‘Obscene’ Photograph Gets Anime Voice Actor Arrested
A man who does voice acting for the anime “One Piece” has been arrested for uploading naked photos of himself to the internet:
Imamura, 56, whose real name is Kiyonori Imamura, is the voice of the character Enporio Iwankofu on “One Piece,” a popular anime.
Police accuse Imamura of displaying a total of four images of tattoos, showing either his genitals or his full body, from April 26 to June 12. Imamura has reportedly admitted to the allegations, saying, “I wanted to brag that I had gone even this far with my tattoos.”
According to police, over the last 10 years Imamura has spent from 4 to 5 million yen covering his body in tattoos. In addition to his voice acting work, Imamura also manages a bar for tattoo enthusiasts in Shinjuku, where he took the obscene photos.
Do you think nude photographs should be outlawed?
The arrest was part of a “general crackdown on child pornography and public displays of obscene imagery” by the Japanese police. Under Japan’s absurd obscenity laws, distributing an uncensored photograph of a naked human body is illegal, while stomach-turning crap like JapaneseDogSex dot com is totally fine [do not visit that url].
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Categories: Odd / Strange, Otaku & Anime
Soka Gakkai’s Support of Komeito
Several of the most viewed videos on YouTube Japan today are clips from ATV’s election night coverage. Among them is a clip of journalist Akira Ikegami talking about the links between the Komeito party and the Soka Gakkai religious sect:
One of the few election victories for the Komeito was for Makoto Nishida in Saitama prefecture. As the clip shows, the Komeito focused a lot of its efforts on Saitama. Crowds of excited people, who are identified as members of Soka Gakkai, are shown listening to speeches by Nishida. In an interview with Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi, Ikegami suggests that Komeito will not cooperate with the DPJ because its Soka Gakkai supporters oppose the DPJ. Yamaguchi replies with the standard unconvincing response : Komeito is a political organization, not a religious organization. Apparently it’s pretty rare to see such a straightforward depiction of Komeito as a religion-based political party, so the video received many views and a lot of comments supporting Ikegami.
On an afternoon during the official campaigning period for this election, I happened to walk by a station exit where a candidate was giving a speech. There was a really big crowd of people gathered around watching, and they seem unnaturally enthusiastic about a standard dull political campaign speech. The man giving the speech wasn’t particularly famous or important, yet the crowd was reacting like he was a rock star. It was unlike any such public speech I’d seen in Japan, and I’ve seen some by famous political big shots. When I finally saw the banners and signs identifying him as a Komeito candidate, I understood what was going on. The crowd was obviously made up of Soka Gakkai members, who were supporting the Komeito party as part of their religious beliefs.
It’s not just limited to support at public speeches. I’ve seen Komeito supporters go to tables inside family restaurants and ask other customers to vote for their party in the election, something that would make people uncomfortable in almost any country. The grassroots activities of Komeito’s supporters resemble the acts of fanatical religious missionaries, and frankly it makes it hard for me to see the “political” party’s existence as a good thing. While the Komeito’s current official party platform doesn’t contain anything about turning Japan into a theocracy, it is worrisome to see a party that relies so heavily on the support of a single religious sect and its believers.
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Categories: Politics
Peter Bethune is ‘downright ungrateful’
Anti-whaling campaigner Peter Bethune was recently given a suspended prison sentence by a Japanese court after pleading guilty to several criminal acts. Now that he’s been allowed to leave Japan and return to New Zealand, he is expressing no regrets over his actions and has stated that he will continue to protest Japanese whaling.
Bethune has also badmouthed New Zealand’s government for not supporting him enough. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, has responded by calling Bethune “ungrateful”:
”He should be a little bit more grateful for the MFAT staff on the ground in Japan,” Key said.
The staff had a very extensive list of engagements with Bethune and they had done everything they possibly could to help him.”They worked extremely hard to help him through a very difficult process.
”I think he is downright ungrateful.” Key said it would have been inappropriate for New Zealand to have intervened in the Japanese judicial process.
Bethune had handed over a letter when he boarded the Japanese ship which said he wanted to be taken to Japan, Key said.
”We gave him all of the support we possibly could and in the end he has got a sentence which has allowed him to return to New Zealand,” Key said.
”To somehow lash out and blame our people in Japan under the leadership of our ambassador there, Ian Kennedy, who is doing a tremendous job for him, I think is just ungrateful.”
As soon as Bethune stepped on board that Japanese ship, he placed himself in an area that was under Japanese legal jurisdiction. He should have been well aware of the fact that boarding a foreign vessel without permission was an illegal act that could result in arrest and imprisonment. It would be pretty unreasonable to expect that New Zealand’s government to do much beyond the basic actions it would take for any citizen arrested and charged with a crime in a foreign country.
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Categories: Anti-Japan
Hayao Miyazaki Doesn’t Like Gadgets
Acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki is not a fan of gadgets, and an article up on IT Media contains some statements he made about Apple’s iPad:
“For me, there is no feeling of admiration or no excitement whatsoever,” Miyazaki said about the iPad. “It’s disgusting. On trains, the number of those people doing that strange masturbation-like gesture is multiplying.”
Miyazaki also noted that he also got “fed up” when everyone on the trains started reading manga and then later when everyone began using cell phones on the trains to presumably send text messages.
Also, while we’re on the topic of Miyazaki, here’s the newest 30-second trailer for Studio Ghibli’s adaptation of The Borrowers:
People who play with their iPads on the train:
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Categories: Celebrity News, Technology
Japanese Toilet Paper vs. Chinese Toilet Paper
An NTV program explains the difference between Japanese toilet paper and Chinese toilet paper:
As you can see, the Japanese toilet paper dissolves rather quickly when stirred in water, making it far less likely to clog a any pipes when flushed. This Japanese Standards Association (JSA) has established standards for manufacture requiring that toilet paper dissolve within at least 100 seconds of being placed into toilet water.
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Categories: Technology
A Sumo Tournament Without Fancy Prizes
The Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament is underway, but scandals over illegal gambling and ties to yakuza gangs have caused organizers to cut down drastically on the number of trophies and non-cash prizes that will be awarded to wrestlers:
The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) will forgo presentation of the Emperor’s Cup to the champion of the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in light of the recent gambling scandal.
The association has also decided not to present any other award from external organizations, including the Prime Minister’s Cup, during the Nagoya tourney awards ceremony. The tournament will begin on July 11 at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
According to a JSA public relations official, it is the first time that the JSA has decided not to present awards to the champion of a grand sumo tournament.
“We have taken merely a single step toward reconstruction, and it feels inappropriate that we receive awards from outside the association under the circumstances,” the association commented.
Other prizes that won’t be awarded include: a year supply of gasoline (from the U.A.E), a year’s supply Mexican beer (from Mexico), 50 kilograms of premium beef (from Miyazaki prefecture), 15 kilograms of dried shiitake (from Oita prefecture), a year’s supply of plums (from Fukui prefecture), and a Herend porcelain tea set (from Hungary). The lack of these prices means thousands of dollars in lost revenue for wrestlers and their stables.
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Categories: General Japan