Archive for February, 2009

Who is responsible for the unexploded bombs in Okinawa?

An excerpt from an Asahi editorial calling on the Japanese government to do more about the costs of searching for bombs at construction sites and paying compensation to those hurt or killed when such bombs explode:

Japan’s wartime government was responsible for the Battle of Okinawa. Many people in Okinawa argue the government today should take responsible action on the problem of unexploded bombs and shells as part of its efforts to deal with the consequences of the war.

That is a reasonable demand. The government, which has decided to leave the compensation issue to future discussions, should earnestly tackle the issue of creating a system to compensate victims of these war legacies.

Searches with magnetic metal detectors before digging are essential for discovering unexploded ordnance at work sites. But neither contractors that actually carry out work nor entities that contract out the work are legally required to conduct such searches.

Many municipal or private-sector projects start without the magnetic surveys because of concerns about cost and schedule.

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Japanese courts need ceritified interpreters

The Japan Times reports on the use of trial interpreters in Japan:

Interpreters play a vital role in criminal trials involving foreign defendants not fluent in Japanese. The law stipulates that the court is required to hire a translator proficient in the language used by the parties involved.

According to Supreme Court data, 7,195 out of the 89,016 people convicted in 2006 — or one out of every 12 — were foreigners who needed interpreters for trials.

Among them, 39.4 percent needed Chinese interpretation, 12.8 percent Korean, 8.3 percent Filipino, 7.4 percent Portuguese and 5.4 percent Thai, the data show. Those needing English interpretation ranked eighth, at 3.2 percent. 2006 saw 42 languages used for people from 71 countries and regions.

As of April 2007, the Supreme Court had a list of 3,903 designated interpreters on standby. But being listed as one doesn’t mean one is qualified because there is no professional title or qualified status.

The abilities of such interpreters can vary quite a bit – creating a dangerous situation for foreigners who find themselves assigned an interpreter lacking knowledge of legal terminology or adequate proficiency in their language. A group of lawyers and interpreters is currently working to establish an organization that can train and certify trial interpreters.

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Valentine’s Day 2009 roundup

A roundup of Valentine’s Day related stories:

My local supermarket has its shelves well-stocked with Ultraman battle chocolates. Why didn’t such cool Valentine’s candies exist when I was a kid?

Taro Aso got his chocolates yesterday and made a comment about a so-called Catholic belief:

“Today is Friday the 13th. It’s a big problem for Catholics. Today is supposed to be a day when something bad happens,” Aso, who is a Catholic, said upon receiving the chocolates Friday evening at his office.

Namco’s Namja Land in Ikebukuro sold delicious-looking chocolate sets of beetles. They include 4 choco beetles: one Hercules beetle, one stag beetle, one male rhinocerous beetle, and one female rhinocerous beetle).

A sad lonely man held up a sign on Omotesando Avenue begging women to give him chocolate.

A baby bull with a heart-shaped mark on its forehead has attracted international media attention.

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Wheelchairs in early 19th century Japan

A picture of an Edo period wheelchair from Fusou Note‘s fascinating series of posts about Tokyo in the early 19th century:

• Tokyo in 1805
• People in Tokyo in 1805
• Disabled people and musicians in Tokyo in 1805

For related reading material, check out Charles J. Dunn’s great book “Everyday Life in Traditional Japan.”

Update: Readers have told me that the following Google advertisement is showing up on the feed for this post.

Thanks Google, for showing us how much technology has improved in the last couple hundred years!

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Insanely expensive strawberries

The jumbo “Beautiful Princess” strawberries shown in this FTV news clip are being sold at the ridiculous price of between 30,000 and 50,000 yen (370 and 545 US dollars) for a box of five strawberries:

The farmer who grows these strawberries hopes that his fruit will become as famous and well-liked as Miyazaki Prefecture’s outrageously expensive mangoes.
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Tiny Italian restaurant in Tokyo

A look at a very very small Italian Restaurant at Kyodo Station on Tokyo’s Odakyu Odawara Line:

The store takes up an area of only 4.59 square meters, which only allows enough space for a tiny cooking area and 4 seats for customers. The owner and chef is a foreigner, but for some reason the program did not mention his exact nationality (the store does have a British flag on the wall). Despite the small size of the restaurant, he is able to make some pretty good pasta. If all goes well, he’ll soon be squeezing a pizza oven into his kitchen area!
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This post will be part of the February 2009 Japan Blog Matsuri (Theme: FOREIGN FOOD).

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