Archive for May, 2009

Playing baseball at an airport

Some kids in Okinawa get to play their baseball games at a field right near the runway of Naha Airport:

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AP: H1N1 flu causing schools to shut down “across Japan”

The Associated Press filed this video report in which it told viewers that schools were shutting down “across Japan” because of the swine flu:

I think they might need a geography lesson. As of this morning, the flu had only been confirmed in Hyogo and Osaka, and school closures were taking place in that　region of Japan. Many international viewers probably don’t know about the geography of Japan, and assume that “across Japan” must mean that a wide area of the country has been hit by flu cases.

As this map highlighting the flu-hit areas in red shows, that is hardly the case:

I don’t doubt that the flu will spread to other areas of the country in the coming days and weeks, but there’s no need to make alarming reports implying that a flu has spread across a country before the evidence is available to support such an idea.

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Chimpanzee refuses to eat bitter vegetables

Celebrity chimpanzee Pan-kun doesn’t like the bitter taste of goya, but as this clip shows, his mind can be changed:

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Japan needs deer hunters!

From Leo Lewis in Tokyo:

Young town-dwelling Japanese, a pacifist generation raised on Starbucks, poodles and karaoke, are to be trained as marksmen and sent into the mountains to kill deer. The Government’s desperation to end a plague of the animals is such that the emerging cohort of woodsmen — proud graduates of the newly established Toyoka Hunting Meister Education School — will be given free training in the arts of the forest. Learning at the hands of veteran sharpshooters and grizzled outdoorsmen, the new crop will, it is hoped, replace a generation of huntsmen who are now too old and addled to shoot straight or rear the sort of bloodthirsty hunting dogs that used to hold the countryside in check.

[via FG]

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Video: a very jealous dog

Meet Moko-chan, a shih tzu that becomes extremely jealous whenever his master seems to show affection towards anything (including socks!):

[clip from "Pochitama"]

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Americans have confidence in Japan

A survey has found that 80% of Americans consider Japan a dependable country:

The survey results released Monday showed an increase in the figure for the general public from 67 percent last year and revealed that 91 percent of the influential U.S. individuals polled, including government and business leaders, said Japan is dependable, down one point from the previous survey.

The telephone survey was conducted in February and March, covering about 1,500 U.S. citizens aged 18 and older as well as 250 influential individuals.

“The numbers apparently reflect the importance the administration of (U.S. President Barack) Obama is placing on Japan,” a senior ministry official said.

In response to a question asking which county is the most important partner for the United States in Asia, Japan topped the list, with 46 percent among the general public and 44 percent among influential figures.

A majority also supported Japan receiving a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

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