Archive for April, 2009

SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi arrested for public display of loud drunken nudity

At 3am in Hinokicho Park just outside Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi, police found a naked Kusanagi dancing wildly making a scene (apparently not “dancing” exactly). When they told him to calm down he refused saying “What’s wrong with being naked?!” So they had no choice but to arrest him. He resisted and had to be “wrapped in a sheet” to be taken to the station. He is so ubiquitous on Japanese TV that the stations have been thrown into chaos today, in danger of having to cancel a good portion of their programming schedule and commercials (why? for some reason it is standard operating procedure to systematically blacklist a talent who runs afoul of authorities or even is caught cheating on a spouse).

Let the comment section of this post be a grand celebration of SMAP-hating!

Update: Mainichi and the AP now have English language stories up. Below is a wonderful screen capture of the boring scene in the Diet that was taking place when N-H-K ran a newsflash at the top of the screen about the arrest of nekkid Kusanagi [hat tip to 2-channel].

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Mr. Ando of the Woods

A wonderfully wacky cartoon by Takashi Taniguchi [via Pink Tentacle]:

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Tarantula Mouse

A great new product from the folks at Thanko:

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Group protests against lay judge system

Since 1943, Japan has had no jury system for its trials. All of that will change in May, when a new law goes into effect on May 21st. Randomly selected citizens will be required to serve as lay judges on panels that will – together with professional judges – issue decisions on serious criminal cases.

Many Japanese are dreading the possibility of having to serve as a lay judge, and bookstores are making a lot of money selling new self-help books on what lay judges are supposed to do. Polls have found that a majority of Japanese people do not want to serve as lay judges, and it seems that some of them have formed groups dedicated to abolishing the new system. Here is a FTV report about a group that recently held an anti-lay judge system rally in Tokyo:

Below is a rough translation of the main reasons the group opposes the lay judge system (taken from this website):

• Those who refuse to serve as lay judges may be fined. It’s unfair that only sick and elderly people can avoid lay judge duty without a penalty.
• This system completely disregards the views of those who don’t feel they can judge others.
• If you run a business and have to shut it down while you go to serve as a lay judge, the government will not compensate you for the value of the sales you may have lost during that period.
• The questioning during the lay judge selection process is an invasion of privacy. How dare these judges and lawyers ask us about our personal beliefs!
• If a majority decision by the judges can send a convicted person to the gallows, I will feel guilty even if I voted against finding the person guilty and giving them the death penalty.
• Lay judges will never be allowed to talk about the contents of the trials they judged, and could face punishment if it is ever discovered that they leaked such information. (Maximum penalty: six months in prison or 500,000 yen in fines)
• The accused will not be able to reject trial by lay judges. Those facing trial probably won’t be happy about being at the mercy of randomly-selected lay judges, and have no choice in the matter.
• The addition of lay judges makes things harder for lawyers, since decisions handed down can vary greatly depending on the personalities and preferences of the lay judges.
• The lay judges will just be used to give a rubber stamp to a decision already made in advance by the real judges. The real judges, lawyers, and police have already prepared the case and lay judges might have little effect on the actual outcome.

A group of lawmakers has begun attempts to delay the start of the system, as they plan to revise some of the sections of the law that citizens are most worried about.

For a good summary and discussion of the issue, check out this article over at NéoJaponisme.

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Sumo wrestlers undergo “random” drug tests

The Japan Sumo Association conducted its first “random drug tests” on wrestlers yesterday:

The tests were held on the same day Yokohama District Court’s Kawasaki branch sentenced former sumo wrestler Wakakirin to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years, for possessing marijuana.

“The tests were carried out in line with the rules and everything was explained properly,” said Asashoryu. “Having today’s test was 100 percent correct. Now we just have to pray that everyone’s results come back negative.”

Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corp., Japan’s only institution certified by the World Anti-Doping Agency undertook the examinations, the results of which are expected to be disclosed in two or three weeks.

Sumo wrestlers leaving the testing site admitted to the press that they had been told about the tests two days ago. Not all of the sumo stables were tested today, so those going in for tests tomorrow or the day after that will have had even more advanced notice. So much for that whole “random testing” claim.

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Stingray spotted in Tokyo canal

A red stingray has been hanging around in a canal near Tsukishima Station in Tokyo, a rare sight worthy of FTV news coverage:

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