Archive for October, 2010

Missing Swords Found After 1,250 Years

Modern technology has allowed researchers to identify two rusty swords that were uncovered in Nara in 1907:

An X-ray analysis confirmed the swords, which have been designated as national treasures, were offered to the statue more than 12 centuries ago, but went missing shortly afterward.

According to the Gangoji Institute for Research of Cultural Property and the temple, the swords, called Kingin So no Tachi (long sword decorated with gold and silver), are actually Yo no Hoken and In no Hoken, which should have been stored at the Shoso-in repository with many other priceless treasures.

The swords were treasured by Emperor Shomu (701-756) and dedicated to the statue after his death by Empress Komyo (701-760). They were stored in the Shoso-in at first but taken out a few years later, and their whereabouts had been a mystery ever since.

The swords, whose blades are about 80 centimeters long, were among items found buried under the pedestal of the Great Buddha statue.

Such pieces, usually including gold, silver and crystal in addition to swords, were often buried before halls and towers of temples were constructed, to soothe local deities and pray for the buildings’ safety.

The Mainichi also has an English language article about this.

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Man Throws Ball at Hiroshima Mayor

A couple days ago, Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba threw a last ceremonial pitch at the old Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. Shortly after the pitch, a man opposed to the scheduled demolition of the stadium charged forward and threw a ball at the mayor:

The man was quickly subdued and arrested. The ball hit the mayor’s leg, but didn’t cause any serious injury.

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Kung Fu Master Complains About Price of Japanese Housing

A commercial for Tama Home, in which Takuya Kimura battles a Kung Fu master (who looks sort of like Pai Mei):

The Kung Fu master says that “Japanese homes are too expensive!” I guess houses built by Tama Home are supposed to be cheap.

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Australian Golfer Wayne Perske Caught With Cocaine in Japan

Pro golfer Wayne Perske has been arrested in Japan for cocaine possession:

Perske, 36, allegedly carried a packet containing 1.25 grams of cocaine in his pocket at a bar in Chiba prefecture (state), east of Tokyo, on Friday evening, a prefectural police official said on condition of anonymity citing official policy.

Perske told investigators that he intended to take the drug himself, the official said, adding that the golfer is still being interrogated. He did not give further details.

Under Japanese criminal procedures, police have 48 hours to interrogate before deciding whether to hand a suspect to prosecutors for further questioning. Prosecutors may detain a suspect for up to a total of 21 days before deciding whether to press charges.

Apparently Perske didn’t try very hard to hide the fact that he had the drugs, since a Japanese customer at the bar was able to spot the suspicious substance and called the cops.

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Mob of Chinese Nationalists Forced “Kimono” Girl to Strip

On October 16th, some of the anti-Japanese protesters who took to the streets of Chengdu, China encountered a young woman wearing a Japanese kimono. Enraged by her display of pro-Nipponism, they surrounded her and forced her to strip down so they go seize and destroy the Japanese clothing. The above photo shows the mob burning it.

If the story ended there, it would have been a pretty horrifying example of hate-fueled nationalism. But, it gets even more ridiculous. The woman wasn’t even wearing a Japanese kimono: she was wearing a traditional Han Chinese dress!

At least that is how this story is being told on Chinese message boards. According to the Veggie Discourse blog, which has provided a detailed translation of the story, the original Chinese post was soon censored and subsequent re-posts on various websites have also been censored.

Is it a true story, or a clever apocryphal tale meant to poke fun at the ignorance of ultra-nationalist youths? This event may well have taken place, or somebody could have just used photos of the angry mob burning clothing looted from Japanese stores and combined it with a photo of a Chinese dress. Like many postings that show up on internet message boards, it is nearly impossible to verify.

[hat tip to Rick Martin]

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Chimpanzee Grills Fish

On Saturday night’s episode of “Shimura Zoo,” performing chimpanzee Pan-kun learned how to grill some popular autumn foods:

First, he grills some matsutake mushrooms. Next, he has some grilled sanma (pacific saury).

At one point, Ken Shimura tries to teach Pan-kun how to flip over the fish on the grill. The situation is remarkably dangerous, and Pan-kun comes pretty close to burning himself. There is also laughter when his eyes become irritated by the smoke…

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