Archive for March, 2007

Japan’s Education Ministry edits textbook passages on the Battle of Okinawa (Video)

Japan’s Education Ministry has decided to change the way official textbooks mention civilian suicides in the Battle of Okinawa:

In the screening of history and geography textbooks, the ministry sought changes to 791 points, while for science textbooks it requested 1,681 changes, the largest number for any of the subjects.

On the Battle of Okinawa, which claimed the lives of one-fourth of Okinawa’s civilian population, one of the textbooks says that “the Japanese army gave hand grenades to residents, making them commit mass suicide and kill each other.”

More than 200,000 Japanese and Americans died in the bloody battle in the closing days of World War II’s Pacific theater.

After the screeners took issue with the statement, saying it could result in misunderstandings, the textbook was revised to say, “Mass suicides and killings took place among the residents using hand grenades given them by the Japanese army.”

Other textbooks also played down descriptions, deleting the words “by the Japanese army.”

The education ministry says that a definitive description should be avoided because academics differ over the army’s role in the mass suicides and that no direct instructions from army commanders at that time have been verified.

To the Education ministry it seems the question comes down to whether written documents exist confirming that the Japanese military ordered civilians to commit suicide, or whether the reported incidents of forced suicide were isolated and independent actions by Japanese soldiers. The aging civilian survivors of the battle, some of whom say they witnessed Japanese soldiers telling civilians to commit suicide, appear to be losing the struggle to keep their story in the pages of national textbooks.

Akihabara goes Butler!

Sick and tired of maid cafes? Mainchi reports that something new will be coming to Akihabara tomorrow:

Akihabara’s first full-scale “butler cafe,” whose female waitresses dress up in men’s butler uniforms, is hoping to make an impression as it opens its doors to the public on April 1.

[...]

“There’s a wide range of butlers here — moe (passionate interest) types, good-looking types and tsundere (aloof/lovestruck) types — so both men and women can enjoy it. We’re aiming to be the world’s No. 1 butler cafe.” she said.

For more details, check out the official homepage of butler cafe Checkmate.

Japan News for March 31, 2007

Today’s Japan-related news links:

• The Asian Women’s Fund, a fund set up by Japan to help Asian women forced into prostitution by its military during World War II will expire today. [Link]
• The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport issued a warning against All Nippon Airways on Friday for allowing 11 unlicensed mechanics to make final aircraft checks from January 2006 and March this year. [Link]
• A senior official from the Taito-ku ward office in Tokyo was arrested on Friday for molesting a woman on a Keisei Electric Railway train. [Link]
• Four Nagoya Prison wardens convicted of killing one inmate and injuring another through violent treatment avoided prison sentences in a ruling at the Nagoya District Court on Friday. [Link]
• The number of retired Japanese government bureaucrats working at cushy post-retirement jobs at affiliated governmental organizations and semi-public entities increased by 5,789 in 2006 from the previous year. [Link]
• Japan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4% in February, unchanged from the previous month, the government said Friday. [Link]
• The South Korean Foreign Ministry has denounced newly printed Japanese textbooks that continue to consider the Takeshima (Dokdo) islets as Japanese territory. [Link]
• A Japanese court sentenced a member of a now-defunct violent ultra-leftist group to life in prison Friday for his involvement in the hijacking of a flight bound for Paris in 1977. [Link]
• Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito, 47, will undergo surgery to remove a benign abnormal growth in his intestines, the palace said Friday. [Link]
• Only one-eighth of remodeled airsoft guns outlawed in August under the revised Firearms and Swords Control Law in August have been disposed of or returned to their original condition, a National Police Agency survey has found. 700,000 illegal airsoft guns in circulation in Japan. [Link]

The Mega Mac is back!

Just in case you missed it, McDonald’s restaurants across Japan are bringing back the Mega Mac for a limited time. As the above image shows, it will be on sale for three 5 day periods in April / May, including Golden Week. Just like the last time it was on sale, supplies will be limited, so come early if you want one!

Run, it’s a perverted old man! (Video)

In this clip, Waka Inoue runs for her life from a strange old man (Ken Shimura) who seems very interested in her:

Japan News for March 30, 2007

This morning’s Japan-related news links:

• Japanese scientists have developed an oral vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease that has proven effective and safe in mice. [Link]
• A man who suffered fatal head injuries after drinking at a company meeting died as a result of a labor-related accident, a court has acknowledged. [Link]
• The popularity of a new drama called “Vulture,” which is about a fictional New York investment fund that buys ailing Japanese companies and imposes harsh American-style management changes, underscores a new openness in Japan’s business culture, writes the New York Times. [Link]
• A National Police Agency (NPA) cyber security committee is calling for Internet cafes in Japan to check the identity of users and introduce methods to eliminate password-stealing software on computers to fight illegal computer access. [Link]
• Almost half the Japanese feel they are never too old for Hello Kitty and friends, according to a new survey translation at What Japan Thinks. [Link]
• The Japanese government failed to take action after learning about criticality accidents overseas involving slipped control rods at boiling-water nuclear reactors in the 1970s and ’80s, according to the Asahi Shinbun [Link]
• Temperatures rose to the highest level ever for March at 11 locations across Japan on Thursday as warm air flew in from the south into a low-pressure system over the Sea of Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. [Link]
• Hyogo Prefecture, which was devastated by a 1995 earthquake, donated $200,000 to the New Orleans Museum of Art for programs to help children cope with the post-Hurricane Katrina devastation. [Link]
• Actress Ryoko Shinohara has been selected by new company recruits as the ideal female boss in an annual survey conducted by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., while Yakult Swallows baseball manager and player Atsuya Furuta secured top spot in the male category. [Link]
• Japan and China, Asia’s biggest energy users, failed to make progress in meetings on joint development of natural gas reserves in a disputed area of the East China Sea. [Link]
• Sapporo Holdings shareholders have approved anti-takeover defenses proposed by the brewer as it tries to fend off a buy-out attempt by US hedge fund Steel Partners. [Link]
• No fewer than four Chinese films about the Nanjing massacre are planned for this year, the 70th anniversary of Japan’s capture of China’s former capital, Xinhua news agency reported. [Link]

Afternoon update:

• A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7 hit Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido early this morning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. [Link]
• What Japan thinks has a survey translation on what sort of behaviour would you most Japanese office workers like to warn new recruits against: don’t you dare “come to work just in the nick of time”! [Link]
• Japan agreed Friday to lend China 62.3 billion yen (US$532.5 million) in aid that could help warm relations between the Asian powers. [Link]
• Tokyo Midtown, the city’s newest and most ambitious complex, opened on the site of the former Defense Agency in Roppongi this morning. [Link]
• Young Prince Hisahito of Japan was on best behaviour as he arrived for a stay at the family’s farm north of Tokyo on Thursday. [Link]
• A Japanese radio program designed to send messages to any surviving Japanese victims of North Korean abductions was jammed Thursday by radio waves believed to come from North Korea, according to a civic group running the program. [Link]
• Nissan Motor Co. will recall 1,010,843 vehicles across two models including the March subcompact in Japan, according to a company filing with Japan’s transport ministry. [Link]
• The US Census Bureau turned over confidential information including names and addresses to help the Justice Department, Secret Service and other agencies identify Japanese-Americans during World War II, according to government documents released today. [Link]