News for November 12, 2006
Here’s some Japan-related news for Sunday November 12, 2006:
-Uniqlo has opened a store in New York City. Will Americans love Uniqlo’s simple and inexpensive clothing as much as I do?
-An advisory panel to Foreign Minister Taro Aso has drawn up a report stating that Japan’s pop culture, especially anime and manga, will be an important tool in foreign relations. Just ship enough lolicon comics to Korea and China, and they’ll stop hating Japan in no time!
-A gangster has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for attempting to burn down Shinzo Abe’s house in 2000. He had thrown firebombs at the house, but they had failed to set fire to it.
-Stars and Stripes offers advice to those who are considering retirement in Japan after leaving the military.
-The National Police agency has determined that Kyoko Matsumoto, a Japanese woman who vanished in 1977, was abducted by North Korea. It is believed that a North Korean defector told police that he saw a woman who looked like Matsumoto in North Korea, but police are not releasing all the evidence that led them to their conclusion.
-A survey asked Americans, “With which Japanese person are you most familiar?” Ichiro, Puffy AmiYumi, and Junichiro Koizumi were the top three results. The most notable “Japanese” on the list were Hong Kong’s Jackie Chan (12th place), architect Isamu Noguchi and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (both U.S. citizens, tied for 15th place), and actor Jet Li (Chinese, 22nd place).
-Does Soka Gakkai, the cult that secretly rules Japan, also hold influence over the Japan Times. It sure seems that way.
-The mayor of Rome has called for a ban on “Rule of Rose,” a violent Japanese video game. According to the “Rule of Rose” wikipedia entry, Sony suggested the game not be released in the United States due to its erotic undertones involving female minors, but it was released anyway. The reviews I found of the game didn’t mention that: they just focused on the game’s mediocre and bland qualities.
-A Malayasian blogger posts his father’s memoirs of the Japanese occupation of Malayasia during WW2. [Via Global Voices]
-A recent survey has found that 62% of female university students in Japan are not virgins. This is up 10 points from the results of a survey conducted 10 years ago, and up 52 percentage points from the results of the 1972 survey. [Hat tip to Japundit]
-Lucky enough to be one of the few who bought a PlayStation 3 yesterday? Why not celebrate by taking it apart?
