Archive for September, 2006

CNN online poll: 98% think it is appropriate for Shinzo Abe to visit Yasukuni Shrine

Gerry Bevers over at Occidentalism has scooped this amazing story: The respondents to a CNN online poll asking “Now that Shinzo Abe has become Japan’s prime minister, do you think it is appropriate for him to visit the Yasukuni Shrine?” have overwhelmingly voted in favor of Abe’s visits. The poll has been up since Monday, and at this time, 98% of the 202759 voters have said “Yes”.

While I personally don’t see a problem with Abe visiting the Shrine, it’s very surprising to me that such an huge percentage of CNN.com poll-takers would have such an opinion about the Yasukuni shrine. The U.S. media often potrays Yasukuni in a very negative light, focusing on the war criminals and often unquestionably agreeing with people who say the visits glorify Japan’s militaristic past. Perhaps many of the voters didn’t know what Yasukuni shrine was and simply voted “yes”? Or maybe the only people who would bother reading about Japanese news on CNN’s website are the kind of folks who follow the Yasukuni issue and support visits by PM’s? There’s also the chance that a Japanese website could have tipped off netizens to the poll’s existence and brought thousands of pro-Yasukuni votes. Or maybe the average American reader of CNN.com actually sees nothing inappropriate about an Abe visit to Yasukuni?

Check out the poll and see the results while they last. Korean online news sites broke news of the poll today, so we can look forward to thousands of Korean netizens flooding the poll with “no” votes in the coming hours (when Gerry posted about the poll a few hours ago, 99% of 198,000 votes said “yes”).

Update: One hour after I posted this, about 800 new “no” votes have appeared vs. about 200 new “yes” votes. Pretty good, but at such a rate it will take quite some time for the Korean netizens to drive up the “no” percentage to something ‘respectable’.

Utada Hikaru’s mother busted for carrying drug money

The Smoking Gun reveals:

SEPTEMBER 27–The mother of one of Japan’s biggest pop stars was recently caught with more than $400,000 in suspected drug proceeds as she tried to board a plane from New York to Las Vegas, according to federal prosecutors now seeking forfeiture of the funds. In March, screeners at JFK Airport discovered the money in the carry-on luggage of Junko Utada, whose 23-year-old daughter has been described as the Japanese Britney Spears. Hikaru Utada has sold more than 40 million albums in Japan, with her debut album selling more copies than any record in the country’s history. According to investigators, when Drug Enforcement Administration agents approached Junko Utada, 55, as she waited to board a March 6 America West flight, she was “yelling into a telephone” and “appeared extremely nervous and physically ill.” During questioning, Utada said she had just retrieved the six-figure stash from a Manhattan Mini Storage unit, adding that the money came, in part, from gambling winnings.

A forfeiture complaint filed by federal prosecutors noted that the money–4149 $100 bills–was bundled, wrapped in paper, and secured with rubber bands. Some bundles were found inside “two large plastic Ziploc bags.” Agents also recovered some Australian and Canadian currency, for a total seizure of $421,489.44, according to the September 25 complaint, a copy of which you’ll find below. DEA agents reported that Utada, who “evaded answering questions,” claimed that she planned on donating the 400 grand to a Las Vegas foster home that she had never visited and whose name she could not recall. After the money was seized, it was placed in a DEA evidence bag and agents conducted a “canine examination of the currency with a trained drug-sniffing dog.” The animal “alerted to the cash, indicating that it bore traces of controlled substances.” Prosecutors seeking Utada’s forfeiture of the money allege that it represents proceeds of drug sales or was intended to be used to buy drugs.

Through counsel, Utada, a former singer, has filed a “claim of ownership” with the DEA for the funds and has requested that the Department of Justice institute judicial forfeiture proceedings so that disposition of the money can be litigated.

I imagine that any large quantity of 100 dollar bills would contain some trace amounts of drugs. Are we to believe that Utada Hikaru’s mother, who is already well off, would be making extra money in the drug business? Or is this a case of a Japanese person not realizing that carrying around huge amounts of cash is extremely suspicious in the USA?

[Found via Japancast]

The power of a cute girl (Video)

How much power can an attractive woman yield over men? This girl is able to:

1) Convince an employee at a video game arcade to give her the stuffed animal from a UFO catcher machine after she fails to get it herself.
2) Play a raffle game until she wins by paying for only 1 turn.
3) Order a restaurant’s lunch special at 7:00 PM (Lunch ends at 3:00 PM)

Such frightening power.

[Found from Zaeega]

Beauty Colosseum

Last night FTV aired another special in its series of “Beauty Colosseum” cosmetic surgery showcase series (ビューティー・コロシアム’06史上最大最高大激変SP). It’s similar to the plastic surgery shows that they have in America, in which contestants send in tapes showing how god-damned ugly they are and beg for the TV program to pay for a fancy surgical makeover, only “Beauty Colloseum” has more Japanese-style pizazz. Here’s an example:

Let’s look at a couple other cases from last night’s program:

Yuka Sawachi (沢地優佳) gets a “chest massage”

At least the last gravure idol video I posted with a chest massage scene actually tried to make the massage look legitimate:

Gang rapists found guilty

From the Mainichi Shinbun:

KYOTO — Three former members of Kyoto University’s American football team were convicted of gang-raping two female university students in a ruling at a court here on Tuesday.

The Kyoto District Court sentenced 24-year-old defendant Ryo Ikeguchi to 5 1/2 years’ imprisonment, while the other two defendants, Junpei Shirai and Masahiro Kido, avoided jail with suspended prison sentences.

Shirai, 24, was handed a three-year sentence, suspended for five years, while Kido, 22, was handed a 2 1/2-year sentence, suspended for four years.

According to the ruling, the three defendants held a party at Kido’s home with three female university students on the evening of Dec. 22, 2005. Between about 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Ikeguchi raped a 20-year-old student who was heavily drunk, and the other defendants molested her, the court heard.

Ikeguchi was also convicted of raping another drunken 20-year-old student at about 3:40 a.m.

That seems like some pretty light sentencing for men found guilty of gang rape. Perhaps the fact that alcohol was involved factored into the judge’s decision. After all, if a girl passes out after drinking at a guy’s apartment, she’s basically saying “have your way with me”, right?