Archive for May, 2009

Japan 19th in Electronic Police State ranking

A site called CryptoHippie.com has produced a ranking of the worst electronic surveillance states. A little over 50 countries were studied, and Japan came in 19th place, making it orange instead of red on their map:

Nations depicted in Red are the most advanced electronic police states,
with an average rank of 3.0 or greater.

Nations depicted in Orange are strongly developing electronic police
states, with an average rank of 2.5 or greater.

Nations depicted in Yellow are lagging (but still developing) electronic
police states, with an average rank of 2.0 or greater.

Nations depicted in green are states that seem to be going toward the
electronic police state model, but not as quickly.

The ranking of all nations where data was collected is as follows:

1. China
2. North Korea
3. Belarus
4. Russia
5. United Kingdom: England & Wales
6. United States of America
7. Singapore
8. Israel
9. France
10.Germany
11.Malaysia
12.Ireland
13.United Kingdom: Scotland
14.Netherlands
15.South Korea
16.Ukraine
17.Belgium
18.Australia
19.Japan
20.New Zealand
21.Austria
22.Norway
23.India
24.Italy
25.Taiwan
26.Denmark
27.Hungary
28.Greece
29.Canada
30.Switzerland
31.Slovenia
32.Poland
33.Finland
34.Sweden
35.Latvia
36.Lithuania
37.Cyprus
38.Malta
39.Estonia
40.Czech Republic
41.Iceland
42.South Africa
43.Spain
44.Portugal
45.Luxembourg
46.Argentina
47.Romania
48.Thailand
49.Bulgaria
50.Brazil
51.Mexico
52.Philippines

Further information can be found in this PDF file on the CryptoHippie site.

[via BoingBoing/Slashdot]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Japanese marriage preparation bra

The Japanese section of lingerie maker Triumph International has unveiled its latest experimental bra, aimed at women hoping to get married soon:

The bra is equipped with a timer that counts down until one’s wedding day and a ring holder. It’s also has a place to store a seal and pen, which will come in handy when filling out marriage registration papers.

Here is a video showing some of the TV news coverage that has been devoted to the bra:

Pretty amusing, but not quite as cool as their chopstick bra and solar bra, if you ask me.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Mass hysteria over the swine flu in Japan

Tsuyoshi Takashiro, the filmmaker husband of Erika Sawajiri, has written a post on his blog[via Itai News] in complaining about Japan’s overreaction to the H1N1 flu. He comments on the scene inside Heathrow Airport, where almost everyone is not wearing a mask. The only people wearing surgical masks for protection are Japanese tourists. Some people assumed that the Japanese wearing masks must be sick, and avoided them.

Takashiro’s foreign friends noticed this spectacle, and assumed that the swine flu must have hit Japan pretty hard. In reality, only a handful of H1N1 flu cases have been confirmed in Japan, none of them serious enough to threaten the lives of those involved.

In Takashiro’s opinion, Japan is not suffering from a swine flu outbreak, it is suffering from mass hysteria. He guesses that the media must be spreading the fear, and thinks that the situation is almost the same as the hysteria that swept the United States following the 9/11 terror attacks. (And comments on how he feels like reading some Noam Chomsky books.)

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Perhaps he has a point.

About 6,000 people worldwide have been infected with the H1N1 flu, with a mere 63 cases resulting in death. Most of the deaths have taken place in Mexico, and Mexican authorities are already claiming that the flu is on the wane and that it is safe for tourists to come back. Much of the world seems to have realized that the flu is not the horror it was initially expected to be, and life is returning to normal is most first world nations.

In Japan, however, the H1N1 flu is still being treated as something very serious. Checks are being carried out on every person who enters the country, and those found to be infected or at risk of infection are being forced into quarantine. Even with such strict measures in effect, the fear that some flu carriers might be in Japan is enough to cause schools in Osaka and Tokushima to cancel class trips. There are no known cases of the new flu outside of quarantine facilities, but a lot of kids are going to not have their class trips to Kyoto because authorities are afraid that there might be H1N1 flu somewhere in the country.

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And for those interested in what Hollywood stars think of Japan’s reaction to the flu- Three minutes into this clip from the Daily Show, Tom Hanks, who just got back from Tokyo, jokes about all the forms he had to fill out about his health [hat tip to Keeping Pace in Japan]:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M – Th 11p / 10c
Tom Hanks
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Chimpanzee does office work

Last week’s episode of “Shimura Zoo” saw genius chimpanzee Pan-kun placed in charge of an office while his trainer was away. He was told not to mess up the stuff in the office, not to allow any strangers into the room, and not to raid the fridge.

Watch the clip to see if Pan-kun successfully followed these instructions:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Stationmaster goat in Japan

Move over, kitties! Uzen-Komatsu station has appointed a goat named Koma as its stationmaster:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Wild boar threaten bamboo shoot harvest

FTV news reports that wild boar are threatening an already bad harvest of bamboo shoots:

According to the reporter, global warming has caused an explosion in the wild boar population, with the animals expanding into areas previously thought to be free of large wild animals. Some bamboo shoot farms have set up electrical fences and traps to deal with the wild boar, but they are very clever and often do not fall for traps. Those boar that are unfortunate enough to be captured are sold for meat.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)