Archive for May, 2008

Japan Photo of the Week: Tsukiji Samurai

Back in March, I decided I should try and head over to Tsukiji Fish Market before they tried to shut down some of the early morning access for tourists. I learned a few things from going. The first being that cutting fish can be really graceful, like this guy was making it with his knife/sword/katana/saw or whatever it is!

Here are the other things I learned:

• Tsukiji is interesting.
• Tuna are big.
• Seafood is gross.
• Tourists are in the way.

Yes Tsukiji was really cool, but after going, I realized in fact, Tsukiji is a workplace, and no matter how much the tourists try to follow the rules, we are in their way and sometimes preventing or delaying them from doing their job. Also, it is not exactly a safe place, with everyone in a hurry and driving these mini reverse forklift type cars around narrow alleyways, sometimes while using there cell phone! Actually, what I think Tsukiji should do is take advantage of the fact that so many tourists want to visit this place, charge everyone an entrance fee, and build a really cool observing room over the auction floors.

Apparently they were going to start restrictions for tourists from April 1st, 2008. Restrictions being that one can only enter during a certain time and watch from a certain area. Anyone try to go to the auctions early in the morning since then? I am interested to know how strict they are being…

Anyway, check out the Japan Photo Guide for more information and photos about Tsukiji.

This photograph was taken by Evan Pike.

Konishiki loses a lot of weight

Former sumo wrestler Konishiki, who got gastric bypass surgery a few months ago, has lost a lot of weight, as this news report shows:

Konishiki avoided answering questions about how much weight he lost and the difficulties he has gone through, but according to the report, he weighed about 300kg (661 pounds) before the surgery and now weighs about 230kg (507 pounds). Judging from the video of him arriving at Narita Airport in a wheelchair, one can’t help but think that he’s still dangerously overweight.

Benjamin Fulford

Benjamin Fulford, who has published a bunch of crackpot conspiracy theory books in Japanese and sometimes appears on Japanese TV, has uploaded a new video to YouTube in which he takes a break from ranting about freemasons, shadow governments, Jewish conspiracies, and 9/11 to claim that the U.S. military caused the Sichuan Earthquake:

A summary of what he says in the video:

• A UFO plasma weapon is responsible for the recent earthquake in China. More specifically, it was the U.S. Military’s High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), which does fancy stuff to make earthquakes.
• Last year’s earthquake in Niigata was caused by the plasma weapon. This was done as punishment to Japan for allowing Fulford to report the truth about the evil oligarchs.
• The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was probably caused by HAARP to force Indonesia to cooperate with America’s war on terrorism.
• The typhoon in Myanmar was also man-made, so that the U.S. could interrupt elections and rush lots of food aid to the people there.
• George Bush is the secret leader of one of Japan’s largest yakuza gangs.
• Fulford calls on patriotic Americans to bomb HAARP’s power generators.

As is typical with conspiracy theorists like Fulford, very little credible evidence is presented to support his outlandish claims.

North Korean regime not happy about leaflets

North Korea doesn’t like its citizens reading leaflets from the outside world:

North Korea’s military warned Friday that tensions between the two Koreas could become “catastrophic” if South Korea keeps sending propaganda leaflets into the communist nation.

The North’s tough talk was yet another sign that relations between the rivals have turned sour since new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February with a pledge to get tough on Pyongyang.

North Korea has since unleashed a spate of harsh rhetoric, including making threats to attack and hurling personal insults at Lee.

“If they do not want the present inter-Korean relations to lead to a catastrophic phase, they should take immediate steps to stop all forms of reckless scattering of leaflets at once,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

[...]

But a ministry official said South Korea’s government does not fly propaganda leaflets into North Korea. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Still, civic groups in South Korea, including some North Korean defectors’ groups, have sent airborne leaflets, using balloons, to the North with messages condemning the regime in Pyongyang.

Among those who recently sent leaflets were a Japanese group representing the families of those believed to have been kidnapped by the North Korean regime. The video embedded in this post includes footage from a few days ago of them sending balloons with leaflets containing photos and information about the missing Japanese citizens.

Kotooshu is a blogger

Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotooshu now has a blog:

This blog is now becoming popular among Japanese. But that’s might not be in the exact same way he had expected. Although its title is written in kanji and hiragana, he posts the entry in all hiragana, and many Japanese think it’s ‘kawaii.’(cute)

Imagine how he posted the entry. The man over 200cm and 150kg types these hiragana words with biggest palm in front of the smallest palm top. After two-hour struggle, he posted a picture, just saying ‘たい２ひき’, or ‘おさけ’. Certainly, this gap is kawaii.

As many people starts blogging, it looks he spent all his passion on the first day and hadn’t posted any since May 26th, but if he can keep it , it’s sure he can become a famous blogger in Japanese blogsphere like Nakagawa Shokotan.

For more info, check out the Road to the Deep East (English), or head straight to his blog (Japanese).

Anti-Japanese netizens delay Japanese aid to Chinese earthquake victims

It sounded like great news – Japan’s self-defense forces airlifting help to earthquake victims and improving relations with China. Well, it turns out the Chinese government has backed down on its original request, making Japan use civilian aircraft instead:

The plan to send relief supplies aboard SDF aircraft surfaced after the Chinese government on Tuesday asked the Japanese Embassy in Beijing to supply tents and other goods because the rainy season is approaching.

Tokyo began considering the deployment of SDF planes, which can be mobilized quickly, because China indicated it would accept them as a means of transportation.

SDF members have never entered China.

But Chinese public opinion has been divided over the possibility of SDF troops landing in China, which could bring back painful memories of Japanese actions in the country before and during World War II.

While some said the deployment could become a symbol of improving bilateral relations, critical comments against the plan have been posted on the Internet.

At the news conference, Machimura said Japan need not push through the plan if it could cause friction.

A source close to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said the Chinese government could not reach a consensus about the SDF plan.

Why did the Chinese government back away from its previous request? The Times Online has blamed the netizens:

Although the request for aid to be brought in using ASDF planes appears to have originated in Beijing, the idea of China’s reviled wartime enemy crossing its borders in uniform was too much for the country’s avid hordes of internet users – a group rapidly emerging as a powerful force of political influence.

Infuriated by the Japanese authorities for rushing ahead with plans to send the military transporter planes – and with their own government’s apparent acquiescence to the scheme – Chinese websites quickly filled with messages condemning the plan.

The informal invitation to Japan’s SDF raised eyebrows on both sides of the East China Sea when it emerged earlier this week – although diplomatic relations between Beijing and Tokyo are now visibly on the mend after many years of acrimony, the issue of Japan’s historical imperialism remains a flashpoint of anti-Japanese sentiment for the Chinese public.

Thanks to the anti-Japanese efforts of the netizens, earthquake victims will now have to wait longer to get the tents they desperately need.

Side Note: The New York Times also has an article up that notes the online anger in China. In explaining the Chinese anger, it falsely states that the “remains of prominent convicted war criminals” are held at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. It’s a Shinto shrine, not a cemetery!