Archive for January, 2009

Japanese Barack Obama tours Obama

Japanese Obama impersonator Nozomu Sato (Nocchi) recently hitchhiked across Japan to visit Obama City:

After meeting and greeting residents and shopkeepers (all of whom recognize him), Nocchi is given a sample of the kind of tour President Obama should expect if he ever visits the sleepy fishing town. He eats some of Obama’s famous mackerel and has a feast of winter seafood. The “Obama Girls” hula dancers, who have appeared in countless international news reports, also make an appearance. The clip ends with Nocchi shaking hands with Obama City’s mayor and agreeing to work together in welcoming Barack Obama when he comes to Japan.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Video: Taxi driver beaten by drunk passengers

A scary video of a Tokyo taxi driver being attacked by two drunk passengers:

After the attack shown in the video, he was taken outside and beaten for 15 minutes by the two men (they were then arrested by the police). The driver is convinced he would have died from the beating had the men used a bat instead of an umbrella.
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Tsukiji tuna auctions readmit sightseers – no major rudeness

The Tsukiji fish market reopened its tuna auctions to sightseers today after a 1-month ban:

The move comes as the Tokyo metropolitan government deemed the famous tuna auction, which attracts a maximum of about 500 people a day, an important tourist attraction, and because they were able to gain the understanding of market participants, according to metropolitan officials.

In accordance with the resumption, the local government deployed two security guards to the auction area, marked observer boundaries, displayed a sign at the main gate of the market and distributed flyers in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Russian explaining that flash photography and entering the actual auction site are banned.

No major problems went down this morning, so the new measures seem to have been a success. Here’s a medley of reactions from foreign tourists from the news reports that aired on Asahi/Fuji/NTV/TBS:

All the foreign tourists interviewed were happy with the experience, and the guy in charge of maintaining order at the market was very happy (some tourists even said “Thank you” to him!). The international media was also on the scene, so CNN’s Kyung Lah even filed a report about it.*

Most of the Japanese TV networks included replays of their wild scenes of rude foreign behavior from the pre-ban Tsukiji, and they were on watch for rule-breaking. Here’s what TBS and ATV were able to dig up:

The daring TBS reporter was quite forward in scolding the poor guy who accidentally left his flash on. ATV also captured a guy using his flash, as well as a woman who got in the way of one of the vehicles used to transport fish around the interior of the market. They also got some comments from a Tsukiji market worker about how gaijin get in the way by walking around in such a manner and blinding workers with their camera flashes.

Those scenes aside, the overall tone of the reports on all four networks was positive. Most of the workers interviewed were very pleased with the results of the new measures, and owners of shops and restaurants in the area were particularly happy that the foreign tourists who make up so much of their customer base will be able to continue visiting the auctions. It’s great to see that Tsukiji is back open to tourism and things are going relatively well for both foreign tourists and the fish market.

*Comment about CNN’s report: Quite surprising that their elite team of journalists in Tokyo had to rely on some very familiar low resolution footage instead of asking the Japanese TV network in question to use a higher quality version. I don’t ever see NTV use junky YouTube quality clips when they include footage from CNN in their news reports.

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Brazilian workers hold protest march in Tokyo

The economy is in trouble, and thousands of foreigners in Japan are facing the prospect of losing their jobs. Brazilian residents, a great many of whom work in factories for companies that are drastically slashing production, are particularly vulnerable. Some have chosen to go home, but others want to stay and fight for job security:

Around 350 people, waving Brazilian flags and carrying banners reading “A chance for employment and education,” walked the 2.5 kilometers from Shimbashi to Ginza.

“I took Japanese nationality in order to try and get full-time employment to look after my children,” said one marcher living in Yokohama. “But my factory is planning job cuts in March, and if I get fired it’ll be difficult to find another job.”

The protestors aired their grievances at a meeting at the Kotsu Building in Shimbashi prior to the march, complaining that foreign workers are often the first to be fired, and that the number of children who can’t attend international schools are on the rise as parents lose their jobs.

More photos of the march can be found at NewsonJapan.com.

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Chimpanzee failures: high stilts and goat stampedes

Shimura Zoo‘s Pan-kun is made to try walking on 4-meter stilts for the first time:

And tries to feed some goats:

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Calculator speed freaks

A video from TBS news showing an exam that measures the speed and accuracy of calculator use:

263 people of all ages took part in the highest level of the national competition. As you can see, nobody in the room seemed to be slacking off.

In case you are wondering about the kind of person who takes such an exam, here’s an example:

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