Archive for May, 2010

Another Smiling Dog in Japan

The “Nani Kore” team finds another dog that can smile, this time in Hyogo Prefecture:

The dog in the video clip is named Rubi, and she seems to show her “smiling” face to people she likes, especially an elderly man who lives in the neighborhood. When he comes by, Rubi’s face turns into a smile and she wags her tail and jumps up on him with affection.

ATV consulted a dog behavior expert about the “smiling” dog and they were told that it is likely that this dog learned to “smile” after noticing the very positive reaction humans give when seeing such a facial expression.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
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Japanese Umbrella Musical

This creative use of umbrellas won the grand prize in the “84th All Japan Kasoh Grand Prix” that aired earlier this week:

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Paul Watson Responds to Japanese Arrest Warrant (and Publicly Admits His Guilt)

In case you were wondering how Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson would respond to the news that Japan had issued a warrant for his arrest, here is a clip of him being interviewed by NTV:

One of the crimes that he is said to be charged with is “obstruction of business,” and Watson makes not attempt to deny that he is guilty of that. Watson freely admits that he and his organization work to obstruct Japanese whaling. Because he personally thinks that Japanese whaling is “illegal,” he feels he has the right to commit violent and illegal acts against Japanese whalers.

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Japanese Geek House

Yesterday, FTV aired a feature report about the growing popularity of Japanese people seeking roommates to share the cost of living and enjoy a family-like sense of community. It included this segment about a “Geek House” for computer nerds:

Three men, all of them computer programmers, share the 2LDK apartment [2 rooms + a combined Living/dining/kitchen space] and split the 130,000 yen rent. (According to the Geek House’s website, there are actually 5 residents – Pha, Hikipuro, ykic, tomo3141592653, and iyoda.) They seem to spend their free time sitting around on their respective notebook computers, programming and chatting over Twitter. Since the apartment is near Akihabara, it is easy for geek friends to come visit.

Their shared apartment is part of the Geek House Project, which aims to set up similar arrangements across Japan. Their website is currently taking applications for Geek Houses to be set up in Kyoto, Aichi, and Sapporo.

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Could Food at Japanese Supermarkets Have Been Cooked in Oil Harvested From Raw Sewage?

If almost one in ten meals cooked in China was cooked using oil siphoned from raw sewage, could food products imported from China also have been cooked in such oils? The following clip from “Beat Takeshi’s TV Tackle” asks that question and answers it with a “we can’t be 100% sure”:

While it is likely that strict safety measures are taken at companies that produce food for export to Japan, it is very hard to verify that 100% of the ingredients that are used have come from totally safe sources. Somewhere in Japan right now, somebody could be eating a frozen meal that contains an ingredient that was cooked using oil that was crudely harvested from a septic tank.

The Chinese panelist on the show does not attempt to call out the producers of the show for hyping up the possibility that such foods could be sold in Japan. Instead, she downplays the possible dangers of such cooking oil and openly states that she has no problem eating food cooked with such oil as long as the food tastes good. She says that most people in China know about the sewage oil but eat out at restaurants anyway. Some of the Japanese guests, including former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, have looks of horror on their faces as they listen to the Chinese woman talking about the cooking oil. Beat Takeshi (the host of the program) makes a joke about how such recycling of cooking oil is good for the environment.

Note: In the midst of the cross-talking, the Chinese commentator claims that the same thing happened in Japan in the 1960′s. The point was not pursued, so I do not know if it is true. Perhaps one of this site’s readers may know more about this? If so, please share some info in the comments section of this post.

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Hatoyama Visits Okinawa

Prime Minister Hatoyama visited Okinawa yesterday, meeting with various people to discuss the relocation of Futenma Air Station and share the three above points with them [screen shot from FTV]:

1. Realistically speaking, only part of the Futenma base can be relocated somewhere outside of Okinawa.
2. Please bear this burden, Okinawa.
3. Sorry about all the confusion.

His statements amount to an abandonment of the campaign promise he made to relocate Futenma outside of Okinawa. Needless to say, his views were not well-received by local politicians and residents. Here’s a clip about his Okinawa visit [from NTV News]:

After being taken to the roof of Futenma Dai Ni Elementary School and observing the loudness of American planes and helicopters, Hatoyama went to a meeting with Ginowan City residents. As you can see in the video, some people were pretty angry and shouted at him while he tried to explain his views. When the one hour meeting ended, Hatoyama was met with shouts of disatisfaction from the crowd and one woman rushed forward to give him a protest letter.

Later in the day, Hatoyama went to visit the area of Nago where the Futenma Airfields will be relocated. He did not meet with local residents.

Here is an English language report from Al Jazeera:

Read more about this story in the Japan Times, Daily Yomiuri, and Mainichi.

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