Archive for November, 2006

News for November 26, 2006

A few news links this morning:

-Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto plans to ban billboards on top of buildings and blinking neon signs to improve the city’s landscape. How about hideous powerlines? [Props to FG]

-A South Korean man has been arrested for climbing over the wall to the Japanese embassy in Seoul and trepassing on the embassy grounds. The article offers no details on what exactly he was trying to do.

-The labor ministry is taking a look at exempting white-collar workers who make 10 million yen or more a year from legal limitations on their work hours. No need to increase productivity when there is limitless unpaid overtime work is an option!

-A man who served as an officer in the Japanese Imperial Navy has admitted to having carried out vivisection on about 30 prisoners of war, including women and children, in the Philippines during World War II.

-”I just saw the video on Reuters concerning the hunting and slaughter of bottle-nosed dolphins, and I can say, without equivocation, that the Japanese are soulless.” Thanks for printing that, Japan Times.

-Attention ALT’s: The winner of this year’s national junior high English speech contest was Kanon Miyamoto, a second-year student of Fukuoka Futaba Middle School in Fukuoka Prefecture. In her speech, entitled “Spreading Magic All Over the World,” she expressed her hope that poverty and hunger would be eliminated throughout the world so that children everywhere could have the opportunity to enjoy reading Harry Potter books. Gag.

Evening Update:

-If you’re driving drunk, avoid crashing into a police station at all costs.

-Japan’s national rugby team crushed South Korea’s team 54-0, ensuring Japan a place in the next rugby world cup.

-Ballistic missile interceptors are going to be installed on U.S. and Japanese ships.

-World Health Organization statistics reveal that here are lots of skinny chicks in Japan.

-A Fukuoka man who molested 14 children between 2003 and 2004 has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. Previously the man had spent 10 years in prison for abducting and murdering a 7-year old boy in 1990. Way to go, Japanese justice system!

-Amateur divers have found the wreckage of a Japanese midget submarine that sunk during an attack on Sydney harbor 64 years ago.

-The Ministry of Education has decided to increase the number of counselors in schools as an emergency measure to deal with the recent increase in student suicides. Don’t cut down on bullying, just help the victims deal with it…

Special English on Japanese TV

Yasuhito Wakita (Wakki-kun) showed off this wonderful English t-shirt on tonight’s TV Asahi Quiz! program:

He must really like that shirt, because he also wore it on TV a few weeks ago:

What a special guy!

News for November 25, 2006

A few links for today (forgot to post this in the morning, so here it is now):

-Imagine a man rushing by you on the platform and a station and bumping you, making you lose your balance, fall on to the tracks, and get horribly killed by an oncoming train. It happens.

-The Japanese national rugby team seems to be making the best of imported international players.

-Coming December 8: The Nintendo DS mp3 player.

-The LDP is split over whether the postal rebels should be let back in. Apologize in writing, you creeps!

-Yet another wacky USB-hub!

-North Korea has rejected bilateral talks with Japan.

-Nintendo will be releasing the W11, a ketai strap shaped like a miniature Wii controller that also doubles as a safety whistle. Expect it to be a big hit with kids who like the nintendo Wii and Japanese parents obsessed with their children’s safety is this incredibly dangerous nation.

Evening update:

-Police have dropped fraud charges against ex-civil servant who worked 8 days in 69 months and got nearly full pay for the entire period. They examined the piles of doctor excuse notes he had provided, but could get none of the doctors to admit that their notes were untrue. Luckily, his constant illnesses didn’t prevent him from visiting the city government offices several times during his sick leave absense to lobby on behalf of his construction firm. You can read more about this hard-working here in my original update on the story.

-”Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story” has opened in Japanese theaters.

-Mainichi’s WaiWai column features a doctor discussing teen STD/pregnancy trends.

-An Englishman in Osaka celebrates the beginning of toilet seat-warming season!

-Swallowing the print out from your breathalizer test will not save you from being discovered as a drunk driver…

-Another victory of Asashoryu. Is there any stopping this guy?

-Trans-Pacific Radio has released another Japanese politics/education news update podcast. Check it out!

-Did you pay your respects to Freddy yesterday?

Pan-kun works for Disney (Video)

From last night’s Shimura Zoo, Super chimp Pan-kun whores himself out as a spokesperson for Disney’s latest film:

News for November 24, 2006

News links for today:

-A member of Nippon Sport Science University’s wrestling club has been arrested for stealing underwear from the women’s dormitory of the school’s gymnastic club.

-The Asahi Shinbun has an article about how views of World War II change with Japan’ political tide.

-Students who use cell phones are more likely to have sex, according to a recent survey.

-Japanese people can pay $3400 to have Christmas dinner with Michael Jackson, but they won’t get to hear him sing. The organizer of the dinner is currently running newspaper advertisments for tickets.

-Taxi fares will be going up because of concerns about rising oil prices…

-South Korea has agreed to add the disputed Dokdo islets to it’s unity flag, which is used when the South/North Korean combined team attends international sporting events. It’s great to see the Koreas working together to stir up nationalist hatred of Japan, isn’t it?

-Coming to a cell phone shop near you: A useless little sales-person robot.

-Are you interested in taking a gay manga-themed tour of Japan? If so, sign up for Pop Japan’s Yaoi, Bishonen & Boys Love Tours…

Evening Update:

-A study has revealed that more bullying occurs in classes in which the teacher tries to be friends with his/her students. Maybe teachers should try to be teachers instead?

-A group of teenagers have been arrested for extorting money from a doctor after he paid a 17-year old girl for sex. In an unrelated story, a doctor in northern Saitama has been arrested for paying a 15-year old girl for sex. He swears he had no idea she was under 18.

-Occidentalism has posted a video of a South Korean online RPG that has special events in which players can kill evil Japanese people monsters.

-Japan has suspended poultry imports from South Korea following reports of bird flu in that country.

-Forcing kids to go barefoot into school bathrooms and scrub the toilets is fantastic for education!

-Swifty’s amusing 20th century Japanese literature in Grade School Terms.

-Michelle Wie has bombed out of the Casio World Open. Is this going to hurt her chances of getting further energy drink endorsement deals in Japan?

-The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has warned that Japan’s labor force might drop by 33% by 2050. I guess somebody is going to need to design robots to wave flags and direct traffic in parking lots.

-Beijing is not pleased by former Prime Minister Mori’s visit to Taiwan. Meh.

Kewpie? No, it’s PQ! (Video)

If you’re a big fan of Kewpie, you’ll love PQ:

Check out all the PQ friends at the Official PQ site!

[Link via Zaeega]