Archive for August, 2009

A story so important that it requires CG toilet simulation

The exhaustingly sensational coverage of Noriko Sakai’s drug arrest continues. FTV news put its graphics team to work recreating the cell in which Sakai is now being held (complete with a display of what it must be like for her to sit on the toilet):

At the end of the clip, we get to see what a police interrogation room looks like. Amazing stuff.

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Aso stays away from Yasukuni Shrine

But, as this video from NTV shows, former Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni today:

About 40 lawmakers from the nonpartisan “Let’s visit Yasukuni Shrine” group visited today. Minister in charge of consumer affairs Seiko Noda was the only cabinet minister present.

Today is, of course, the 64th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Prime Minister and the Emperor delivered official statements:

“Our nation inflicted significant damage and pain on many countries, especially on people in Asian countries,” Aso said during the nationally broadcast service.

“On behalf of our people, I express deep remorse and humble condolences for all of the people who fell victim,” Aso told the ceremony attended by 5,000 people, mostly elderly veterans and bereaved families.

Emperor Akihito said: “I profoundly express my condolences… with my sincere hope that such war sufferings will never be repeated.”

Opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama, who supports a plan to replace Yasukuni with a new war memorial, also issued a statement of condolence.

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Why Japanese people are so fearful

Prof. Tsuyoshi Miyakawa recently appeared on “Sekai Ichi Uketai Jyugyou” to educate viewers about how Japanese people are more fearful than Westerners:

Through his research, he isolated a gene that supposedly causes one’s brain to feel more fear. In tests with lab mice, those mice that do not have the gene are far more likely to freely walk around on a high platform without safety barriers.

It would seem that some tests have been conducted to determine which countries have more carriers of thie fear gene and Japan ranked at the top of the list:

1. Japanese: 97%
2. White Americans: 77%
3. Indians: 67%
4. Germans: 64%
5. Black Americans: 46%
6. South Africans: 32%

According to Ken Y-N, another Japanese TV show (“Otona no Sonata”) also aired a segment this week about how Japanese people posess genes that make them uniquely fearful. On that show, Westerners and Japanese people were shown walking through a haunted house:

“15 out of 15 Japanese were scared, but just one foreigner. A Russian couple
were laughing at the traps, and a African-Australian wanted to punch the
exhibits…”

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Bobby Ologun profits by betting against Japanese tolerance for international marriages

Last night on NTV, Nigerian-born Japanese talento Bobby Ologun took his children onto a quiz show in which they had to guess how Japanese viewers voting by phone would answer certain questions. Here’s a clip that shows how Bobby correctly guessed the outcome of two particular questions (one asking viewers how they would feel if born into his family, another asking their views on marriage with non-Japanese):

In both cases, Bobby bet that the audience would vote negatively and he was correct. Only 39% of viewers responded by saying they would be happy to be born into the Ologun family and 63% expressed insecurity/fear over the idea of marrying a foreigner. The results may have been skewed by the fact that Bobby was using the 2 minute voting period to tell stories that made his family life sound strange or bad. It was a pretty sad display of pandering for money and it worked: Bobby won a whopping 300,000 yen (about 3,000 USD).

Other questions not shown in this clip revealed that 90% of viewers thought Bobby intentionally made mistakes while speaking Japanese and a plurality (35%) of viewers liked Bobby more than Dave Spector, Konishiki, or Girolamo Panzetta.

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Summer crowds in Japan

A clip from FTV news shows the huge crowds yesterday at the Odaiba Gundam and Comic Market:

Despite the intense summer heat and humidity, some cosplayers, such as the Code Geass guy shown at the end of the clip, were willing to stand outside and display their costumes.

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Korean monks tear down evil Japanese fence

A group of Buddhist monks at Beomeosa in Busan show their national pride for Korea’s “Liberation Day” by tearing down a stone fence that was apparently built during the Japanese occupation. [via Brian in Jeollanam-do]

Meanwhile, South Korean netizens are outraged by the existence of a Japanese poop character that is meant to insult their great nation.

The character, a part of the unlucky group of the Unko-san turd collection, can be seen in the upper right hand corner of this image. His name is “Kim Ben,” and he is described as, “A tough high school student who is easily angered.” He also “loves kimchi.” Kim Ben’s classification as unlucky, along with his small-eyed appearance are apparently examples of Japanese hatred of Korea.

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