Archive for January, 2008

Japanese Coast Guard Officers Protect Whaling Fleet

The AFP reports that Japan has dispatched coast guard officers are now helping whalers in the Antarctic Ocean:

Japan’s coast guard said Tuesday it has sent a team of officers to protect its whaling fleet against intensifying protests by environmentalists.

The whalers have repeatedly clashed with environmentalists in the Antarctic Ocean and halted the hunt two weeks ago.

“Coast guards are there with a view to protect human lives and assets as they have suffered damage at the hands of activists,” Japan Coast Guard spokesman Takashi Matsumori said.

The last time the maritime police sent officers to a non-Coast Guard vessel outside Japanese waters was in 1992 when it protected a ship controversially bringing plutonium from France for nuclear power generation.

[...]

Matsumori declined to give details about the current Coast Guard operation, citing security reasons, but said officers had the right to carry guns or other weapons.

The guards “could make arrests if activists enter a ship without permission of the captain,” he said.

While the coast guard officers have the capability to arrest individuals who illegally board Japanese vessels, there were no such officers serving on the Japanese whaling ship that suffered a butyric acid attack and subsequent illegal boarding by Sea Shepherd activists earlier in the month, so the Japanese coast guard could not play a role in the detainment of those particular activists.

Video: Japanese Police Battle Terrorists

I just came across this video clip of a news report about an anti-terror training exercise held by Japanese police. In the exercise, police are confronting international terrorists who have smuggled themselves into Tokyo in shipping containers:

The YouTube version of this video was labeled “cool terror training” [かっこいいテロ訓練] by the Japanese user who uploaded it in May 2007, and I can’t argue with the action movie style awesome-ness of the battle. However, it would probably be better to replace the word “cool” with “unrealistic” when describing the training event, since it’s far more probable that today’s international terrorists would simply blow themselves up and kill police officers in the blast instead of engaging in ridiculous martial arts battles. There is questionable wisdom in having dozens of police officers approach shipping containers that are likely filled with explosives, and I doubt their riot shields would provide sufficient protection against suicide bombers. The video also gives me the impression that the police response to an armed criminal firing a pistol at them would be to duck behind riot shields and shout for the criminal to drop his weapon instead of returning fire, an impression that I hope is mistaken.

International terrorists probably won’t be attacking Japan in the near future, but if they do, I hope the police have actually prepared for more realistic scenarios

Aomori Waterfall Becomes Pillar of Ice

A waterfall in Aomori Prefecture has frozen over, creating a beautiful pillar of ice:

For more information on this waterfall (Nio Waterfall), check out this site about the Nio Waterfall Ice Festival.

Japanese Language Ability Could Ease Visa Conditions of Skilled Foreign Workers

Earlier this month, it was mentioned that the Japanese government was considering rules to make Japanese language a criterion for certain residency visas. A new announcement reveals that this idea could be put into practice soon:

Conditions for resident visa status of skilled foreign workers such as engineers may be relaxed if they attain a certain level of proficiency in Japanese, government sources said Monday.

The measures, including shortening the required number of years of work experience required, are being considered both to increase the variety of foreign workers being accepted in Japan and to encourage more foreigners to study Japanese, the sources said.

The relaxed conditions would be applicable to foreigners who want to enter Japan for specialist or technical jobs, they said.

[...]

Engineers, for example, are permitted to enter Japan to work in technical fields if they have graduated from a university in that subject or have work experience of at least 10 years.

The Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry are considering shortening the number of years of work experience required to about five from 10, according to the sources.

They are also considering using the annual Japanese Language Proficiency Test to gauge applicants’ Japanese ability, the sources said.

In fiscal 2006, about 440,000 people in Japan and 46 countries and territories took the test offered by Japan Education Exchanges and Services, which estimates that 2.98 million people study Japanese abroad.

There is concern that relaxing conditions could lead to a decrease in the quality of workers, but if they have proficiency in Japanese they would be able to learn the relevant skills in Japan, the sources said.

Learning how to use KY properly.

If you live in Japan, chances are that you’ve heard “KY” mentioned, and that person was not talking about the sexual lubricant. “KY”, for those who don’t know is short for “kuuki yomenai” (空気読めない）, meaning you can’t read the air. The kids I teach throw this out all the time. Any time someone doesn’t seem to understand the atmosphere, and says something that kills the mood, you hear 14 year-olds shouting “KY! KY!”

A story taken from oh my news describes how “KY Language” (KY語） is becoming something even more annoying than anything on the English Internet, with its LOLs and ROTFLs can throw at you. Seeing as IT in English is “information technology,” a Japanese student, when asked about the acronym, said it’s a direct translation of the English, “information technology.”

NO!

The student was quickly corrected and told that IT stands for “aisu tabetai?” (アイス食べたい?） Do you want to eat some ice cream?

And I thought that American kids were doomed.

GOT? gyuudon oomori tsuyudaku （牛丼大盛りつゆだく）Large beef-bowl in broth.

JC? joshi chuugakusei （女子中学生）Junior-high school girl.

ODD? omae daigaku dousuru? (お前、大学どうする？）What are you going to do about college?

The kids interviewed said that these are not commonly used in conversation, but are most likely to be used in e-mail and on message boards. It just goes to show that no matter what language you speak, there’s always gonna be kids distorting it on the Internet.

Bonus: KY Language online translator

Chocolate Fukuoka Castle

A very cool way to celebrate Valentine’s Day:

The Hawks Town Mall shopping center in Fukuoka has put up on display models of Fukuoka Castle and the Nagasaki Kaido road made out of sweets.

A total of 287 students at Nakamura Culinary School in Fukuoka spent four months creating the models. They crafted them using eggs and marzipan with sugar and almonds to reproduce the finest details, such as roof tiles and stone walls of the castle, whose 400th anniversary is being celebrated.