Archive for September, 2010

Japanese Man Rollerblades Across America

Connie Von Maur was driving home on Route 6A after working in the gardens at St. Mary’s Church in Barnstable Village when she came upon Yamashita. She was so concerned for his well being as he skated against traffic on the windy road that she pulled over and encouraged him to use the sidewalk.

As he’s done countless times on his journey across America, Yamashita took the opportunity to explain just what he was doing. The self-propelled and self-funded trip is to share his appreciation for America, the country he watched help his in the aftermath of World War II. He grew up with milk and rations from the Red Cross and other kindnesses from the United States he can’t forget.

The kindness and concern he found in Von Maur has met Yamashita across the country, sometimes turning into a shared meal, a place to stay and always more ears to hear his appreciation and determination to spread it.

[...]

It’s the second time he’s made such a trip. About 20 years ago, he and his then-13-year-old son, who shares his name, biked their way from Los Angeles to New York. The purpose then was the same as now, but Yamashita wanted this time to be different, more difficult, more challenging. So he extended the length of the trip, added a 60-plus-pound backpack to his lightly-framed body and strapped in-line skates to his feet.

The progess of Yamashita’s journey can be checked via his Twitter account.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to Feature Takashi Murakami Balloons

Kaikai, a childlike character in a rabbit costume, and Kiki, a companion with three eyes and sharp fangs, are examples of Mr. Murakami’s signature superflat style, but their balloon likenesses will be about 40 feet long when completed, and about three stories tall when filled with helium. Since the spring, Macy’s parade studio and Mr. Murakami and his Tokyo-based team have traded notes on two-dimensional sketches that were used to create clay models, which were then further refined and colored before the fabrication of the balloons (now underway).

In other Murakami-related news, a group of French cultural traditionalists are protesting a plan to display some of the artist’s works at Versailles. They seem to think that Murakami’s weird artwork would degrade the beauty of the palace.

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Weird English Conversation

Francol86 has turned some grade school English teaching audio into a lesson for adults:

I manipulated the audio tracks from the Eigo Noto CD (a cd that we used to teach grade school level English in Japan), and made this adult instructional video out of it. This video, surprisingly, won first place in the Fukuyama Film Festival 2010. Thank you to everyone who helped me make this video!

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Online Coupon Sharing For Tech-savvy Japanese

A short news report about the growing popularity of a new coupon sharing site in Japan:

In the first part, they check out a site called Q:Pod. It offers coupons to a limited number of people within a limited time frame. However, a certain number of people must claim the coupon within that time frame, otherwise the coupon will not be valid. Q:Pod is owned by Groupon, an American coupon sharing site that has been quite successful.

They watch as a restaurant manager puts a coupon up on Q:Pod. Within a few minutes, a couple people have claimed their coupons. As people use twitter to spread the news about the coupons they claim, the coupon becomes more popular. The manager is very impressed with the results. He had offered coupons through the internet before, but with this service it is much easier to see how coupons can really attract new customers.

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Girls Generation in Japan

The Korean pop group Girls Generation came to Tokyo last week to give their first Japan concert. Thousands of fans attended their performances and they got a lot of media coverage:

• Fans seem to really like their legs and their dancing.
• They have translated their group name into Japanese and use the kanji “少女時代” instead of something written in katakana.
• They have one song in Japanese (“Genie“), and it looks like some of them can speak a little bit of Japanese.
• Most of their fans are young women, but they do find one older guy who has turned his daughter into a fan. “Death Note” Director Shusuke Kaneko is also a fan.

Oh, and here is a screen capture of some American fangirls who were featured in the report. They said they met each other on the internet, so maybe there’s a chance they might stumble across this post. Here you go:

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Japanese Police Shut Down Chinese Brothel Near Yokosuka Base

Japanese police have raided a Chinese massage parlor in Yokosuka and arrested 24 people:

The parlor, which was located near an American naval base, had actually been a brothel offering illegal sex services to members of the American military. It managers and the women who worked there were Chinese.

The Yomiuri Shimbun has reported the raid as part of Japan’s preparations for the APEC summit that will be held in Yokohama in November. I’m not really sure how the arrests of prostitutes in Yokosuka changes the security situation in Yokohama, but I guess the police want to show off some statistics that demonstrate how they have cut down on “international” crime.

Related Reading: Despite ban, Yokosuka sex trade flourishes – ‘Massagy girls’ finding no shortage of clients near base (2006)

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