Archive for December, 2006

The National Museum of the Marine Corps

Since I am still in America for the holidays, I decided to go to Quantico, Virginia today and check out the National Museum of the Marine Corps. The museum, which opened last month, is a multi-million dollar project which was largely funded by private donations, and they definately didn’t throw the money away: this museum is one of the most impressive I have ever visited.

The museum’s strange shape is meant to invoke the famous image of marines raising a flag on Iwo JIma. While it might be somewhat hard to notice this from the parking lot, when viewed at an angle from a nearby road, it looks much more like the shape of the flagraisers.

A variety of aircraft used by the US Marines hang from the ceiling in the main hall. Famous quote about the marine corps are carved into the wall, such as Admiral Nimitz’s famous statement: ”
Of the Marines on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.” On the ground level visitors can see life size mock-ups of marines exiting a helicopter in Vietnam and marines landing on Tarawa, both created with life-like detail.

Most of the musem focuses on the three biggest conflicts the marines fought in: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Each section has interesting displays of the weapons used by each side in the conflict, such as the Japanese small arms seen above.

For the Iwo Jima portion of the World War II area, visitors are ushered into a immersion room in which they “ride” in a landing craft approaching the island. Panoramic video of the battle around is shown on the walls while sounds of explosions and bullets whizzing by fill the room. They might want to put an age advisory on it, since a few toddlers present seemed very frightened.

After the landing craft reaches Iwo Jima, a door opens and visitors can view the most precious artifact housed at the museum: the American flag which was raised over Mt. Suribachi in the famous photo. It is the only area of the museum in which flash photography is forbidden. Strangely enough, flash photography is permitted when it comes to captured Japanese flags such as the one below.

I’ve sometimes read stories about former marines seeking out the descendants of some of the Japanese men who wrote their names on such flags and returning the flags to Japan. However, I guess this flag, which was captured on Saipan, will spend its days on display in the Marine Corps museum instead…

While the World War II exhibits are interesting, the Korea and Vietnam exhibits are where the true immersion begins. The Chosin Reservoir room was simply amazing. To simulate the frigid conditions in which marines fought, the temperature of the room is set to a winter level. Marines are taking cover behind some rocks while tracer fire, which is projected along the wall, flashes by. To their right is a snow-covered pile of corpses. While it didn’t have panoramic videos, it was definately more impressive than the Iwo Jima immersion area.

The Korea exihibit also has a section in which a film on MacArthur’s Incheon landing plan was shown. When the moment describing the battle begins, sounds of artillery bombardment play and the metal floor rumbles! A very nice touch.

Similarly, the Khe Sanh exihibit featured tropical temperatures and a variety of sound effects. Such exihibits sound expensive, and they probably cost a lot of money to maintain. However, the museum is free! If you’re in Virginia and you’re interested in history, I definately recommend you check it out. And, if you’re hungry after visiting the museum, be sure to have lunch or dinner at The Globe & Laurel, a restaurant with enough Marine Corps memorabilia on its walls that it should be considered a museum in itself. If you’re lucky, as I was today, the restaurant’s owner, Major Richard Spooner might be present to engage in you in friendly conversation about Marine Corps history (he even speaks some Japanese!).

Japan News for December 27, 2006

Some news/links for today:

-A defunct political organization overseen by Administrative Reform Minister Genichiro Sata has come under suspicion of stating in official government reports that it paid 70 million yen to an office that in reality didn’t exist. Maybe he thought administrative “reform” just had to do with rennovating offices?

-The Osaka High Court on Tuesday sentenced a 59-year-old woman to 20 months in prison for sickening her neighbor with loud music, revoking an initial ruling that had given her a one-year prison term.

-The National Police Agency (NPA) plans to set up its version of the “Crime Stoppers” program to reward anonymous informants who provide tips about criminal activities. All you suspscious-looking foriegners better watch your backs!

-Patrick Macias journeys into the pages of “Men’s Egg” to find a Christmas miracle!

-Japan’s animation industry is “hollowing out” due to increasing reliance on outsourcing most of its production work to other countries.

-The lines at Tokyo’s Krispy Kreme seem to be getting longer and longer…

A few more news links:

-Toyota Motor Corp said Tuesday that Masayo Hasegawa of its environmental affairs division will become its first-ever woman “bucho” general manager next Monday. She will be the the only woman among the 528 general managers at the largest Japanese automaker. Is that supposed to be some great achievement for Toyota? Wow, after decades you have finally managed to promote a female to general manager…

-Nearly 80 percent of people surveyed in a recent Yomiuri Shimbun poll said they felt the government’s view that the economy was recovering was unrealistic or doubtful, while 74 percent of them said the gap between rich and poor and other extremes were widening.

-A group of Hyogo Prefecture university students said Tuesday they are looking for the owner of a Japanese national flag which had been kept by a U.S. sailor since World War II, on behalf of the late sailor’s brother.

-A new government paper has called for new legislation that would make it mandatory for foreign nationals to report their employment status to authorities. It also says systems should be set up to gather and share information on foreigners among municipalities. “Based on correct information regarding foreign residents’ addresses and working places, the central and local governments can encourage non-Japanese to send their children to school, improve their working conditions and provide social insurance services,” the policy paper says.

-A review of Junichiro Tanizaki’s “Seven Japanese Tales.”

News for December 26, 2006

Some news/links from the last few days:

-Ho, ho, ho! Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like some executions!

-In his birthday speech, Japan’s Emperor Akihito has said the practice of mourning Japan’s war dead can help younger generations better understand the past. He said he hoped facts about World War II would be correctly conveyed so the suffering his generation experienced would never be repeated. Mutant Frog takes a look at this story and the new patriotism in education law in his latest update.

-Friction is emerging within the Liberal Democratic Party over the issue of so-called comfort women who purportedly were forced to provide sexual services for Japanese soldiers on the Korean Peninsula and other parts of Asia during World War II. A voluntary group set up by LDP lawmakers to study what should be taught in schools on the subject of national history held a subpanel meeting Friday to discuss the comfort women issue for the first time.

-Mainichi has an article on the albino boar that is all the rage with photographers now that we are entering the year of the boar.

-Foreign Dispatches discusses the Secret of Juri Ueno’s Appeal.

-What food would Japanese people would most like to eat at a Christmas party?

-Mainichi’s WaiWai reports that Akie Abe’s cookies might be a flop.

-The top 5 x-mas music videos for otaku.

-Softbank’s recent cellphone service commercial encourages bullying, according to some.

-Uh oh, Japanese noodles at Chinese stores have been found to contain the banned sweetener stevioside.

-A new government document has revealed that Japan will require 3 to 5 years to produce a nuclear warhead. So much for the “matter of days” thing.

-Some words on Yasukuni Shrine from Trans-Pacific Radio.

-A tree and a bin.

Beautiful Japanese Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas, Japan!

Here are pictures I took of a few beautiful Japanese Christmas cards I bought to give to my friends and family this year [Click each image for a much larger version]:

Card 1: Geisha and Santas

Card 2: Mini Santas and a Pagoda

The card opens up to reveal the Santas from the cover:

Card 3: Shinkansen, Santas, and Mt. Fuji

Card 4: Santas & Shinkansen at Tokyo Station

Card 5: Santas on boats

This card opens to reveal:

X-mas Sushi (Video)

Some interesting Christmas-themed sushi:

Even More Christmas Wishes!

In the spirit of Christmas giving, here are a few more Christmas Wishes cards. These were created by 6th graders at a Japanese elementary school I occasionally teach at:

[This boy not only wanted a PlayStation 3, he also likes "The Nightmare Before Christmas."]

[This girl wanted the latest Orange Range CD.]

[This girl wanted a "My PC." ]

[This girl wanted a comic. Very cute.]

[Either this boy wanted to go to a Korean BBQ restaurant, or he wants the actual meat-cooking devices used for Korean BBQ. He was the only kid who had a food-related wish.]

[This boy wanted a game. His Santa has some strange eyes...]

[This boy's pissed-off Santa: "Am I cool?" "Do you want something?"]

Ok, that’s all of the “Christmas Wishes” cards I have to post. Hope you enjoyed them! Have a great Christmas!