Archive for April, 2009

No swine flu in Japan yet, but universities have already reacted with panic

With the Golden Week holiday beginning, several Japanese universities have sent out messages to students warning them about the dangers of swine flu.

A friend attending Nihon University sends the following excerpt from a warning e-mail sent out to all students:

日本大学は全学渡航禁止命令を出しました。
日本国内で一人でもインフルエンザが確認された場合、全学休講となります。
外出をなるべくひかえ人混みに行かないように注意。

Student travel is forbidden, and students are told to avoid going out – especially to crowded places. The e-mail states that if one single human infection is confirmed in Japan, the whole school will be shut down.

And a reader at Waseda has forwarded us this official warning about the flu:

今後、日本国内で人から人への感染が確認された段階で、授業を
休講とし、全キャンパスを立ち入り禁止とし、自宅学習とします。
大学内で予定されている全ての行事等諸活動および課外活動につ
いても禁止となります。

なお、自宅外通学の学生については、基本的に帰省することとし、
帰省できない学生については、食糧備蓄などの対策・準備が必要で
す。

If any confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission occur,
Waseda University will cancel classes, close campus, and have
students be on-call at home. Also any activities or
extracurricular activities planned on-campus will all be
cancelled.

Please make sure to take precautionary measures such as
stockpiling essential items such as food and water.

We’ve also heard from a reliable source that Nippon Dental University is anticipating a flu outbreak and has already cancelled classes on May 7th and 8th.

I can understand schools wanting to avoid liability issues, but closing down an entire campus if one single person in Japan is sick with swine flu seems like overkill.

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Asashoryu granted permanent residency

Yokozuna Asashoryu is now a permanent resident:

Asashoryu, whose real name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, has lived in Japan since 1997, when he became an exchange student at Meitoku Gijuku High School’s sumo club in Kochi Prefecture.

Foreign nationals must have lived in Japan for a duration of at least 10 years before they are eligible to apply for permanent residency.

According to sumo sources, Asashoryu was granted permanent residency on Monday after applying to have his visa status changed last September.

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Chidejika 2.0: Improved digital TV mascot

First, we have a Chidejika/Kusanagi hybrid monster!

Next, we have some otaku-friendly anime girl versions of Chidejika created by a 2-channelers [via Itai News]:

Some pics of Chidejika wearing a leotard bearing Kusanagi’s famous phrase “What’s wrong with being naked?!” [submitted by LB]

Of course, some Japanese internet users made images alluding to Kusanagi’s arrest for public nudity:

Alex went a little further and added some beer cans next to his nude Chidejika:

A scary Chidejika breaking into a house:

And last, but not least, Pedobear:

A huge awesome gallery of Chidejika fan art can be found at Pixiv.

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Can masks save us from the swine flu?

It’s pretty common for people in Japan to wear surgical masks when they are sick or trying to protect themselves from illness, and the government has included the wearing of masks as a measure to be used by the general public if the swine flu comes to Japan.

An advisor to the British government does not agree about the usefulness of normal folks wearing masks:

Rosemary Leonard, a doctor who sits on the board of Britain’s Health Protection Agency — an independent organization which advises on preventing infectious diseases — said she doubted their use by the general public.

She told the Daily Express newspaper on Tuesday that after several hours of use the masks become damp through respiration and start to become porous, thereby potentially letting any virus in or out.

If they are used, they need to be changed every few hours in order to be effective and also disposed of efficiently in order to prevent the virus spreading, she advised.

“Everyone would need a new one twice a day so we would need a phenomenal amount. There is no scientific basis that they work and it is false reassurance,” she said. “Money could be better spent on anti- viral medication.”

Sounds like good advice, but masks would still probably be useful during commutes on packed rush hour trains and during long flights full of possible swine flu carriers.

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Japanese foreign minister complains about lame scene from Indiana Jones movie

“There was a scene in a hit movie last year in which the famous hero, facing a blast from a nuclear test, hid in a refrigerator,” Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said in a speech against nuclear weapons.

“I was surprised by the movie’s lack of awareness of a nuclear bomb blast. A nuclear explosion destroys everything in an instant. I felt concern that this kind of easy-going image might spread around the world.”

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Broken Robot Nozomi

Street performer Broken Robot Nozomi puts on a sad show about war:

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