Today on NicoNico Douga: A Free Screening of “The Cove”
“The Cove” has been having a hard time getting screened in Japan. The Society to Seek the Restoration of Sovereignty (who have been mentioned on this blog in the past for their protests against the Yamanote Halloween train and North Korean schools in Japan) has promised to hold loud protests outside of any theater that screens it, prompting a couple theaters in Tokyo to drop the film from their scheduled line up. Japanese journalists, including some right wingers, have criticized the protesters and voiced support for the idea of the movie being allowed to screen. However, the Society to Seek the Restoration of Sovereignty won’t back off from its mission to stop the film. Movie theaters, which care primarily care about profitability, aren’t willing to take the heat from protests that could drive away potential customers.
The situation is an interesting one. The Society to Seek the Restoration of Sovereignty has been carrying out loud protests against various businesses and organizations for years now without being hauled away by the police, so their activities are apparently a legal form of free expression. If their protests, or the threat of holding such a protest, convinces a theater to drop a planned screening of a film, are we to interpret this as a vile act of censorship (as many in the Western media have)? We might find their views to be crazy and extreme, but one could argue that these right-wingers also have a right to non-violent protest against businesses that are trying to make money selling tickets to a film they believe to be anti-Japanese. One could even argue that their activism could be compared to Japan Probe’s past campaign against the Family Mart’s sale of an anti-foreign magazine. Is this an example of freedom of expression being crushed through the “censorship” of a film, or an example freedom of expression succeeding in the form of grassroots activists forcing a business to stop profiting from the screening of a biased and unfair documentary?
The latest attempt by film’s distributor to introduce Japanese viewers to the film will be harder for the right-wingers to protest. It will be held in a location where customers cannot be scared off by street protests and it will free:
An Internet service company will show “The Cove” online free of charge Friday and invite public comment, after theaters canceled screenings due to rightist opposition to the film’s depiction of a dolphin hunt.
Niwango Inc., which shows streaming video on the Internet, said Thursday it is inviting people to write opinions via Twitter and e-mail for an open exchange of views on the Oscar-winning documentary that shows the annual hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.
The information page about the screening can be found here (in Japanese).
The viewing will apparently be limited to 2,000 users, and assuming that right-wing netizens don’t snatch up every place, it should produce some interesting online reactions to the film.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Films
Get Up and Go – Tokyo Timelapse
YouTuber dominik280193 has created this very beautiful time lapse video of Tokyo:
This film is made by Stefan Werc. Canon 7D stills time lapse Tokyo. Music: Broadcast 2000 “get up and go”
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
How to Speak Manly Japanese
Bobby from the Daily Yoji does some investigation into how to speak Japanese in a manly way:
Kyushuu is famous for it’s MANLY MEN, and I’m famous for talking like a girl. One night I set out to see if I could get the men of Saga to teach me how to talk like a dude.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
A Restaurant for Japanese Soccer Lovers
Looking for a place to eat and drink during the World Cup? Here’s a short clip about Carioca, former Japanese soccer player Ruy Ramos‘ sports bar & Brazilian restaurant chain:
The restaurant has a special set of themed cocktails named after the members of Japan’s soccer team (non-alcoholic for the goal keeper cocktails), as well as a Samurai Blue supporter plate that contains a mixture of foods associated with each nation Japan will face in the first round of the World Cup.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
Happy Japanese Soccer Fans
A reporter tracks down some Japanese soccer fans and asks them for some comments in English (click to view on YouTube, since AFP are a bunch of a-holes who disable youtube embedding):
And here are a few other clips showing some fans reacting to Japan’s victory over Cameroon:
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
Naoto Kan on a Cup
A week ago, I posted a picture of the Hatoyama-era version of a “Prime Ministers of Japan” ceramic cup. Here’s a short clip that shows the factory in Gifu prefecture that is rushing to produce new versions with a Naoto Kan face on them:
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Categories: Politics