Archive for November, 2009

Tatsuya Ichihashi photoshopped to look like a woman

FTV news puts its graphics team to work altering the photo of fugitive Tatsuya Ichihashi to illustrate just how different he’d look if he wore a wig and make-up:

As it has been reported that Ichihashi may have spent some time in Shinjuku whoring himself out to gay men, the news program speculates that the money he earned from prostitution may have been used to pay for his cosmetic surgery. However, sources familiar with the Shinjuku gay prostitution scene say that his new face is far less attractive than his original appearance, and he’d now have far less success in that field of work.　　（This report aired before it was discovered that Ichihashi had been working at a construction company in Osaka)

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

Funky Monkey Babys in Beijing

Japanese hip hop group Funky Monkey Babys* recently visited Beijing to perform at J-pop in China 2009. Here’s an “Zoom In” news report about their trip:

They performed before a crowd of 1,700 people that was mostly made up of young Chinese people. There were a few older folks there too, including a Japanese salaryman doing business in China who felt inspired by their song.

*[yes - that's how they spell their band name]

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

Heart-shaped light

“Nanikore Chin Hakkei” unveils a window that creates heart-shaped sunlight on the floor of a house:

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

Japan to upgrade martial arts hall in Nanjing

The Wall Street Journal’s China Realtime Report blog notes that the Japanese government is providing funds to upgrade a maritial arts hall in Nanjing:

Tokyo said Tuesday it intends to grant about $96,400 to upgrade facilities in the eastern city of Nanjing that train in the martial arts, including judo, wrestling and boxing. The money is being offered for the “Project for the Improvement of Japan-China Friendship JUDO Hall in Nanjing,” according to a press release.

The statement said the goal of such grants, made through a body associated with Tokyo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to encourage more grass-roots level cultural and educational exchange. The money is earmarked for upgrading a 20-year-old sports facility in Nanjing where top-level athletes are trained for the Olympic Games and other major international competitions.

“The school recruits promising athletes from all over Jiangsu Province and provides them intensive training in judo, wrestling and boxing,” the statement said. A signing ceremony is planned later this week.

The Chinese government claimed it didn’t need or want any war reparations when it normalized relations with Japan in the 1970′s. Since then, Japan has given about $36 billion in aid to China, a policy that some regard as unofficial war reparations.

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

Scott Murphy sings love songs in Japanese

Scott Murphy has a new album out. This time he’s performing cover versions of popular Japanese love songs:

You can watch a sample music video of one of the songs at Universal Music Japan’s official Scotty Murphy page.

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

Nomura sued for sex and race discrimination

A few months back, I posted about an article that claimed former female employees of Lehman Brothers were being made to serve tea after their company was taken over by Nomura Holdings. The article implied that women used to the Lehman’s treatment of female employees found the conditions at Nomura to unfair and demeaning.

Now it seems two women in London are suing the Nomura for sex and race discrimination and unfair dismissal:

In legal papers, Miss Murphy claims that during a business meeting one male client said to her female colleague “Oh, you don’t have your honkers out today I see”.

The documents say: “Miss Murphy was initially not sure what he was referring to but [the colleague] clarified honkers referred to her breasts.

“She went on to say there was no point in standing up to him as he would smear your reputation in the entire market and that ultimately it was better just to accept it.”

Miss Murphy also claimed that when she was chatting to a trader about hiring a cleaner he allegedly said “Well, you’re a woman. That’s where you belong – at home cleaning the floors”.

At a team dinner, another male colleague allegedly said “Everyone knows the key to cheating on your wife is not getting caught”.

Miss Murphy says that she was excluded from clients and marginalised before being made redundant in March this year. She also claims that she was ridiculed for her American accent, with traders allegedly making remarks like “Go for it” in a mock accent.

She said that clients were also described in “unusual and unacceptable ways”, such as one Dutch trader, who was labelled a “weirdo Euro client”.

[...]

Miss Francis, who is originally from New Zealand but speaks fluent Japanese, said that during a conference call with up to 1,000 of her global peers, a male colleague humiliated her by saying “Don’t listen to her. She is just a Kiwi”.

She said that her new Japanese bosses showed “remarkable disregard” for her clients wishing to retain her as their primary sales contact.

“I believe that I would not have been treated in this way if I was a male employee and especially if I was a Japanese male employee,” Miss Francis said.

She was made redundant because she was “too outspoken and female”, her former boss allegedly told Miss Murphy.

He also allegedly said that “the Japanese hate women, especially if they are too loud”.

An official spokesman for Nomura has denied the charges of racism and sexism and has stated that the two were dismissed “by reason of redundancy as part of a wider reorganisation following the Lehman Brothers acquisition.”

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