Archive for September, 2007

British Man Arrested for Murder in Yokohama

On Friday, the Japanese press reported that a Japanese woman had been found dead in an apartment she shared with her British boyfriend. He has since been arrested for strangling her, and his face and name are being shown all over the news:

A British national was arrested Saturday on suspicion of killing a woman living with him in Yokohama, local police said Sunday. Shimmin Paul Jason, 34, has denied the allegation that he strangled Shoko Kawanobe, 25, in her apartment early Thursday morning, police said. Jason called police Thursday night, saying Kawanobe was dead and that he did not know how she had died.

According to police investigators, Jason got to know Kawanobe in Britain and came to Japan with a short-term visa in May. He then returned to his country but came back again to Japan on Sept 3. Since then, he had been living with Kawanobe and a 1-year-old boy.

Personally, if I was looking to avoid being suspected as a criminal, I’d probably go with a hairstyle slightly more conservative than a mohawk…

Update: The Yomiuri Shinbun has more details…

According to Kanagawa prefectural police, Shimmin, 34, is suspected of suffocating Kawanobe, 25, early Thursday. No trace of anyone other than Shimmin entering or leaving the apartment was found, and specimens of the suspect’s DNA were detected on the victim’s body, the police said.

And so does the AFP:

The unemployed man from Northern Ireland allegedly choked Kawanobe last week before turning himself to police, said a spokesman for Kanagawa prefectural police.

Media reports said Shimmin denied killing her, saying he found her dead on her futon. After allegedly killing her, Shimmin left the apartment and went to get a mohawk haircut.

Jon Neukam Interview: Taking Your Employer to Court in Japan

A long term resident in Japan describes his his experience with working in Japan and problems getting employers to comply to labor and human rights laws. He describes the ins and outs of taking a Japanese employer to court, appealing the decision, and fighting it all the way to the Japan Supreme court.

Jon’s experience through the Japanese legal landscape is thought provoking and provides unique knowledge and an insiders perspective to labor law and litigation in japan.

[Download Audio Interview (4.9 MB, 3g2 format, 39 Minutes)]

Do you have any questions about the issues raised in this interview? Please post them in the comments section so that they can be included in a possible follow-up interview!

The Washington Post Discovers Japan’s Billy Blanks Obsession

It’s taken months, but the mainstream western media has finally picked up on the Billy Blanks mania that is overtaking Japan:

Asked to explain his runaway popularity in Japan, Blanks said: “The Japanese people see there is no phoniness to my workout. They see my spirit. Yeah, I am giving them orders, but they see I care. They see my heart.”

Then he showed off his abs: Not a Brad Pitt washboard, but impressive for a man of 52.

“Billy is a god,” said Kumiko Maezawa, 41, a homemaker who was among the paying and sweating customers when the BootCamp tour stopped in Yokohama.

“I’m not a masochist,” she said, “but it is nice to be bullied around by him.”

While the article is a pretty interesting and fair representation of the Billy fad, I was a bit baffled by this line:

In the streets of Tokyo, it can take hours of looking before spotting a single person who could honestly be called tubby.

I readily agree there are far fewer obese people in Japan than there are in America, but I’d like to think that one doesn’t need to write wild exaggerations about it taking hours to spot a fat person to get such a point across. Overweight Japanese people exist, and it doesn’t take so long to find one if you’re in a crowded area!

Yasuo Fukuda Manju Hit Stores!

There’s a new Prime Minister in Tokyo, which can only mean one thing: new snacks for tourists to buy! Shinzo Abe’s manju were a huge sale success over the last year (about 530,000 boxes sold!), so shops in Tokyo’s major tourist areas have rolled out a similar line of Yasuo Fukuda manju. The manju makers have shortened his first name into the nickname “Yakkun” and covered the box with cute cartoon representations of Fukuda and other main characters of the LDP (Taro Aso is somewhere in the background). Boxes of twelve Yakkun Manju will cost 630 yen.

Here’s a video of the Yakkun Manju going on sale yesterday:

Are real girls not imaginary enough for you?

Do you find that real girls have a disturbing lack of giant, unblinking eyes? Or that they could really do without fingernails? Do you ever wish anime girls had a little more 3D-ness to them?
The we have the solution for you! Take a gander at this collection of photos. You will be so glad you did… and not creeped-out at all.

Japan Photo of the Week: Neputa Matsuri

Previously on Japan Photo of the week was Nebuta Matsuri and Tachi Neputa. Today’s photo is from the last of the 3 night lantern festivals in Aomori Prefecture, Neputa Matsuri.

Neputa Matsuri has large fan shapped lanterns that most of which are pulled by children of all ages, including really young ones…but oddly enough (maybe) that doesn’t stop those who make the lanterns from designing violent artwork like the one above! To be honest though, I didn’t even notice that woman had just cut off the guys head until I looked at the photo on my computer. Anyway, if you wanna see more photos of the fans and giant drums, check out the Japan Photo Guide for more information and photos.

This photograph was taken by Evan Pike. If you would like to see buy or see more photos take a look at the or the gallery.