Archive for April, 2007

Traveling to Tokyo? Get your friends some Shinzo Abe souvenirs!

Tokyo’s population is hitting the roads, trains, and planes to get out of town for the Golden Week holiday, so there’s no better time than now to do some traveling in the capital! While you’re visiting tourist attractions, you’ll probably be overwhelmed by the huge volume of tacky souvenirs available and have no idea what kind to buy your friends and family as an omiyage. Here’s a suggestion: buy some Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sweets!

These “Shin-chan Manju” offer a popular bean paste-filled sweet for Mr. Abe’s fans. The box has the slogans “Beautiful Japan” and “Peaceful Japan” printed above the Diet building along with some peaceful doves. You might also notice the fugu swimming in the waters off Japan, a famous food of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Abe’s birthplace. [Available online here]

Fan’s of First Lady Akie Abe can buy a popular “AKII LUCKY COOKIE” box. They might be a better option for those of you who aren’t fans of the red bean paste found in Shinzo’s manju. [Available online here]

If you’re looking for the Abes as a couple, you might also like “Shin-chan with Akii Sweet Sand Cookes.” No, it doesn’t contain sand, it is just cookie sandwiched around some sweet cream. It also appears to come with a Shinzo/Akie cellphone strap. [Available online here]

An article from earlier this year claimed that the Abe sweets were not selling well, linking their lack of popularity to Shinzo Abe’s declining approval rating. However, his latest trip to America seems to have increased his approval rating, which might lead to better sales.

If you find Shinzo Abe a bit boring, you might be more inclined towards buying Foreign Minister Taro Aso’s Milk Castella sponge cakes. Aso is much more outspoken than his boss, and his position at the forefront of promoting Japan’s anime/otaku culture has earned him great respect in Akihabara. The box has little Japanese internet emoticons on it and mentions his love for manga. Although it isn’t clearly visible in the above picture, the stack of comics next to Aso includes a manga entitled “Taro 13,” since he once told reporters that he was a fan of the manga series Golgo 13. The back of the box has Aso declaring himself to be an Akihabara otaku:

Visitors to Akihabara will find that Taro Aso’s castellas are on proud display in front of many of the major electronics stores. However, the Abe souvenirs are slightly more difficult to find. One location where I have seen them is the above-pictured omiyage shop near the entrance of the Yasukuni Shrine. They are also available at the shop at the National Diet building. If can’t find them in person, you can always order them online. Hurry up and get yours today!

Re-use, Re-cycle, etc! (Video)

A Hello Project-tastic recycling promotion commercial that’s been airing for awhile now on Japanese TV:

There is also a pretty cool commercial in this series featuring sumo wrestler Kotooshu, which I’ve been trying to record for some time now without success. Anyone got a copy of it? [Update: The Kotooshu CM can be viewed here. Thanks, Will!]

Japanese Baby-crying Contest Photos

On Saturday, the annual “Baby-cry Sumo” contest was held at Sensoji temple in Tokyo. In the event, which is thought to bring good health, Japanese babies face off against each other in matches to see who can cry the loudest.

More photos from the event can been seen here and here.

Japan News for April 30, 2007

Today’s Japan-related news links:

• South Korea and Japan will once again wrangle over the name for the body of water that divides them at the International Hydrographic Organization conference that opens in Monaco on May 7. [Link]
• The volume of Japan’s crude oil imports from Iran in March recorded a 64.9% growth compared with the previous month, and now accounts for 14.2% of Japan’s overall crude oil imports, making Iran the 3rd largest oil exporter to that country. [Link]
• Japan and Saudi Arabia agreed on Saturday to build a broad economic and strategic partnership, saying a “just, comprehensive solution” to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was needed. [Link]
• Twenty-one people including small children were injured Saturday in Tokyo when tents and a trampoline came down at an event square, apparently affected by violent winds. [Link]
• The agreement by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President George W. Bush to share information about their countries’ free trade agreement talks with third parties apparently marked a first step toward an eventual FTA between Tokyo and Washington. [Link]
• Social stigma is preventing thousands of Japanese women who served occupying U.S. troops in official brothels from coming forward to seek compensation, an activist with the Tokyo-based Violence against Women in War Network said Saturday. [Link]
• The Yomiuri Shimbun’s Tokyo head office and the Yomiuri Shimbun group failed to declare about 479 million yen in taxable income in the five years to March 31, 2006: The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau ordered the nation’s largest newspaper to pay some 175 million yen in back and punitive taxes. [Link]
• A special train decorated with illustrations of popular animals kept at Asahikawa Zoo in Hokkaido began operations between the prefectural capital of Sapporo and Asahikawa on Saturday. [Link]
• Blogger Ampontan criticizes western media coverage of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to America in an entry entitled, “Eyes wide shut: The media and the Abe-Bush press conference.” [Link]
• Wondering if your dog or cat is stressed? Just stick a special patch on the bottom of its paw and you’ll be able to tell, according to a Japanese company. [Link]

Documentary: Homeless in Japan (Video)

A man from Hong Kong travels to Japan to make a documentary about Tokyo’s homeless population. In Ueno Park he meets Mr. Kawaguchi, a homeless man who speaks English and claims to have worked for the Japan Foundation. The filmmaker follows around Mr. Kawaguchi, interviewing him and observing his daily life (As well as sleeping in the park near him!). Here’s all 5 parts of director K. M. Lo‘s “Homeless in Japan.”

It’s pretty sad to see an apparently well-educated man like Mr. Kawaguchi reduced to eating out of trash cans in Ueno Park. I wonder if his claims about having a large amount of money in the stock market or being a direct descendant of the Tokugawa shoguns have any truth to them…

McFlurry in Japan (Video)

Or at least they do in McDonald’s commercials advertising the arrival of the McFlurry (they didn’t have it until now in Japan?):

Readers have contacted me to tell me that certain McDonald’s locations in Japan are offering free McFlurries with sets purchased after 2:00PM. The McDonald’s Japan homepage also says that anyone who goes to a McDonald’s restaurant between May 1st and May 6th and says the secret code word “Fururirero!” will get a special coupon allowing them to buy a McFlurry for 100 yen. During the same period, McFlurries will be sold at 150 yen (half price).