Archive for January, 2008

Panic Spreads Over Food Imports From China

A day has passed since news broke of insecticide-laden frozen dumplings from China, and the media frenzy has yet to die down. Mainichi reports that 62 more people are claiming to be victims of the poison gyoza. Although few of the new victims had experienced anything more than diarrhea, one can be sure that the panic over the deadly gyoza will continue to grow.

The story is even being picked up by the international media. Reuters does a pretty good job of covering the story:

The food scare has triggered a nationwide probe into possible additional cases of food poisoning, while Japan’s top government spokesman questioned China’s attitude to food safety only weeks after the country said it had improved standards.

Japanese media and opposition lawmakers have also suggested Japan’s initial response to the problem may have been too slow.

“I have two children, boys aged four and two. They love dumplings. Japanese people love dumplings,” said Democratic Party parliamentarian Yuichiro Hata. “This is something that threatens peoples’ lives.”

Japan Tobacco Inc said on Wednesday its subsidiary, JT Foods Co., would recall the frozen dumplings and other food made at the same Chinese factory, as television broadcasters flashed warnings to viewers not to eat the products.

Around 80 people in Japan have complained of getting sick from eating food made in China, TV Asahi said. Restaurants and schools took Chinese-made food off their menus, other media said.
The scandal is the latest in a string of disputes over the safety of Chinese products from toys to toothpaste. Earlier this month, China declared that its campaign to ensure food and product safety had been a complete success.

“I don’t want to think that there is any difference among countries concerning food safety, but it seems there was a sense on the Chinese side that ‘this is probably ok’,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference.

The issue of restaurants [Bamiyan/Gusto/Skylark Group] & schools is explained further in this Japanese language news clip from ANN:

According to the report, at least 8700 Japanese schoolchildren have been served school lunches containing items imported from China by JT Foods, the same company that sold the contaminated gyoza. While flipping through the channels on my television I also noticed that one channel had a special news ticker at the bottom of the screen informing viewers of schools and stores involved in the scandal.

I don’t recall last year’s Japanese/Chinese food scandals getting this level of coverage, but I suppose those scandals didn’t involve levels of poison that put people in critical condition. Insecticide-laden food is a bit scarier than food past its expiration date.

Update: As panic spreads, so does the number of people who believe they became sick from eating contaminated gyoza. The number of victims now exceeds 450, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s even higher tomorrow. [A friend of mine who had an upset stomach after eating at a Skylark group restaurant last week is now convinced that tainted Chinese ingredients are to blame, but she won't be calling up and reporting herself as a victim.]

A few media reports are placing some of the blame for this scandal on the Japanese government. The Japan Times has an article up about Japan’s weak food inspection system, while the Yomiuri has an article revealing that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government received reports of tainted gyoza weeks ago and was very slow to act on the information.

Update: Was poison actually intentionally injected into the gyoza? New evidence suggests that the poisoning of the the gyoza package that led to serious hospitalizations suggests that, and it’s even possible that the poisoning didn’t occur in China:

A small hole was found in the packaging of dumplings that caused three family members in Hyogo Prefecture to fall ill, suggesting that a poisonous substance detected in the product was deliberately inserted, police said.

The discovery has prompted police to consider forming a case on suspicion of attempted murder. They are continuing to investigate how the substance entered the package

Kyoto Geisha Facing Bird Poop Terror

Kyoto’s most well-known geisha district, Gion, is facing a major problem: poop attacks! Here’s a hard-hitting news report on what’s going on:

Summary:

• As a few geisha are commenting on how one must be careful walking on the streets, a young man is suddenly hit by bird poop! The white bird feces stains his dark-colored jacket. While he tries in vain to wipe the crap off his shirt, poop falls in another location within feet of the cameraman.
• The source of the poop is revealed: crows! A sizable murder of crows is perched along the power lines on the street, regularly dropping feces.
• During daylight the crows usually spend their time elsewhere, but as soon as it becomes dark, they flock to Gion. They indiscriminately poop on sidewalks, buildings, cars, and people.
• Some locals have found that making loud noises can scare off the birds, but the birds will always return within a few hours.
• A bird expert believes that the crows come to Gion because they are young. Older crows usually avoid resting in cities, but this group does not fear humans and is used to living in busy areas. There is also plenty of food to be found in the morning when the humans put out their trash.

Will Gion be able to drive off these party poopers? Only time will tell…

Swinging & Rolling Over Hot Water

The wacky folks at Haneru no Tobira come back at us with another bizarre challenge! This time they are supposed to swing on the rope and use the rolling thing to aid them in a jump to the yellow platform. Those who fail fall into extremely hot water:

Some Chinese-made Dumplings Contain Insecticide: Panic Begins

After eating some gyoza for lunch today, I returned to my apartment to find that today’s top news story was about insecticide-tainted Chinese gyoza [not the brand of gyoza I ate today, thankfully]:

Five family members in Ichikawa, Chiba, were taken to hospital suffering from vomiting and diarrhea after they ate the dumplings, while another two women from Chiba and three family members from Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, also reportedly ate the dumplings.

One of the family members from Ichikawa, a 5-year-old girl, was left unconscious in serious condition, while the other family members fell seriously ill after eating the dumplings, which were sold frozen through a consumer cooperative.

A survey by the Ichikawa public health center detected the insecticide methamidophos in the dumplings in levels that far exceeded normal standards. Police are investigating the incident, and are considering forming a case on suspicion of attempted murder.

Today is probably not a good day to be a company that sells Chinese-made frozen foods in Japan, as this incident will probably add to the growing perception in Japan that Chinese food imports are not safe.

Update: The Chinese are investigating these reports, and the story continues to dominate news coverage today.

Amazing Bowling Trick

Remember that cool trick bowler featured on Japan Probe back in April 2007? He recently appeared on TV again with a new ramp-jumping bowling feat:

Japan Boom in East Asia

Here’s a pretty interesting FTV news report on the current popularity of Japanese language and culture in East Asia:

A quick summary of the Shanghai portion of the video:

• -The couple interviewed at the beginning of the segment says they are buying anime stuff because they’ve watched and enjoyed anime since they were children.
• -We are shown a Japanese anime/game store in Shanghai, which is usually crowded with young people on the weekends.
• -A 22-year-old Chinese guy allows the reporters to come to his apartment, which he shows them his love of Japanese culture by playing Wii and singing along with some popular Japanese songs. He also likes Samurai-era Japanese history, talking about Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japanese.
• In addition to the anime/gamer scene, events where Chinese people studying the Japanese language and Japanese residents of Shanghai gather in parks to practice what they have learned and socialize.
• A Japanese language school in Shanghai is shown, with individual classrooms named after areas of Tokyo [Odaiba, Roppongi, Ikebukuro, etc.]. Sometimes classes involve one-on-one conversation with Japanese teachers, but the school also has its students watch anime for listening practice. Many of the students interviewed mention anime and games as their motivation behind studying the Japanese language.

And a summary of the second half of the video, which takes place in Taiwan:

• A narrator mentions that about 55,000 Taiwanese people took the Japanese Language Proficiency test last year.
• Apparently there is a Japanese language study boom going on in Taiwan, and many mothers are signing their children up for private language schools like the one shown in the video. We are shown some of the typical lessons held there, which include playing karuta (a game in which players attempt to slap and capture cards representing certain words or phrases), singing, and dancing. As part of the total immersion environment, the kids all pick Japanese names for themselves. The school claims it can teach kids to read and write Japanese within a 2-3 year period.
• The mother of a little girl studying Japanese says that it is not uncommon for Taiwanese children to study both Japanese and English these days.
• Interest in Japanese culture and work/business are given as the two major reasons for the current Japanese language boom going on in East Asia.