Phillipine Prisoners Back in Style

I swore I would never post a Melancholy of Haruhi tribute dance again, but…

You may have caught them doing the Pythagoras Switch’s Algorithm March (Japanese original here). Yes, in the Philippines, prisoners dance their way to rehabilitation. Now, they have joined the Haruhi craze.

[Video and this ABC article about the dancing prisoner phenomenon via TV in Japan]

7 comments - What do you think? Posted by Claytonian - September 15, 2007 at 3:36 pm

Categories: General Japan Tags:

shazzb0t

…. Cruel and unusual punishment.. Damn, at least they did it better than that robotic dry as crackers gaijin girl. Ugh, no more James, please…..

Claytonian

Are you calling me James?

shazzb0t

Haha, I did. I apologize for that Clay.. hahaha. I guess I take it for granted that James is posting. Sorry buddy.

NANA

We’re introducing our prisoners to Japanese animation and the likes to make them into real life fearing otaku’s. Best move yet.

shazzb0t

笑！ Haha, good one.

concerned Filipino

I couldn’t believe it at first, as while anime is quite popular in the Philippines, I didn’t think it was popular enough that the powers-that-be or the authorities would take notice of it. Maybe some prison warden thought it would be a nice joke. You ask me, this is pretty good for the prisoners. Sure beats smashing rocks.

Oh, well. Actually, it’s not that weird for a group choreographed dance to be a routine in prison. I guess the weird thing is the choice of dance. How’d the warden find out about that?

sir eds

Probably one of the convicts introduced it herself. May have been a former bargirl who’s worked in Japan–or, as they’re called here, “Japayukis”–and gotten into trouble back in the Philippines. These girls tend to run with unsavory types, even here in the Philippines.

I’ve visited the women’s penitentiary in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila as part of our company’s “outreach” program some Christmas seasons ago. Most of the women are there for financial fraud (known here as “estafa”), maybe to augment their husbands’ meagre incomes. They’re pretty lonely, and they pass the time by, among other things, dancing.

Phillipine Prisoners Back in Style

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