Archive for November, 2010

No Complaints Received About “Hello Gaijin-San” Nose

If you’ve been to the novelty or party goods section of Japanese stores such as Tokyu Hands and Loft, you’ve probably seen this racist “Hello Gaijin-san” nose for sale:

This product has been around for years, and it is regularly a topic of complaint on English blogs about Japan. Arudou Debito blogged about this product back in 2008, implying that his FRANCA organization should take action against it. However, it appears that no action was taken and no complaints were filed.

The Japanese blogger behind the Sora blog called up the manufacturer of the product and told them about some of the complaints non-Japanese have made about the “Hello Gajin-san” set. The company representative said it was the first time the company had ever received a complaint about that product.

If you hate this product and want to see it go away, send the company a message in Japanese using the contact form on their website or their phone number (048-297-9215). Better to let them know directly, instead of just complaining about it in English on a blog or forum.

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Photo: Takashi Murakami @ Macy’s Thankgiving Parade

A photo of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami at the 2010 Macy’s Thankgiving Parade in New York:

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CNN Received a Copy of Boat Collision Tape Days Before YouTube Leak (And Threw It Away)

The coast guard officer who leaked the recent footage of Chinese trawler ramming Japanese patrol boats near the Senkaku Islands has told investigators that he first sent the video to CNN:

The 43-year-old navigator, assigned to the Kobe Coast Guard Office, told investigators he decided to post the footage on YouTube after the U.S. news broadcaster didn’t air it, according to the sources.

He said he sent an envelope containing an SD card containing the footage to CNN’s bureau in Minato Ward immediately before releasing the footage on the Internet site on Nov. 4, the sources said.

A CNN public relations official declined comment.

But the sources said CNN disposed of the card without watching the footage, suspecting it might be infected with a virus.

The coast guardsman did not include in the envelope an explanation of what was on the digital storage card, according to the sources.

The Yomiuri reports that the man mailed the memory card to CNN in late October or early November. The YouTube video was uploaded on November 4th. Had CNN released the footage, and had the man taken precautions to remove fingerprints or other evidence from the package, it is possible that he would have never been caught. Uploading it from a net cafe with surveillance cameras and customer records was probably riskier.

It seems pretty ridiculous that they wouldn’t even bother to run a simple virus scan on the card and check its contents before throwing it in the garbage. But, then again, when you think about all of the low quality Japan news coverage from CNN, I suppose it isn’t surprising that their staff would be too lazy to check the contents of a mysterious memory card.

[hat tip to jikuu]

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F*** You Video Translated into Japanese

Ever wonder how to convey the intent of a simple F-you into Japanese terms? This video takes several stabs at translating Cee Lo Green’s infamous song and imitates the original kinetic typography in addition to our favorite expletive. If you can catch and read all the Japanese that flashes across the screen without pausing, you are effin good at this language. BTW NSFW DUH THX.

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Norwegian Wood T-Shirts

Fast Retailing-owned casual wear chain operator Uniqlo is selling a new batch of T-shirts commemorating the film adaptation of the 1987 literary work, according to a company news release. The cotton tee design depicts various scenes from the novel, a story set in the 1960s about a sensitive university student’s tribulations of love and loss. There are nine pictures printed on the front as well as the title. The shirts, which went on sale earlier this week, are available for 1,500 yen ($18) at the select Uniqlo outlets in Japan and online. The film opens in Japan Dec. 11.

The retail chain is also throwing in an extra goody to Murakami devotees: a discount off the admission ticket to go watch the film. Adult theatergoers receive a 300 yen markdown and students and children tickets are 200 yen off.

The trailer, if you haven’t heard about the film yet:

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Tokyo Disney Sea Christmas

Disney Land and Disney Sea have teamed up over the years to turn foreign holidays such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas into things that Japanese people should enjoy celebrating. And, of course, Disney has worked hard to convince Japanese customers to buy all kinds of limited edition holiday versions of their merchandise (and x-mas cocktails!).

Included in the X-mas merchandise is a holiday version of Duffy, a Disney character created especially for Tokyo Disney Sea. As you can see from the screen capture and video, Duffy is little more than a generic teddy bear, yet products bearing his likeness are quite popular. I swear, somebody at Disney must have made Duffy as a joke to show that their brand can make even the most dull character popular in Japan…

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