OUTBREAK: Alien Creatures in Chiba
The southern part of Chiba prefecture is in the midst of an outbreak. A animals of a species that is alien to Japan escaped from a zoo some years ago, and they have multiplied so quick that their current population could be as high as 9,000.
Here’s a wonderfully sensational NTV news report about the situation:
The animals are Reeves’s Muntjacs, a species of small deer that are native to parts of China and Taiwan. Although they look tiny, they have huge appetites. The many farms in that region of Chiba prefecture have provided the animals with plenty of food. Farmers are quite angry about all the damage to their crops.
There are no large predators that would threaten the munjacs, so they have been steadily reproducing. The installation of netting and fencing around farms has not done much to prevent them from obtaining food. Because these animals are small, fast, and usually come out at night, it seems that local hunters aren’t having much luck with killing or capturing them. The munjacs also seem clever enough to avoid most animal traps.
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Categories: Animal Videos
AKB48′s Yuko Oshima: Japan Fought Against Italy in WW2
Back in August, Yuko Oshima of the idol group AKB48 appeared as a guest on an educational TV special marking the 65th anniversary of the end of World War 2. Oshima was meant to be a representative of the young generation of Japanese, all of whom have not experienced war.
At one point, Oshima was quizzed on her knowledge of the war. She was given a set of flags representing nations that participated in World War 2 and was asked to identify the Axis powers and the Allied powers:
She obviously knows that Japan fought against America, but has trouble figuring out the alignment of other countries. She seems pretty confident that Japan’s Axis partners were Germany and the United Kingdom (this produces some laughter from another guest, so she probably begins to doubt her choice). Italy is placed in the Allied column. Despite the fact that earlier parts of the program were discussing Japan’s war against China, she pauses in confusion for a few moments before she is able to correctly label China as one of the Allies. When she finishes by placing Australia in the Allied column, the presence of Union Jacks on opposing sides must look pretty odd. She finally corrects her mistake.
She explains her error by saying that she knew the Axis was known as the “Nichi-Doku-I“(日独伊) alliance in Japanese, and she mistakenly thought that he “I” stood for Italy ["Itaria"(伊太利亜) in Japanese, while the U.K. is "Igirisu"(英吉利)].
Update/Note to readers: I’ve already noticed that one twit is using this clip to back up the claim that “Japs aren’t taught about the war at school.” What an astounding stupid statement. If you judge the entire Japanese education system based on the comments of an air-headed pop star, you’re dumber than Ms. Oshima.
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Categories: Celebrity News, Japanese Girls
Japanese University Has “Orgy Kids” Club
Reddit user SubmittedBuy has shared the following image:
This jacket belongs to his girlfriend, a graduate of Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, Japan. She was a member of a soccer club that called themselves the “Orgy Kids.” Apparently they wanted to find a cool English name for their club, so somebody consulted a dictionary and found that “orgy” was a word that meant “big party.” None of the clubs members were apparently aware that many native English speakers usually associate the word “orgy” with drunken mayhem and sex parties.
The listing of student sports clubs on the Seinan homepage includes the “Seinan Orgy Kids” club, so I guess they’re still producing and wearing orgy jackets:
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Chinese Patrol Boat Enters Japanese Waters
A Chinese patrol ship entered Japanese territorial waters near Okinawa on Saturday and harassed Japanese survey ships:
A Chinese government vessel on Saturday asked a coast guard survey ship operating in Japan’s exclusive economic zone to stop its activities, coast guard officials said.
The survey ship was located about 280 km north-northwest off Okinawa Island when the request was made at 7:40 a.m. The ship notified the Chinese vessel of the purpose of its activities and continued surveying operations for nearly two more hours, according to the coast guard.
Japan later lodged a protest to China over the incident through diplomatic channels, it said.
The intrusion into Japanese waters is likely a response to Japan’s seizure of a Chinese trawler that rammed two Japanese coast guard ships near the Senkaku Islands. China has also called off talks with Japan over a joint gas field development pact.
If you don’t know much about China’s territorial dispute with Japan, here is a video from the Economist that explains the situation [hat tip to Magus]:
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Categories: Politics
Really Long Slide
It must be fun to live near this park in Okayama prefecture:
The slide is 23 meters (75 feet) long. Tall barriers on its sides prevent kids from accidentally falling off during their journey to the bottom.
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Washington Post Runs Anti-Ozawa Editorial
On Tuesday, members of the Democratic Party of Japan will meet to vote on whether Naoto Kan should continue serving as Prime Minister. Some recent articles hint that Kan might be able to hold on to enough support to survive Ichiro Ozawa’s attempt to oust him, but the situation remains unclear.
The Washington Post has weighed in on the election by calling on the DPJ to listen to public opinion polls and not elect Ozawa. Their editorial staff was apparently not amused by Ozawa’s comments about Americans being simple-minded:
Exactly what governing philosophy Mr. Ozawa would bring to the job is hard to say, because his professed ideologies have mutated over the years. But in his current incarnation he is less friendly to the U.S.-Japan alliance, and more attracted to China’s dictatorship, than most Japanese leaders — and, according to polls, than most Japanese.
Mr. Ozawa recently referred to Americans as “somewhat monocellular.” We couldn’t tell you exactly what that means, but we’re pretty sure it wasn’t a compliment, especially since he added, “When I talk with Americans, I often wonder why they are so simple-minded.” Perhaps more important than his prejudices, Mr. Ozawa also said he would reopen negotiations with the United States over realignment of U.S. forces in Okinawa — an issue that fruitlessly preoccupied and ultimately helped doom Mr. Kan’s predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama. Allowing the U.S.-Japanese relationship again to be consumed by the base realignment — which Japan has now agreed to, twice — would set back any hopes for the countries to make progress on other important issues.
Public opinion polls show that Mr. Ozawa is out of step with the Japanese majority on these issues of foreign policy. In fact, he is out of step, period: A huge majority would rather see Mr. Kan, who has been prime minister only since June, remain in office.
Conservative journalist John Gizzi has gone even further than the Washington Post. In an article about how the alliance with American is “in danger,” he warns the Japanese that an Ozawa victory “could mean the most serious damage to our relations with your country in fifty years.”
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Categories: Politics