Archive for October, 2007

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]