Archive for January, 2010

Gigantor statue brings tourists, economic benefits to Kobe neighborhood

A few months have passed since a 1:1 scale statue of Gigantor (Tetsujin 28-go) was completed near Shin-Nagata station in Kobe. Here’s a short clip from “Mezamashi TV” that accesses the economic impact of the statue:

The statue was built in an area of Kobe that was badly damaged during the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. The statue is being seen as a sign of the area’s recovery.

In the three months since the statue went up, about a million people have come to see it. Most of them are too young to have actually seen the original anime series, but they are nonetheless drawn to the cool-looking giant robot.

This has been a great boost to the shopping arcade immediately adjacent to the park containing the statue, and many shopkeepers are capitalizing on the statue’s popularty by selling Gigantor-themed products. There is even a taxi company that has decked out two cabs with Gigantor decals, full sets of the Tetsujin 28-go manga, and faux remote controls for the giant robot.

Things are not so great, however, for the shops that are not close to the statue. They have noticed any boost in business since the statue went up and the streets in front of their shops are very quiet. There is a plan to erect statues of famous figures from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which will hopefully draw a few of the Gigantor tourists.

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Granddaughter of comfort woman: they were never forced and they were all paid very well

The Korea Times has run an opinion piece by a person who claims to be the granddaughter of a comfort woman who served the Japanese military during the Pacific War. Here’s an excerpt:

Korea was not the only country that Japan occupied during the Second World War. China, and most of Southeast Asia, from the Philippines in the West to Burma (now Myanmar) in the East were also occupied and women from these nations also provided sexual favors to the Japanese soldiers but these “comfort women” don’t seem to have any problem with the Japanese government now.

Only the people of Korea seem to be unable to come to grips with the reality that there never really was a “hellish situation” for these women. My grandmother, who made lots of money from her work as a prostitute servicing Japanese soldiers, and her friends (yes, they are Koreans, too) all say they never were forced and they were all paid very well.

Here in Korea it’s more fashionable to blame things on the Japanese instead of the Park Chung-hee government, where the real blame lies. The Japanese government does not need to wait until all the comfort women are dead.

The treaty of 1965 is evidence enough of their compensation. I remind everybody who is still under the silly impression that Japan still owes favors to Korean victims, that in the treaty of 1965 the Japanese government did indeed offer to deal with each and every individual who claimed compensation was owed to them, but that the South Korean government declined the offer.

Don’t believe me? Read the treaty for yourself; it’s available for public scrutiny since it’s now an official public record.

So I say to the editorial staff at The Korea Times, read the treaty, and after having read and understood it, please be kind enough to tell the readers exactly who it is that has this so-called “historical amnesia.”

The Korea Times editorial staff even ran it in their print edition. According to the Marmot’s Hole, it has since been pulled from the Korea Times website (the above link in this post goes to a cached version). It appears this may have been a case of epic trolling by somebody pretending to be a well-known contributor to the opinion page of the paper.

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An awkward interview with Norah Jones

Norah Jones was in Japan for a concert, so one of the “Mezamashi TV” announcer girls interviewed her:

Norah was given a dog toy and a DVD that was probably encoded so it won’t be able to play on an American DVD player. The announcer reads a short statement in English about how she always wanted to meet and interview Norah, but her pronounciation is so horrible that it is doubtful that Norah even understands her. Finally, Norah is made to watch the atrocious music video for the “Influ Busters” flu prevention song. Norah tries to be polite, but you can tell that she’s a bit weirded out by the experience.

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Baby seal finds its way to Iwate

A baby fur seal somehow lost its way and ended up in Iwate prefecture, where it has been given the name “Taro” and is getting a lot of attention from the media:

Taro didn’t seem to be very healthy, so residents had to call in the experts from the Matsushima Aquarium. Taro is now living at the aquarium, where he is eating and regaining strength so he can one day be released into the wild.

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Feng Zhenghu still living in Narita Airport

It has now been about 80 days since a Chinese human rights activist has started living inside Narita Airport- stuck because his country doesn’t want him back:

Feng has one simple wish: to go home. Yet Chinese officials will not let this Chinese citizen return to his country.

“That’s the most basic right a human has—to return home. That’s not just a Chinese issue. It’s the same worldwide. That’s my wish. I want to return to my home and my country,” said Feng.

Feng’s plight has become an emblem for attempting to hold Chinese officials accountable to their own laws.

In China, Feng published a magazine called Corruption Watch to monitor corruption among officials and the courts, particularly in his home of Shanghai. He taught himself law and helped Chinese petitioners fighting for their rights after being forcibly evicted and their homes demolished. Before that, he was a student activist in the 1989 democracy movement that was squelched when the tanks rolled over Tiananmen Square.

Feng said the regime is keeping him out of China to silence him. “They didn’t have a legitimate reason or excuse to arrest me … So they used a different method and forced me out of China. After they force you out, you have no choice but to leave. It has happened to many people over the years they use the same method. All you can do is protest a little. So the method they use, to them, is a very successful method.”

Anybody recently pass through Narita and catch a glimpse of this guy?

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Robot seal will be your butler, nurse, and friend

Forget about that lame stuffed animal. It can’t even surf!

This commercial for Teijin shows us the real future of robot seals:

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