Archive for October, 2009

Highway construction advisory

It would seem that Central Nippon Expressway Company is hoping the ease the annoyance of drivers by using cute idol Aya Ueto in a TV commercial announcing that construction work will create traffic jams for much of this month:

—

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

Controversy after TV host calls Christel Takigawa a “gaijin”

Anger erupted among fans of TV announcer Christel Takigawa last week after Yutaka Hasegawa, host of a FTV cable program, talked about Takigawa being removed from the main line-up of newscasters on “News JAPAN“:

“This girl, uh, she is also by far more skillful than that foreigner (gaijin) who was doing it until recently, you know? Uh, he properly understands what is going on at the scene. She often goes to collect information, to study. This News JAPAN, I really think it may be good.”

The “foreigner” in this case is the resigned newscaster Christel Takigawa. This part of the remarks by Mr. Hasegawa was uploaded to the YouTube video sharing site and as 2-channel and other message boards viewed it as a problem, a dispute ensued. On October 1st, 2009, it became an uproar. Many fans that had from the start voiced opposition to the sacking of Ms. Takigawa who had appeared on News JAPAN billboards and chaos broke out on the Internet:

“Why is he using discriminatory language toward someone who was sacked?”

“We can’t forgive that guy for speaking ill of Christel.”

Videos of the statement have been popping up on YouTube, but at the moment all copies seem to have been removed by FTV.

Takigawa was born in France to a French father and a Japanese mother, but she a Japanese citizen who has spent almost all of her life in Japan. Her native language is Japanese. Her fans, who see her as a talented Japanese woman did not appreciate the crude criticism of her and the use of the term “gaijin.”

FTV later issued an apology:

“Gaijin” is improper language, and we should have immediately corrected the problem. The TV program production side is also humbly reflecting on this, and we truly want to apologize to the program’s audience and others who felt uncomfortable.

Over at J-Cast, nearly one hundred comments have been left in Japanese about this story. Some argue that “gaijin” is a bad term to use towards anyone, while others think this case was bad because “gaijin” was used to refer to a Japanese person. A few see no problem at all with calling her a “gaijin.”

[The Japanese news article translations in this post were provided by myGengo's simple human translation system.]

—

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

Gatsby product turns you into Takuya Kimura

A product that will make you handsome:

[hat tip to Ken Y-N of What Japan Thinks]

—

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

Japanese to English translation with myGengo

Just a little announcement:

The folks at myGengo have offered to do some translation work for Japan Probe to show off the speed and quality of their services. Appreciating the convenience of having some skilled translators help out, I accepted their offer.

I have been trying out their online translation submission service since yesterday, and I am pretty pleased so far with its speed and simplicity. For the next week or so, expect several posts with Japanese-to-English translations brought to you by the folks at myGengo!

For more info about myGengo, check out this interview at Tokyo Shift and

—

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

Google Android vs. Apple iPhone (in Japan)

Living in Japan and wondering whether you should get an iPhone through Softbank or a Google phone through DoCoMo? The Softbank Sucks blog* has a post up comparing the features and contract requirements for the iPhone and the new Android HT-03. Here is a short excerpt:

The credit check/”examination” (審査) of DoCoMo is less strict and more transparent than Softbank’s procedure. Softbank’s network sucks. DoCoMo’s doesn’t. DoCoMo allows apps to be downloaded over the 3G network. Softbank doesn’t. The Softbank “iPhone for everybody campaign has been extended until January 31, 2010, so the iPhone data plan is about ¥1,500 cheaper per month.

Read the full details and check out the comparison charts here.

*Note: As the name of the “Softbank Sucks” blog suggests, it was started by someone frustrated by the severe restrictions placed on some foreign customers who try to sign up for the plans Softbank advertises. Don’t expect much praise for the Softbank in its blog posts.

[hat tip to Steve]

—

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

Ichiro Mizuki – The most famous Japanese person in the world?

A short TV news report about Ichiro Mizuki, a musician responsible for the creation of over 1,200 anime songs:

Many of the anime series Mizuki musically contributed to are popular throughout the world, so he has visited many countries to perform live concerts for anime fans. Many international fans join in with his hand gestures and sing along. Even though many of them cannot speak Japanese, they can recognize when he makes an error and boo him accordingly.

The report claims that the Ichiro Mizuki wikipedia entry has been translated into 91 languages. At the time this measurement was taken, it put him at the top of Wikipedia rankings for Japanese people, thus making him the “most famous Japanese person in the world.”

At the end of the clip, Mizuki sings part of his most famous song, the main opening theme of “Mazinger Z.” For those of you who want to hear the full song, here’s a video of a live performance:

—

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