Archive for August, 2009

Japanese reporter in Afghanistan

Wondering how the war in Afghanistan is portrayed on Japanese TV? Here’s an example from NTV’s “Real Time News” (subtitled in English):

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

Mr. James & racial karma

Arudou Debito’s campaign to shame McDonald’s into dropping its “Mr. James” ad campaign by encouraging international attention has hit a stumbling block: Americans who apparently believe that that the emergence of the advertisements is an example of karma.

Over at the Huffington Post, a pair of Asian-American women who call themselves Disgrasian has written a short article about Mr. James. The authors seem offended by stereotypes of Asians they witness in American ad campaigns and they’ve also expressed disgust with stereotypes of Asians they believe were present in a recent Marie Claire article about Asian trophy wives. When they look at the Mr. James commercials they recognize the same kind of stereotyping, but don’t care because “Karma’s one wacky bitch, isn’t it?”

In the comment section of their post, user darintenb responded with the following:

So let me get this straight…

Something happened in America that was offensive to Asian people, thus something that happens to un-related white people in an Asian country is ‘Karma’, thus these new victims deserved it? Is that what you are saying?

All your sources about these disrespectful acts towards Asians in America are speaking out against them, correct? So if these acts of disrespect towards Asians in America are wrong, and you say this act of disrespect towards whites in Asia is the same thing, shouldn’t it also be wrong as well?

I can almost hear you chanting, ‘nah, nah na na naaa!!’ as you wrote this post. The appropriate way to go about this would be to try and use act in Japan as an example for Americans as to why this type of stereotyping is disrespectful, and thus try and gain further understanding and cooperations by both parties to put a stop to this type of stuff. But unfortunately, you are instead finding joy in other peoples suffering, which in fact contributes not to the greater good, but the greater evil.

One can make a number of good arguments to counter to the complaints being brought up by those who do no like the Mr. James advertisements. Gloating over the discomfort of a white minority in another country and claiming it is “karma” is not one of them.

A note to those coming here from Disgrasian’s response post:
I stand by everything in the above post. Your feeble attempt to backtrack and explain your karma comments doesn’t change the obvious message of your first post.

Don’t make assumptions about how foreign residents of Japan needed their eye’s opened to racial issues. Both your original post and your follow-up post continue to assume that white residents of Japan are ignorant about the existence of racial stereotyping in the countries they used to live in. Are you really so stupid?

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Meanwhile, the issue seems to be giving birth to even cruder crap. I noticed the following comic this morning on twitter:

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• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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仏の穴　Hole of Buddha

This is a photo of hotoke-no-ana (仏の穴), a cave that sits just above the center of Otaki Village.  Hotoke-no-ana means literally “hole of buddha”.  However, the character 穴 ana can also be translated as “portal” or “tunnel”.  This translation may be more fitting, as I’ve heard from some villagers that hotoke-no-ana used to be one entrance to an underground tunnel that ran for a couple of kilometers to an entrance known as 岩の戸 iwa-no-to, meaning “door of stone”.

According to those I’ve talked to, the tunnel was a lava tube created as the volcanoe Mt. Ontake (御嶽山) was formed.  Apparently there are many such lava tubes–I’ve heard of another that opens into a large space with flowing water and so was used in the past by bear hunters as a winter camp.  However, it’s said that the tunnel connecting these two entrances collapsed during a massive earthquake that hit Otaki in 1984.

Mt. Ontake is a holy mountain famed for its healing powers and long used by 山伏 yama-bushi (mountain ascetics).  Hotoke-no-ana is one of many spots that is used by those seeking the power to heal. In the past, it seems that practitioners would pass through the tunnel as part of their spiritual training.  I’m not sure how often the spot gets used these days, though there are still many who aspire to spiritual attainments on Mt. Ontake.

For the rest of us, it’s a nice little hike.

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Contributor Bio: I am a doctoral student of environmental anthropology currently living and conducting research in a mountain village in Nagano. In my research I explore modernity as it is expressed in a rural mountain community. Specifically I look at national management structures, as well as social discourses, related to forests and probe the impacts these have on local human communities. I have lived and worked in Japan for 5 years. My interests also include Buddhism, literature, music, and mountaineering. Read more at my personal blog: In the Pines.
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• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Ganguro Makeup Tutorial

YouTuber glowpinkstah transforms herself into a ganguro clown:

Ganguro For LYFE!!!1!1!!!!!!1111!!!!! My most favorite new look!!

[via Watashi to Tokyo]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Attention readers in Kyushu: Mr. James will be visiting McDonald’s restaurants near you this weekend

According to the McDonald’s NIPPON ALL STARS blog, their gaijin clown Mr. James will be visiting McDonald’s restaurants in Kyushu this weekend. The specific restaurants are:

• Fukuoka – Shintencho McDonald’s – [August 22]
• Kagoshima – Amu Plaza McDonald’s [August 23]

Mr. James requests that anyone in Kyushu that wants to meet him come to those restaurants on the listed dates. Sounds like a perfect chance for some of the foreigners who are angry about his ad campaign to call him out in public [update: No, I am not calling on people to go down and scream at him or assault him. Mr. James has asked people to come meet him, so I am merely suggesting the opportunity to those who seem to have strong opinions on this ad campaign.] If any of you out there are in Kyushu and can make the trip to see him, bring a camera and take some pictures and/or video!

[Note: Debito has posted a protest letter in Japanese about the "Mr. James" ad campaign and is encouraging people to bring it to their local McDonald's restaurant. He has avoided using polite language in the letter, and I have been told that its not particularly well-written and native Japanese people may find its tone to be very confrontational. I don't see what one can gain from making the low level workers at your nearest Makku feel uncomfortable, but if you're game for that sort of thing, the letter can be found here.]

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• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Cat rescued from urban river

An unfortunate cat that fell into Tokyo’s Sumida River is saved by firefighters with a rescue net (clip from ANN news):

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• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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