Kingdom Hearts Hype: Release Date December 2005

UPDATE: LOOK LIKE IT WONT COME OUT IN THE US UNTIL APRIL 2006 OR SO. RATS!

Who's bad?
One of my favorite video games that was released semi-recently is Kingdom Hearts. It’s a Square-developed role-playing game based on the Disney universe. You play as a younger version of the typical Final Fantasy-type hero and team up with Donald and Goofy to save Mickey from The Darkness. That’s why I wait with eager anticipation for the American release of Kingdom Hearts II. Fanning the hype is gamesindustry.biz with its interview with producer Shinji Hashimoto:

Kingdom Hearts II

What are the major changes we can expect to see in the new Kingdom Hearts game?

One of the big changes you’ll see when you play the game is to the camera – we’ve changed how that works. Also, the levels now have more events in them, with mini-games and so on. We’re basically keeping the same concept and everything, but the changes are to the system of the game – we’ve made a massive block of changes that you will see.

After the success of the first game, do you think Disney trust you more with their characters and worlds now in the second game?

We definitely feel a new sense of trust from the Disney side. Based on that trust, we can make new developments – the kind of drastic changes, new discoveries and surprises that we couldn’t before. So yes, look out for that!

Kingdom Hearts 2 looks like it is a lot darker and more adventurous with its story and characters than the first game – is it aimed at a slightly older audience?

We’re still keeping a sort of balance, so that younger audiences can enjoy it as well. Certainly, at the top end, you’ll see some serious scenes and so on – but that’s not the main part. So, for example, even if the player is really young and doesn’t understand the serious parts, they can still enjoy it – we’ve kept that sort of playful element in the game.

There’s some cross-over with how Disney approaches things [to make their films appeal to all ages], of course, but we make the details quite different. We add more mysteries and so on, which appeal more to an older audience, maybe.

Can’t wait!

Korean DMZ Photos

In light of the large number of visitors coming for the public execution video from North Korea, I thought I should point out the photos I have in my web gallery from my trip to the Korean DMZ (DeMilitiarized Zone). The explanation I put on my old blog when I first posted these photos is located in the Mutanfrog archives here.

The DMZ gallery is located here, or just click on one of the two sample thumbnails and navigate upwards.

border-zone/tunnel_interior
I love this picture I took inside the invasion tunnel when the guards weren’t looking.

border-zone/korean_guard

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.

North Korea Public Execution

UPDATE: The video has moved here. And here‘s a follow-up story from Japanese TV. Stay tuned for a more detailed look at the video on this site.

UPDATE 2: PHOTIOS provides some explanation for what’s happening in the video:

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”.


Here is video footage from Japanese TV of the public execution that went on in Korea (Click here and click on the WMV for the very last entry on the bottom if that doesn’t work). Kim Jong-il previously denied reports (from a defector) that there were public executions going on, but here is undeniable proof. Thanks to the Marmot for cluing me in on the story.

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

Lame “Asian” Restaurants


This blog has a great rant about how much “Pan-Asian” restaurants suck. In trying to cover the whole damn continent they get it all wrong and water it down way too much to please the yuppies. In DC the big crap-fest is Raku, but there are some Thai fusion-type restaurants that fit the description as well. But Mr. O-Dub can tell it better than I can (link via The Melting Blog):

Memo to All “Pan-Asian” or “Asian Fusion” or “Asian-Infused” Restaurants:

First of all, just admit it: “Pan-Asian” is your way of charging exorbitant prices and exploiting naive white people who don’t feel comfortable venturing into a restaurant run by actual Asian immigrants.

Second, stop skimping on the flavor and spices. Are you interpreting the Greek prefix “Pan” in “Pan-Asian” to mean “not even remotely”? I’m talking to you, Zao Noodle, king of bland.

Third, if you’re going to co-opt Asian food, stick to the cuisine of one country. You can’t offer watered-down versions of pad thai, adobo, sashimi, and bi bim bop on your menu. You’re destroying the ongoing struggle of Asian Americans to convince everybody else that we’re not all the same.

Korean Diaspora hits DC: Annandale, Virginia aka “Koreatown”

Go to downtown Annandale, Virginia, and you’ll see more Korean-language signs than English ones. In addition to the Korean markets and dozens of restaurants, the area sports a kick-ass karaoke box with tons of Japanese songs. But a lot of the Korean business owners don’t join the chamber of commerce and don’t want to participate in building one of those newfangled “walkable” downtown shopping centers that have been springing up all over the country. The Washington Post has the story:

‘Koreatown’ Image Divides A Changing Annandale

When a contingent of Annandale’s civic leaders named their downtown “The Annandale Village Centre,” they were aiming to re-create the experience of Old Town Alexandria, where people can walk to specialty shops on brick sidewalks along quaint streets.

The Annandale Chamber of Commerce’s Web site and brochures published by Fairfax County try to convey old-fashioned charm, with photos of downtown scenes: a Civil War-era church, a rustic barn and a farmers market.

In reality, the face of downtown Annandale — a collection of aging strip malls and low-rise office buildings — has changed from white to Asian, and its unofficial, oft-invoked moniker is Koreatown.


The census says there were only some 66,000 Koreans living in the area as of 2000, but I suspect that it’s grown much higher by now. Also, the relatively small number of Koreans actually living in Annandale is deceptive. The bedroom communities for Koreans are sprawled out just like the rest of the area, so Annandale is just a concentration of shops. The evidence of the Korean diaspora in the DC area is impossible to miss: Korean groceries abound, there are more Korean convenience store operators than Indian ones, Korean churches are everywhere, and there are several competing chains of Korean grocery stores. I love it because it means I can get Japanese food ingredients wayyy cheaper than I can get them at the Japanese market in Bethesda.

I thought Korea was supposed to be a developed country. Why is it that there continue to be so many immigrants to the US? Don’t know if you’re reading this, Mr. Marmot, but as someone who attended one of those Korean churches, maybe you can shed some light.

Registered Japanese Foreign Agents in America

Tokyo Rose -- Not Registered
I found this site by Googling a company name (Civic Service, Inc.) that was listed as part of a useless resume distribution service that I paid $30 for.

At first I couldn’t figure out what the hell it was but then it hit me: FARA stands for Foreign Agents Registration something (Upon further investigation the A somehow stands for “Unit”), so this must be a 1997 list of Japan’s registered foreign agents! Nice!

According to its website,

“The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit administers the FARA and maintains a public office to make all registration materials available to the public. In addition, it administers and/or provides advice for certain other statutes related to either matters requiring registration with or notification to the Attorney General.”

And from the Q&A:

The purpose of FARA is to insure that the American public and its law makers know the source of information (propaganda) intended to sway public opinion, policy, and laws. In 1938, the FARA was Congress’ response to the large number of German propaganda agents in the pre-WWII U.S.

On a side note, this fear of German propaganda agents continues to this day. A good friend of mine was recently rejected by the CIA because his great grandfather and grandmother came to the US from Germany in 1932, a time when Ellis Island record-keeping was shoddy and there were many Nazi exiles from Weimar Germany. Are we really in danger of Nazi brainwashing these days?

Anyway, check the Q&A for what exactly a foreign agent is. Basically, it’s any individual or corporate entity that is in the country operating under the direction of a foreign country. US law requires these people to register with the government and disclose their activities and funding.

While most of the entries for Japan are for arms of Japanese government agencies or industries, many are for political consultants and PR firms working for them. I hope none of the people listed mind me outing them since it’s public information and all. Here are some interesting bits:

  • Butterfield Carter and Associates — The registrant contacted U.S. Government officials regarding U.S.-Japan whaling policy. $45,000.00 for the six month period ending December 31,2002.
  • Caparso, Anne Smith (Active Libertarian Activist and Lobbyist) — Employer: Government of Japan, Embassy. The registrant’s activities are designed to advance the foreign principal’s ties with congressional staff and the policy community. The registrant contacted congressional staff to discuss foreign policy and domestic policy issues occurring in the United States and in Japan and between the United States and Japan. The registrant provided reports to the embassy on current events in Congress relating to foreign policy. $9,600.00 for the six month period ending September 30,2002
  • Daniel J. Edelman, Inc. — Employer: Office of the Japanese Consul General. The registrant provided the foreign principal with strategic counseling. $30,344.02 for the six month period ending September 12,2002
  • Hecht, Spencer & Associates, Inc. (Lobbying Firm) — Employer: Government of Japan. The registrant rendered government relations and political consulting services to the foreign principal in connection with U.S. Government positions, actions and legislation regarding claims against Japanese nationals, including corporations. The registrant contacted U.S. Government officials in opposition to H.R. 1198 and S. 1154, bills entitled “The Justice for United States Prisoners of War Act of 2001.” In such contacts, the registrant also addressed related legislative and policy matters on S. 1272, the POW Assistance Act of 2001; H.R. 2835, a bill to authorize the payment of compensation to members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the United States who performed slave labor for Japan during World War II; H.R. 5235, the Former Prisoners of War Special Compensation Act of 2002; and the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan (1951). $180,000.00 for the six month period ending August 31,2002

    • And on and on. In all there are about 60 groups receiving a few million dollars from either government or private sources. I’m sure it’s all very benign — lots of research and legal representation, some image-control propaganda. I’m not saying these people are spies in our midst — just thought it was interesting. Enjoy!