Archive for September, 2009

Chinese cartoon about Taiji dolphin hunt

Since most Japanese place names are written the same in Japanese and Chinese, one occasionally comes across Chinese links when running kanji search queries through Google News.

While searching for news stories about Taiji, the Japanese town that is being targeting by animal rights activists because of its dolphin hunt, I found the following tasteful cartoon in the Jiangmen Ribao newspaper.

I can’t read Chinese, but I’m guessing that the dolphin blood splattering all over the Japanese national flag is an indication that the article depicts Japan in a negative light.
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While we’re on the topic of Taiji, here are two links that share some news:

• Link 1: A Chunichi Shimbun article (in Japanese) sadly recalling that one year has passed since the death of Ku, Nagoya Aquarium’s beloved orca. The article says that Ku originally came from the Taiji Aquarium, which means he was probably captured after being driven into the town’s infamous cove.
• Link 2: CBS News and the Associated Press provide some PR for “The Cove” by playing up claims that its director is risking arrest by attending a screening of the film in Japan.

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

Noriko Sakai’s vacation home destroyed by fire

Last month, Noriko Sakai’s vacation home was tagged by a graffiti artist. Now it has been gutted by fire:

A vacation home of scandal-tainted actress Noriko Sakai and her husband in Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture, was gutted by a fire early Sunday but no one was injured, police said.

Since three fires have been reported in two neighboring cities since Saturday evening, the police said they suspect arson.

The house may have been damaged beyond repair, but it will live on in the archival footage that Japanese news programs will no doubt replay hundreds of times between now and Noriko’s trial.

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

If you don’t want to appear nude on Japanese TV, don’t let them film you taking a bath

A TV Asahi news piece from 2006 about Eddie, an American in Tokyo who dreams of becoming a lawyer in Japan and living in an expensive apartment in the Roppongi Hills complex:

Eddie was living in an old public bath that had been converted into a Sakura House group living space. The wall of his room was covered with Japanese flags (including an imperial chrysanthemum flag) and photos of Aya Ueto (his ideal woman). To prepare for his dream of becoming a lawyer, he was reading weekly tabloid magazines for Japanese language practice.

Eddie, who uploaded this video himself to YouTube, provided the following description:

“When we went to the onsen, they promised me that they would only film me from the waist up, but they turned out to be a bunch of liars as i was practically naked in the first shot of the whole interview. The whole process was really awkward since my Japanese was great and the TV crew spoke no english. I had also just gotten back from America the night before so I was exhausted from jetlag. It is easily my most embarrassing moment (many kids came up to me the next day at school saying they’d seen me naked, and one of my bosses at the law firm I used to work at saw it by chance while in the hospital) So more or less I appeared naked and acting like a total douche clown on the Japanese equivalent of NBC Nightly News. “

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

Yukio Hatoyama sings “Take HEART”

Ever since I’d heard about Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s 1988 single “Take HEART – Fly, Dove of Peace,” I’ve been looking for a good copy of it. Here’s a YouTube video containing about a minute of the song:

“I never imagined that there would be a day when this tune would come into the spotlight,” said Teruaki Asanuma, a 65-year-old dentist in the Hokkaido city of Muroran who wrote the song at Hatoyama’s request.

Hatoyama had wanted Asanuma to write a tune featuring a Japanese-dance rhythm, but Asanuma said he recommended a more pop-oriented record reflective of the “urban atmosphere” Hatoyama had created.

Only a short recording session was required, Asanuma recalled, adding that he thought Hatoyama was “quite accustomed to singing.”

The title of the song plays on the similarity in sound between “hato” (dove), the first part of Hatoyama’s surname, and “heart,” according to Asanuma.

“Now I hope he will help to guide everyone to happiness as suggested in the lyrics of the song,” he said.

And here’s a video clip of it being played at a party held by Hatoyama supporters:

Does anybody know where one can find a longer and better quality copy of the song?

Because of its limited release, it’s become a rare collector’s item. One vinyl record recently sold for 35,000 yen in an online auction.

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

Taro Aso still has fans

When Taro Aso stepped down as Prime Minister last week, a small crowd of fans gathered along the street to express their thanks as his motorcade drove by:

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

Dancing Indians advertise Cup Noodle curry flavor

The last Cup Noodle commercial had Takuya Kimura walking through redwood forests. Now he’s in India for a Bollywood-style musical promotion of Cup Noodle’s curry flavor:

The song lyrics consist of Kimutaku repeatedly announcing the existence of corocha curry Cup Noodle. The woman interrupts him to suggest that he say it tastes good, since it is a commercial. Kimutaku replies by expressing supreme confidence in only having to say that it’s corocha curry Cup Noodle.

[Note: The "coro cha" he keeps singing about are little cubes of 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)