Love Digi: A Camera That Turns Old Women into Cute Idols
An ATV news program takes a look at Takara Tomy’s Love Digi, a little gadget that takes a series of photos and creates cute little low frame rate “promotional videos”:
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Categories: Technology
Giant Hornets Defeat Japanese Police Officers
A group of Japanese police officers stumbled upon a giant hornets’ nest at a park in Machida yesterday morning:
There were conducting a search for a missing person, but ended up finding a lot of angry hornets instead. Eight officers were stung; some had to go to the hospital, but nobody sustained life-threatening injuries. The area of the park was cordoned off, and apparently an exterminator will destroy the hornets today.
While we’re on the topic of police battling scary giant hornets, here’s a special news report about a retired cop in Nagoya who recently started working as an exterminator:
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Categories: General Japan
U.S. Ambassador Visits Nagasaki
American Ambassador John Roos visited Hiroshima on its bombing anniversary, but skipped Nagasaki’s anniversary ceremony. He made up for that by making an official visit to Nagasaki yesterday:
After arriving at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum with his wife Susan, ambassador John Roos wrote in a visitors’ book: “Our visit today has reinforced for me the importance of President Obama’s resolve to work with all nations towards the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
Nagasaki mayor Tomihisa Taue conveyed his request for Obama to visit the city and said, “It’s meaningful that the ambassador came here to see with his own eyes (what happened after the bombing).
“I hope President Obama will visit here.”
Should Obama visit Hiroshima & Nagasaki?
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Categories: Politics
Extremists Target Chinese Consulates
It looks like a couple right-wingers got very angry about the ongoing mess with China. There were two minor incidents at Chinese consulates yesterday:
- A member of a ultra-nationalist organization was arrested for throwing a flare-like object at the Chinese consulate in Nagasaki.
- A similar incident occurred in the early morning hours in front of the Chinese consulate in Fukuoka. Somebody on a motorcycle made a lot of noise and burned some paper before fleeing the scene.
To prevent such disruptions, Japanese police have increased their presence around the Chinese embassy and consulate.
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Categories: General Japan
Okinawan Fishermen Fear Chinese Aggression
Japanese fishermen in Okinawa prefecture are very worried about the government’s failure to stand up to Chinese pressure over the arrest of a Chinese trawler captain who intruded into Japanese-held waters and rammed 2 patrol boats:
“I thought he should’ve been indicted. I feel betrayed by the government,” said Katsuji Nakajima, head of the Yonagunicho Fisheries Cooperative Association in Okinawa Prefecture. Nakajima made no attempt to conceal his indignation at the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office’s decision to free the captain, Zhan Qixiong, who was arrested on Sept. 8 on suspicion of ramming his trawler into a Japan Coast Guard vessel near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on the previous day.
“I’m sure [Zhan's release] was the result of political calculation. I’m disappointed with the government,” he said. He said he has not seen any Chinese boats in the area where the collision took place since the incident. “The government seemed to be taking a resolute stance toward the case. But now that they’ve shown leniency, I’m sure Chinese fishing boats will start flocking to the area soon,” he said.
Yoshihide Oroku, head of Miyakojima Fisheries Cooperative Association in Okinawa Prefecture, said, “This decision might mean the Chinese will start seizing Japanese fishing boats near the Senkaku Islands.” He said he hoped the government would continue to insist the Senkaku Islands are Japanese territory.
In addition to fishermen, local government leaders in the area displayed frustration.
Ishigaki Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama said: “I had confidence in the government’s attitude as it seemed they were trying to protect our territory. The Japan Coast Guard arrested the captain and the prosecutors office appeared to be taking the case seriously. However, the end result made me feel like I’d been betrayed.”
Nakayama said he was thinking of sending a letter of protest to the government because “[the release of the captain] might lead to crimes such as intrusion into territorial waters and illegal fishing being ignored.”
The fear that China will begin seizing Japanese fishing boats may be overblown, but they are probably right to fear that illegal fishing will increase.
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Categories: Anti-Japan, Politics
Burmese Refugees Head to Japan
A group of 27 Burmese have left a refugee camp and will soon be starting a new life in Japan:
After undergoing medical checkups at an International Organization for Migration facility in Mae Sot, Thailand, the 27 ethnic Karen people will leave Thailand for Japan on Sept. 27.
The families are the first group of 90 Myanmar refugees whom Japan will accept over the next three years under the third-country refugee resettlement pilot program.
The Karen families bid farewell to their relatives and friends in Camp Mera, where they have lived for over 10 years, as they boarded the bus to Mae Sot earlier Wednesday.
The Asahi Shimbun has called on the Japanese government to do more:
Japan should also establish a system to aid refugees based on the viewpoint of human development. The system should ensure cooperation among local governments, NGOs, businesses and educational institutions to provide long-term support so that each refugee can achieve his or her full potential.
Unless such a system is established, the hopes of the 27 refugees will soon turn into disappointment.
The government provides more than 10 billion yen ($118 million) each year to help refugees overseas, including those from Afghanistan. It would do good service to the cause if a portion–even a few percent–of that money went to support refugees in Japan.
The government has not been very kind to people who come to Japan for protection. The procedure to be recognized as a refugee is lengthy, and woefully insufficient livelihood support is provided by the government while people wait for recognition. In recent years, an increasing number of asylum-seekers have been placed in holding facilities, adding to their anxiety.
Japan is not a popular destination among people living in refugee camps because of the prospect that they will face a great deal of difficulty here without any guarantee of a better life. On the other hand, every week several hundred Burmese refugees travel to North America for resettlement via Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture.
The “Japan passing” by refugees is a national disgrace to this Asian industrial country.
For more discussion of this issue, check out the great post over at Mutantfrog Travelogue.
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Categories: Foreigners in Japan