ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTED
A TV Tokyo police special that aired last weekend contained this brief segment about Gunma police arresting a foreigner:
The cops stop the man because he is riding around without a bicycle light. When they ask to see his alien registration card (they say “Alien card” in English), the man says he doesn’t have one. A search of his wallet reveals that he does have such a card, but it expired back in 2006. He admits that he is overstaying his visa. They ask for his passport, but he claims it was stolen.
He tells them he has children, hoping that they will show mercy and ignore his crime. However, the cops cannot ignore the fact that he has already admitted to being an illegal immigrant. The man is taken back to the station for further questioning, and it is discovered that he had entered Japan 18 years ago on a 90-day visa. Oddly enough, the TV show doesn’t mention the man’s nationality. [Judging from the mention of the Oizumi police department, this arrest probably took place in an area that has a very large South American population.]
The TV show uses ridiculously dramatic music and graphics to make it seem like the police have arrested a mass-murderer. The man speaks broken Japanese and may not fully understand all the questions the officers ask him, but the narrator is quick to declare him a liar. It was pretty lame, but to be fair, the show over-sensationalized all of its segments, not just the one about the illegal immigrant.
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Categories: Foreigners in Japan
Bryozoan Slime Blobs Menace Japan
A report about two blob-like lifeforms that are threatening the peace of this nation:
The first part is about jellyfish, where seem to have increased in number compared to this time last summer. Their stings can be quite painful.
The second part is about Bryozoans. In one part of Fukushima prefecture, the heat and lack of rain has caused them to multiply. They don’t cause any direct harm to humans, but they can clog-up farm irrigation systems.
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Daytime Drinking Parties: Bring Your Kids!
ATV news reports on an interesting new development: drinking establishments that are holding daytime drinking parties.
Their reporter visits an izakaya in Kabuki-cho at 1:00PM on a weekday. They find that it is full of female customers, many of whom have brought along their children. It is somewhat odd to hold a drinking party during the day, but these women say that they can’t drink in the evenings because they have got to do things like make dinner for their husbands and make sure their kids are in bed.
Drinking establishments are offering daytime food courses at a fraction of what they would cost at night. The course shown includes 10 different foods and all-you-can-drink alcohol for 2,480 yen. That’s apparently a pretty good deal. Until recently, such deals did not exist, but the economic downturn has caused a significant drop in the number of evening drinking parties. To make up for those losses, they are now also targeting housewives, retired people, and anyone else who is able to drink during the day.
The izakaya featured in the report also has a special play room for little kids. While the housewives get drunk, restaurant staff watch over the children.
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Categories: General Japan