Archive for July, 2009

Japan’s top supermarket check-out staff

Reuters reports on a competition that emphasizes the importance of good service at supermarkets:

Supermarket cashiers gathered in the western city of Kobe recently to vie for the title of Japan’s top check-out staff.

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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 seal in Yamaguchi Prefecture attracts national media attention

Mainichi/TBS News report on a seal that has attracted nationwide media attention:

The seal, which measures about 1.5 meters in length, was first spotted at a park by the Hashimoto River, about 2.5 kilometers upstream from the river mouth.

It appears to be a young bearded seal, a species that inhabits Hokkaido and its neighbors, according to Toshiyuki Tatsukawa, an employee at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

If the seal sticks around long enough, he will no doubt be given both a name and a residency certificate.

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

Police mascots out in force to promote summer vacation safety

Some video from FTV news showing a crime and accident prevention event held in Tokyo yesterday:

Present at the event were a variety of mascot characters, including the crime reduction rangers and Pipo-kun!
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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Problems with New York Times report on 2-D love in Japan

If you’re a regular reader of Japan news sites, you’ve probably encountered links to a recent story in the New York Times magazine about the “phenomenon” of otaku men who date pillows in Japan. Its author, Lisa Katayama of Tokyo Mango blog, is a writer who has built her career on reporting quirky things about Japan, and most of what she writes isn’t too bad. This article, however, had a few issues.

Those unfamiliar with the facts might think that the “thriving subculture” of ultra-otaku Katayama describes are representative of otaku culture as a whole. Journalist Francesco Fondi wrote the following in a blog post denouncing the article [I've added a link to this quote to explain the Mainichi reference]:

“Nisan is part of a thriving subculture of men and women in Japan who indulge in real relationships with imaginary characters. These 2-D lovers, as they are called, are a subset of otaku culture— the obsessive fandom that has surrounded anime, manga and video games in Japan in the last decade. It’s impossible to say exactly what portion of otaku are 2-D lovers, because the distinction between the two can be blurry.”

Are you sure?! If you have been in Akiba or Toyko even once you know that this “new phenomenon” (as they call it) is fake/made up. Have you ever seen otakus dating their Moe pillows?! Me no…
This is an example of why traditional journalism is sinking and why writers outside the Otaku culture should stay out of it and do not write about it…

Basically they took a classic WaiWai style “scoop” and presented it as a real and widespread social phenomenon in Japan !!

He also noted that Nisan is well-known within the otaku community as a extreme weirdo, and that some think his pillow love photos are just part of an act aimed at getting attention. He’s been around for a few years now, with some of his ridiculous photos becoming internet memes.

Perhaps the comparison to WaiWai is not out of line. When I noticed that Adamu of Mutantfrog was having trouble believing the “more than a quarter of men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins” claim Katayama makes in her article, I was reminded of something I had read in a WaiWai column. Sure enough, some Googling turned up a WaiWai article from 2007 contained a line that stated, “almost one in four Japanese men aged 30 to 34 remains a virgin.”

Adamu did some research on the statistics Katayama uses in the article, digging through Japanese government reports to find that both the WaiWai article and Katayama’s article made the remarkably similar mistake of omitting the fact that the virginity statistics only applied to unmarried Japanese – not the entire population of adults between the age of 30 and 34. He’s written an excellent post summarizing some other problems with the article, which I urge everyone to read.

Lisa Katayama has denied that she used WaiWai as a source, but she has not shared the specific studies from which she got her statistics. She has responded to criticism through Twitter:

That may have applied to some of the early complaints about her article, but now that a well-written piece of criticism is up on the net, it might be time for Katayama to deliver a more serious response to her readers.

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

Cross-dressing man lifts woman’s skirt

TBS news reports a weird crime that took place last week in Utsunomiya:

A female cyclist who was waiting for a traffic light was approached by a cross-dressing man, who proceeded to lift up her skirt and touch her. The man was arrested soon afterwards.

Police took the clothing the criminal was wearing and put it on a mannequin, apparently as a show to the media. As you can see from the image at the top of this post, TBS News also used their graphic design team to make a silly animated reenactment of the crime.

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

Work progresses on Kobe’s Gigantor statue

FTV’s “Mezamashi TV” morning show visits the park in Kobe where work is underway to erect a life-size statue of Gigantor (Tetsujin 28-go):

Giant robot legs are already visible in the park where construction is taking place. The TV crew is given special access to a workshop that is creating the rest of Gigantor. The project is scheduled to be completed in October, after which Gigantor is expected to be one of Kobe’s major tourist attractions.

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