Archive for October, 2007

Yamanote Light Vandalism Video

[edit: thought the light vandalism was reported this year, word is this video is actually from last year's revelries.]
Just thought I would put this up while the controversy is still fresh. This is a video that includes footage of when the lights were taken out on the Halloween train invasion.

BTW, my take on the whole thing: Have fun, while not being an ass. In fact, that is just common sense really.

Being Gay And Gaijin In Japan

What is it like being a homosexual foreign male in Japan? Well ‘Scott’ age 39 (who wishes his real name not the name of his partner not be used) has agreed to tell us a little bit about what it is like. Scott will tell a little about his life here in Japan on the condition that it not involve any strictly private or embarrassing details about his relationship with his Japanese partner. Thank you Scott.

Scott met his Japanese lover ‘Taro’ (age 44) in Vancouver, Canada about 5 years ago where he was working at the time as an assistant manager of a museum. Taro soon returned to Japan, where he worked as a restaurant manager, and they corresponded over the years, occasionally meeting and traveling together to various places around South East Asia. Finally, he invited Scott to join him in Japan, and Scott hesitatingly agreed to do so.

“I had been to Japan a few times before actually moving here for the long term, so I sort of knew what to expect, but I had some worries about how I would be treated and whether I would be accepted. I just took it a day at a time” he says. “My partner wanted us to move in with his elderly mother in Northern Japan and I was kind of hesitant about doing that. I mean I didn’t know how people would react. Everyone knows him (Taro) and they soon understood what my relationship with him was. I was worried about living in a conservative city in Northern Japan.”

“Well we moved into his mother’s place and Taro started working in one of her (partner’s mother) snacks (bars) . I helped out a little at the beginning, but we had so many people show up who were curious about me, and wanted to meet me, I had to stick around more and more, now I am working pretty much full time. I made up some dishes I thought would be tasty to our customers. Some have been hits and others have not. The Taco Salad we added to the menu is very popular, but the avocado dip however was a bomb” Scott says. “It’s really a hit and miss thing, but I have very much enjoyed what I am doing here, it is what I wanted to do together with Taro.”

Scott says that his relationship with his partner has had a few difficult moments, but they remain strongly committed to each other. “When we first started living with his mother, I saw a side of him I didn’t know existed. He is a very good son, and his mother has a very strong personality, even at her age (80) and she controls him quite a bit, but I can’t say that is bad. She and I get along good. I help take care of her. I do some of the shopping, and help her with some of her personal needs. She agreed to build us a separate house on property she owns, and she did that. We moved in last summer. It is nice to have our own place now.”

Scott was worried about how he might be treated in their community, but he says after a ‘honeymoon period’ things have settled down quite a bit. “A lot of Taros’ and his mother’s friends would drop by to meet me and say hello, and bring gifts. Most of them were really nice. When Taro re-opened the snack that his mother owned, the first few weeks were really busy, but now it has quieted down to a pretty regular crowd. “The whole thing is really so normal. We have had a few problem customers, but you get that everywhere.” In fact it is so normal, it can be downright boring sometimes, according to Scott. “I have had some children point their fingers at me and laugh, but I think that is just because I am not Japanese. That happens everywhere. I have also seen some people gesture towards me and whisper so I can only guess what they are saying, but that really doesn’t bother me. I would go crazy if I let that sort of thing get to me. I just smile.”

When asked if his intent was to set up a gay bar in his area, Scott replied that it was not. It just worked out that way. “My partner and I had no intention of making our place exclusively anything, we wanted everybody, no matter who they were, to feel comfortable about coming here, but it is hard to know for sure, we get all kinds of people from every walk of life..” In fact it has been very good for Scott and Taro. They are planning to remodel and re-open another restaurant/bar soon. “We have ideas on opening a second place. We will probably have to hire some people, but I am sure it will be successful, the place we have now is a small place and some nights the crowd here is overwhelming. We will expand carefully and slowly.” Scott says that they have several options for the future.

Scott passes the time he is not working alongside his partner, painting and studying Japanese. “The hardest part is not being able to communicate with our customers well enough yet. I am improving, but I still have a long way to go.” “I just want people to know it is possible to be happy here and live your life as you like, no matter who you are.” That is a message that everyone can appreciate.

Video Report by Yamanote Halloween Train Supporter

David “Samurai Dave” Weber, who has participated in the Yamanote Halloween Train since 2005, has posted this video report to Japunit:

The video seems to be made up of clips from the 2006 party:

I have more commentary from myself and from participants including one who confirms the existence of the Halloween Train event going back to 1990. It also contains a brief message to a pair of Tokyo-living Wikipedia users who last year did everything they could to get an article on the event deleted because they never heard of it.Also for some of the critics who decry the event as just crazy gaijin taking over the train, you’ll note that nearly half the people in this video are Japanese.

At around the 6-minute mark of the video, we are shown how Japanese passengers reacted to the party. I believe the word “terrified” was used.

Tokyo Motor Show Photos

The Tokyo Motor Show was opened to the public over the weekend, allowing visitors to see some cool and eco-friendly concept cars. Japan Prober Darin visited the event on Sunday, and has posted a huge gallery of photos on his website: check them out!

Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama Admits He Associates With Supporters of Terrorism

In a bizarre attempt to justify the fingerprinting of all foreigners entering Japan, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama has told reporters about his association with friends of terrorists:

Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, however, told reporters that he had personal knowledge of how terrorists can infiltrate the country, citing an unidentified “friend of a friend” who was involved in a bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali.

“I have never met this person, but until two or three years ago, it seems this person was visiting Japan often. And each time he arrived in Japan, he used a different passport,” Hatoyama said.

The justice minister added that his friend, whom he also did not identify, had warned him to stay away from the center of Bali.

[...]

“The fact is that such foreign people can easily enter Japan,” Hatoyama said. “In terms of security, this is not a preferable situation.”

“I know this may cause a lot of inconvenience, but it’s very necessary to fight terror,” Hatoyama said of the fingerprinting measures. “Japan may also become a victim of a terrorist attack.”

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he hoped Hatoyama’s al-Qaida connection would not re-enter Japan.

“I hope he’ll deal with this issue firmly through immigration controls now that he’s justice minister,” Fukuda said.

If Hatoyama has a friend with knowledge of terrorists visiting Japan, why is he not handing over this information to police? Frankly, I don’t really like the idea of having a justice minister who aids in the harboring of terrorists.

Update: Hatoyama apparently backtracked on his comments later that day, but he still admits he has a friend who is a friend of a terrorist:

Later at the Justice Ministry, Hatoyama said, “It was my friend who was given the advanced warning of the bombing and it was about three or four months after the incident that I heard the story from my friend.”

Hatoyama also issued a statement the same day denying any connection with members of al-Qaida.

In the statement, Hatoyama said that there are a large number of people who share his interest in butterflies including people overseas and he has been told that some of them were thought to be members of terrorist organizations and have entered Japan or were involved in the Bali bombing.

“I introduced these anecdotes as something I heard from my friend,” he explained.

World Speed Walking Champion Attacked by Samurai: Will he Run Away or Speed Walk Away?

In this English-subtitled video of Japanese TV uploaded by YouTuber Morizaemon, Hey! Spring of Trivia plays a cruel joke on racewalking champion Jefferson Perez. They wanted to see what would happen if Perez was attacked by a gang of sword-wielding samurai: would he rely on his expert racewalking skills to get away, or would he simply run away? Watch the clip and find out:

Having seen this when it originally aired on Japanese TV, I remember the film crew had spent some time with Perez earlier that day, rigging a TV set to air a fake news report about samurai attacks. Perez seemed somewhat disturbed by the news report, and the film crew told him some BS about how samurai attacks were a major problem in Japan. Apparently their trick worked, because Perez was pretty freaked out when Samurai entered the stadium and went after him!

If memory serves me right, there was also a Hey! Spring of Trivia segment in which they timed Perez racewalking between apartments and train stations and later compared them to the walking distance times real estate agents had officially listed for the locations. Does anyone know if that clip has made it’s way onto YouTube as well?

[via TV in Japan]