations of artistic authenticity, and all else you hold dear are all being carefully manipulated by well-paid and savvy hucksters.

Memoirs of a Geisha: If it isn’t one inauthenticity, it’s the other

Curzon pointed me toward Tom Barnett’s take on the new movie, citing it as evidence that Barnett “is a complete git.” Let’s quote:

Unfair to have Chinese playing Japanese? About as unbelievable as having Brits and Aussies play Americans? Or Americans playing English? Or Canadian Mike Myers playing Austin Powers?

Puh-leeze. Marshall went with these three ladies because they’re simply the biggest best stars available. Globalization, baby.

The hubbub over Chinese actresses playing Japanese characters is a bit misplaced, I think. It’s not directly comparable to Mike Myers playing Austin Powers: it’s closer to, say, Patrick Stewart playing Jean-Luc Picard. When it comes down to it, almost all of the visible differences between Han Chinese and Japanese are in language, mannerisms, and (often) dress. A well-coached Chinese person could play a Japanese person convincingly enough, but probably not with their default skill set. So Barnett’s take… not quite “git” in my book.

What bugs me more than the movie’s lack of racial purity is that the characters, who are supposed to be in old-school Kyoto, speak horribly-accented English for hours on end. And the Chinese actresses are speaking in Chinese accents… totally different from Japanese accents. I can’t foresee sitting through the whole movie without throwing things at the screen. Maybe it’ll be tolerable on mute.

On a related note, this is a snippet from a conversation I had with Adamu concerning the HBO series “Rome,” which, I should add, Curzon really likes.

[10:20] Adamu: does everyone have a british accent
[10:20] Joe: yup
[10:20] Adamu: good then its authentic

The symbolism behind Olympic mascots

The five friendlies are an incredible little family carefully chosen by Beijing 2008 to represent all of China to carry a message of friendship to the children of the world.

So said International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge over the weekend in a statement that was read at a nationally televised gala at a Beijing sports arena to mark the 1,000-day countdown until the Games.

With that usual Chinese flair for combining numeration and words that sound like they should have no plural in English, Beijing announced its mascot(s) for the 2008 Olympics, “The Five Friendlies.”

5F

Reading the story got me curious about past Olympic mascots, so I set out to do a little research on the topic. On a side note, for those who want to put a wager on the Olympics, they can conveniently do so on sites such as 홈카지노.

The tradition of selecting a mascot for the games began in 1968 with the Winter Olympics held in Grenoble. The first mascot was Schuss, and was a figure with a large round head crouched down on a pair of skis. Schuss was followed four years later by Waldi, the first official mascot, which was a multicolored Dachshund chosen to represent Munich in the 1972 Winter Games.

Since then, every host county has chosen a mascot that more or less symbolized some representative aspect of local culture or that was symbolic of the games themselves. Los Angeles had Sam the Eagle in 1984, Moscow had Misha the Bear in 1980, and Montreal had Amik the Beaver in 1976. At least three of Waldi’s colors were official Olympic colors, and Japan chose four mascots to symbolize the four years between the games. (The one possible exception, which I like to tell myself is no symbolic reflection on U.S. culture, is Izzy, the cosmic nightmare that Atlanta dreamed up for the 1996 Summer Games.)

So now we add to those ranks The Five Friendlies. But what of their symbolism? Apart from the obvious meanings (e.g. Panda, the Tibeten Antelope, etc…), are their names – Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, and Ni Ni. Perceptive readers with a some knowledge of the Chinese language will recognize that taking the first syllable of each name yields the phrase, 北京欢迎你, or “Beijing welcomes you.”

This is not the first attempt at such punnery. The Japanese chose as their mascots for the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games, the Snowlets, four owls with the names, Lekki, Tsukki, Sukki, and Nokki. Taking the first syllable of each of their names produces the wonderfully Japanese phrase, レッツ・スノー, which rendered into English is, “Let’s Snow,” something that makes sense (even in English) only to Japanese or to gaijin who spent time in country (and even then, the verbal usage of “let’s” as a verb can prove confusing for foreigners.)

These choices reminded me of something an undergraduate history professor of mine once said about the Japanese and Chinese languages. He told our class that the first thing a Chinese teacher does is to give every student a Chinese name in Chinese characters. From then on, that is your name when you are speaking Chinese. The Japanese not only don’t give anyone a Japanese name, but they have an entirely separate phonetic system to express the Japanese version of foreign names.

Those readers who have spent time in either of these countries probably already see what he was getting at, but it has to do with the degree of inclusiveness of each culture. And at the risk of sounding too culturally deterministic, I think there is something similar to be said about the choice of mascots by these two countries. Japan’s Snowlets were clearly meant for a domestic audience, which is fair enough. After all, Japan was hosting the games. But their attempt at linguistically and symbolically reaching out pales in comparison to the Chinese effort. (It also shows one of the things Japan does best these days – cuteness.) While I’m sure China no doubt hopes the Five Friendlies will be a hit domestically, everything from the choice of the word “friendly” to the welcoming pun formed from their name indicates the kind of message Beijing hopes to send to the world.

China’s choice also says something about the degree to which its “peaceful rise” diplomacy has been incorporated in creative and non-traditional ways into popular culture. Whether one buys into the message or not, one can’t accuse the Chinese of not trying.

That said, their efforts proved vain in winning my heart for the best Olympic mascot ever, which hands down goes to the unofficial mascot of the Sydney Games…

Fatso

…Fatso, the fat-arsed wombat.

East Asia in sexual trouble

Coming Anarchy filed a report on the latest Durex Global Sex Survey (get the PDF here). Some disturbing numbers to report out of East Asia. First of all, Chinese women have unnecessarily exciting lives, demonstrated by the following rates:

China Japan World
Unplanned pregnancies under 16 17% 1% 4%

Unplanned pregnancies, 17-19 18% 2% 5%

Unplanned pregnancies over 19 20% 6% 10%

Sexually transmitted infections 18% 8% 13%

East Asians don’t particularly like their sex lives, but don’t seem to have high aspirations, either.

China Japan World
“Happy with my sex life” 22% 24% 44%

“Don’t have a high sex drive” 17% 16% 7%

“Sex life is monotonous” 17% 13% 7%

“I wish I had sex more often” 20% 25% 36%

Note that China has an historical aversion to sex of sorts, although things are changing there rapidly. Still, Japan is much sluttier than China: the average Japanese person has had ten sexual partners, while the average Chinese has had only three. Surprisingly, though, vibrators are slightly more popular in China than in Japan. Go figure.

UPDATE: Younghusband linked to the Japanese reaction in the comments over at CA. Priceless quotes:

Chisato, 28: “The problem is that many men are not aggressive enough in Japan. They are timid and do not hustle hard enough to get the opposite sex into bed.” SUSTAINED

Kawachan, 19: “Japanese in general are pure and not as perverted as other countries, when it comes to sex.” OVERRULED

Teaching courtroom antics in Japan and China

Eddie Ohlbaum, an amazing trial lawyer who teaches evidence and trial advocacy classes at Temple (in which I am a quite happy student), was just in Japan teaching lawyers how to BS a jury.

It’s a fun story, but not nearly as dramatic as the real reason for his Asian tour: he was going to assist lawyers in the first due process trial ever held in the People’s Republic of China. On the last day of class before he left, he gave us a brief but impassioned speech about how proud he was to be part of this.

Note the lack of a link here: that’s because it didn’t happen. Instead, he and his colleagues were allowed to witness… a guilty plea. With some superficial witness statements tacked on to determine sentencing: each side was allowed exactly two questions per witness. Ohlbaum’s account of the entire affair was quite amusing: he described his conversations with the defense lawyer, who had no clue that anything special was going on. “But you just went through fifty pages’ worth of discovery!” “Uh, yeah.” “Have you ever seen that much discovery in a trial before?” “No…” “Have you ever seen ANY discovery in a trial before?” “Uh, I guess not… what’s your point?”

The whole thing smacked of show in the end. One highlight: while the defendant was eligible for 3 to 10 years in prison (extortion charges), he got off with five years’ probation. PROBATION. According to Ohlbaum, when the sentence was handed down, the lawyer looked around the courtroom as if to say: “Huh? Am I still in China?”

The other money quote from the good professor’s Asia recap was this: “If you can choose to commit a crime in Japan or the U.S., seriously, it’s worth it to buy the plane ticket.”

The future of China (or, exactly what is realist?)

That Tom Barnett interview I mentioned is creating some dissension within our cousin blog Coming Anarchy.

The authors of CA (correction: two of them), as you might know, are fans of Barnett, but bigger fans of Robert Kaplan (hence the title). Barnett and Kaplan are divided on how the U.S. should deal with China, and their divide really represents two views that are fighting for prevalence in Washington.

Kaplan’s view, which is more in line with official Defense Department policy since the Cold War (and also gets lots of nods on the Japanese right), is that China is an emerging military threat that the U.S. has to contain with ships, airplanes, and missiles. Barnett’s view is that the U.S. has to become partners with China, as the economies of the two countries dictate, rather than let political concerns screw up the countries’ mostly-beneficial symbiosis.

Which view prevails will necessarily determine the future of U.S. policy toward Taiwan. A Kaplan view means that the U.S. has to defend Taiwanese sovereignty at all costs, as a roadblock to Chinese ambition in the Pacific. A Barnett view leads to the U.S. maintaining the status quo in Taiwan until the two countries can be united without force, either through incorporation in a democratic China or as part of a larger EU-style Asian community.

It hurts to admit this, because I’ve been a Taiwan supporter for some time now, but Barnett has a good point. Is it worth it to antagonize China when the U.S. is dependent on China and China is dependent on the U.S.? Wouldn’t it be easier if both countries could focus resources on their own problems, rather than needlessly breathe down each other’s throats? Do we really need to be bracing for World War III right now?

These are all tough questions that Bush and Rumsfeld should be asking themselves. Perhaps the best answer is to do as Barnett advises: maintain the status quo until China and Taiwan have evolved to the point where they can discuss their differences without threatening to lob bombs at each other. I think this is more likely to happen if and when we see closer business ties and more transparent democracy on both sides.

The CCP explains bird flu

Avian flu continues to spread from its home in the chicken shacks of Guangdong province across the globe, almost as if it were some sort of highly infectious disease or something. Luckily, the Chinese Communist Party has been on the case for over a year and a half now. These are two photographs I took on March 4, 2004 of signs posted in the Beijing train station explaining the dangers of bird flu, and how to prevent it from spreading. I’m especially touched by the little teardrop in the chicken’s eye.

On a related note, the Washington Post has the following headline on their front page as I write this: Bird Flu Drug Shipments Suspended in U.S. While the article (from the AP) itself has the more straightforward headline of Roche Suspends Tamiflu Shipments to U.S., it does contain the line “Tamiflu, the only drug shown to be effective in treating bird flu.” Funny they should say that, since the reports I’ve been reading seem to indicate that Tamiflu isn’t actually much help.

According to The Times (the British one)

The Government’s strategy of stockpiling antiviral drugs was dealt a blow yesterday, however, when a study revealed that Tamiflu, the drug they were stocking, could be ineffective.

There was panic-buying of antiviral drugs on the internet, but the Department of Health said yesterday that many of them could be dangerous fakes.

According to the Harvard Vanguard Medical Association:

Should I stock up on antiviral medications, flu drugs, like Tamiflu?
No. There are a few reasons why having Tamiflu available in your home is not a good idea.

* It’s not clear whether Tamiflu is effective against the current strain of the avian flu. In addition, flu viruses are constantly changing so that if there is ever an outbreak of bird flu in the US, Tamiflu may not be effective against that strain.
* Taking an antiviral medication such as Tamiflu if not necessary may cause the virus to develop resistance to the medication. In that case, Tamiflu may become ineffective against bird flu and against the ordinary flu when needed most, during an outbreak.
* Stocking up on Tamiflu ‘just in case’ may create a situation where those who truly need it may not be able to get it.
* If you store Tamiflu at home for an extended period, it may expire before you use it.
* You won’t know when you need Tamiflu. Many different viruses cause flu-like illnesses, and without testing no one can know if an illness is flu, or whether it’s bird flu or regular flu. Tamiflu should only be taken if a physician has diagnosed your illness.
* Taking unnecessary medications increases your risk of possible side effects and allergic reactions.
* Tamiflu is not a vaccine; it can’t protect you against flu in the future if you take it now. It is only effective while you are taking it.
* Most importantly, we don’t know if there will ever be an outbreak of avian flu in the U.S.

And according to this article on the website Recombinomics dating all the way back to February, there was never any real evidence that Tamiflu was effective against the disease.

Although Tamiflu has been used to treat H5N1 patients, the number treated has been low, and many were treated after the recommended time period, which is within 48 hours of symptoms. For the latest H5N1 patients in southern Vietnam, there were no reported discharges, so all died regardless of when they started taking Tamiflu.
[…]
Tamiflu was used in vivo in an effort to save tigers at a Thailand zoo. The zoo housed 441 tigers and some were fed H5N1 infected chickens. Initially only 3 or 4 tigers showed symptoms, but the number increased each day. Those that had not been fed chickens were segregated away from those fed infected chickens. Several days after the initial deaths more tigers became ill. The tigers were treated with Tamiflu, but eventually 45 tigers died and 102 were euthanized for humanitarian reasons. Thus, in spite of Tamiflu treatment, 33% of the entire population died, but this could have been close to 100% of the infected population.

I’m not really qualified to judge the content of an unknown site about infectious disease, but it does seem to match with what I’ve been reading in general newspapers.

Isn’t it dangerously irresponsible to write a newspaper article fearmongering about a drug shortage without even mentioning the very real possibility that the drug in question may be ineffective? But hey, Roche’s stock is at an all time high of $174.16, up 40 from the beginning of the summer. Better keep fueling that fire.