Archive for February, 2010

Book may contain fabricated stories by wannabe Hiroshima bombing crew member

The New York Times reports on a scandal involving a man who seems to have falsely claimed that he participated in the mission to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima:

“The Last Train from Hiroshima,” published in January by Henry Holt, also claims to reveal a secret accident with the atom bomb that killed one American and irradiated others and greatly reduced the weapon’s destructive power.

There is just one problem. That section of the book and other technical details of the mission are based on the recollections of Joseph Fuoco, who is described as a last-minute substitute on one of the two observation planes that escorted the Enola Gay.

But Mr. Fuoco, who died in 2008 at age 84 and lived in Westbury, N.Y., never flew on the bombing run, and he never substituted for James R. Corliss, the plane’s regular flight engineer, Mr. Corliss’s family says. They, along with angry ranks of scientists, historians and veterans, are denouncing the book and calling Mr. Fuoco an impostor.

[...]

“This book is a Toyota,” said Robert S. Norris, the author of “Racing for the Bomb” and an atomic historian. “The publisher should recall it, issue an apology and fix the parts that endanger the historical record.”

Cheap shots at Japanese car makers aside, it does appear that the book may contain serious factual errors.

Related video: James Cameron is planning to make this book into a movie. Here is a clip about how he met with an A-bomb survivor back in November:

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

Should the Japanese government subsidize North Korean schools?

Hiroshi Nakai （Chairman of the National Commission on Public Safety/Minister of State for Disaster Management/Minister of State for the Abduction Issue） is trying to make it so the Hatoyama administration’s plan to subsidize high school tuition will not include private schools affiliated with the North Korean government:

At present, there are 73 “chosen gakko” schools across Japan whose educational activities have been authorized by prefectural governments, the ministry says.

Of the 73, 12 schools, called “kokyu gakko,” are the equivalent of Japan’s high schools. The 73 have been operated in close collaboration with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.

Nakai appears to have sought the exemption to demonstrate Japan’s resolute attitude toward the abduction issue in seeking to get North Korea to account for the fate of abductees whom their families say Pyongyang has refused to return to Japan, the sources said.

[...]

Nakai was quoted as saying, “If the government decided to designate ‘chosen gakko’ schools as beneficiaries of the subsidy program in addition to others, it would be tantamount to providing effective economic aid to North Korea, although Japan has applied its own sanctions to that country (in addition to U.N. sanctions).”

Hopefully the government will make a distinction between Korean schools that are affiliated with Pyongyang and those that are anti-Pyongyang.

If this is the first time you’ve heard about the North Korean schools in Japan, here’s a short video report from Journeyman Pictures introducing the issue:

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

Flying Sushi

On a back street just one minute away from JR Shimbashi station, you can find a place run by an 80-year-old man who likes to throw his sushi in the air:

A test at another location reveals that he has the ability to throw it nearly 4 meters into the air. It is also supposed to taste pretty good.

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

77% of Americans have favorable view of Japan

A newly released survey from Gallup shows that most Americans have a favorable view of Japan:

The results for some countries, such as Mexico, France, and Israel varied greatly depending on the age and political affiliation of people being asked. Japan, however received “similar ratings from the broad age and partisan groups.”

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

Japanese mobile phone accessories

A neat video about what Japanese people attach to their mobile phones [by jjodonoghue]:

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

Backstreet Boys Fans in Japan

“Mezamashi TV” entertainment reporter Shinichi Karube goes to a Backstreet Boys Concert at the Saitama Super Arena to find out more about Japanese BSB fans:

Since they first visited Japan 10 years ago, the Backstreet Boys have enjoyed a large number of fans in this country. Although their popularity has pretty much died out in their home country, they get a lot of attention every time they come to Japan for concerts.

Highlights of the video:

• A 16-year-old from Aomori who seems to have made her father a sort of fan.
• A woman who objects to Karube’s use of the term “Bakkusu” instead of “BSB” or “Backstreet Boys.”
• Sorry ladies – the BSB members all seem to be taken. None of them have Japanese wives, but Nick has a girlfriend who can speak Japanese.
• The earliest people to arrive at their seats for one concert were a 63-year-old woman and her 70-year-old husband. The wife is a big fan of the BSB, while the husband prefers enka music.
• A woman who describes herself as just a normal fan of the group later goes on to say that she has traveled to Europe and the United States just so she could attend concerts of the group.
• A super fan in a tiger hat who has used the same cardboard sign for 15 years at various concerts around the world.

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