Archive for April, 2010

Stephen Colbert Speaks Japanese

Some joking around by the Colbert Report about a Japanese-made robot mouth:

[hat tip to Brian & Keeping Pace in Japan]

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

Parrot Barks Like a Dog

ATV’s “Nanikore” team finds a macaw in Hiroshima that has spent a lot of time around dogs and seems to enjoy barking:

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

Cute Toilet Cleans Himself

This commercial for a toilet cleaner seems both cute and somewhat gross:

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

Pierce Brosnan Angry About Japanese Whaling

Sea Shepherd Advisory Member Pierce Brosnan appears on Jane Velez-Mitchell’s “ISSUES,” a CNN opinion program to help urge viewers to oppose a International Whaling Commission proposal that will allow a limited resumption of commercial whaling:

The program makes no attempt to present a reasonable view of why exactly the United States government seems to be supporting the proposal. Maybe its because the proposal will reduce the number of whales killed each year:

The proposal, to be debated at the IWC’s meeting in June in Morocco, seeks a compromise by allowing whaling nations to hunt without specifying commercial or otherwise — but in lower numbers than they are now. Small indigenous groups could continue to hunt in limited numbers.

The commission argues that allowing whaling under strict quotas would be an improvement to the current hunts, over which it has no control.

Japan’s self-imposed annual quota of 935 Antarctic minke whales, which are not endangered, would be lowered to 400 over the next five years, then reduced to 200 for the next five years. The country’s current take of 320 sei and minke whales in coastal waters would be cut to 210.

Tokyo, long the most prominent target of anti-whaling activists, called the draft “significant progress.”

By calling on viewers to complain to the government about the Obama administration’s position on this issue, CNN may actually be calling for the death of more whales.

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

2010 Shanghai Expo: Official Mascot = Gumby? / China Pavilion = Rip-off of 1992 Japan Pavilion?

In the aftermath of the scandal involving the 2010 Shanghai Expo’s use of an “original” song that was actually an unauthorized copy of a Japanese pop song, other suspicions about copying are coming to the surface. FTV reports that the official mascot of the Expo may well be a copy of Gumby and the China Pavilion appears to have borrowed some ideas from the work of a famous Japanese architect:

Their reporters take a Gumby doll around Shanghai, asking people on the street to identify the character. They all think it is the official mascot of the Expo! In earlier reports, FTV noted that unauthorized copies of the official mascot were being sold on the street. Now it can report that even the official mascot itself could be a copy! Chinese netizens seem to have gone into investigation mode ever since the song scandal, and many seem to think that the mascot is another case of copying [and the striking similarities between the two characters was pointed out by several readers of Japan Probe in an earlier discussion thread].

The issue of the mascot has been covered in an English language report by NPR:

Then netizens turned on the expo mascot, a bouncy aqua blue cartoon character with big eyes called Haibao. In a certain light, Haibao bears a suspiciously close resemblance to Gumby. But expo spokesman Xu Wei says this isn’t an issue.

“Haibao was unveiled a long time ago. If anyone thinks that their copyright has been violated, that person would already have used legal means to address this by now,” Xu says.

Chinese netizens have also found another example of what they believe to be shameful copying. The China Pavilion for this Expo looks very much like the Japan Pavilion from the 1992 Seville Expo, a design by world-famous architect Tadao Ando. The official explanation is that China Pavilion is based on traditional Chinese architecture.

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

Japanese TV report: What’s the Deal With Sagging Pants in America?

An NTV news reporter in America looks into the case of Brooklyn’s “Stop the Sag” billboard:

The report starts with a mention of Olympic snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo, who was banned from the Olympic opening ceremony because he disgraced Japan by sagging his pants. After about a minute of footage showing various people walking around with sagging pants, the Japanese reporter interviews a couple about pants sagging – the guy likes to where his pants that way, while his girlfriend seems to think it’s kind of dumb (their baby refuses to comment). The best moment of the clip is at 01:22, when the Japanese man makes an attempt at sagging his own pants, only to find himself getting laughed at.

Some other people interviewed support the rule, while others do not. At the end of the segment, the news anchors back in the studio seem a bit confused about the whole concept of wearing one’s pants in such a manner.

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