Archive for November, 2010

Japanese Officials Complain About Biased Judges at Asian Games Judo Tournament

The Mainichi reports that Japanese Judo officials are angry about some “questionable” judging at the Asian Games’ Judo Tournament (held in China):

Kazuo Yoshimura, the technical director of the All Japan Judo Federation said Tuesday, “I’ve been to many international tournaments, but I have never seen referees as bad as they are at this tournament.”

Fukumi was the aggressor with her mat techniques and leg maneuvers in the final, but the judges decided in favor of her Chinese opponent Wu Shugen 2-1 after three minutes of scoreless overtime.

The local crowd had been chanting “Chongguo jiayou” or “Go China” throughout the match, pressuring the judges while waiting for them to raise the flags.

“What happened in the last match should never happen. Decisions like that will unmotivated athletes,” Yoshimura said, referring to Fukumi’s final.

“The opponent didn’t attempt to deploy a waza at all. Fukumi, on the other hand, tripped her opponent three times and also was aggressive on the mat. How can that be a 2-1 decision?”

The judges also failed to make any calls when a North Korean judo wrestler punched Japan’s Haruki Uemura in the face. Despite getting a black eye, Uemura won the gold medal:

Ueno, the newly crowned 63-kg gold medalist, took several blows from her North Korean semifinal opponent Kim Su Gyong on Sunday, prompting Uemura to consider asking the International Judo Federation to review the match.

Kim appeared to punch Ueno, who went on to win, more than once at the start of the bout, leaving her with a badly bruised left eye without structural damage.

It’s obvious she was punched at least three times,” said Uemura, the No. 2 Japanese delegation for the Games said.

Uemura plans to send the IJF replays of the match, accompanied with an image of Ueno’s swollen eye.

“I watched the scene several times, but that was beyond horrible,” Yoshimura said. “We are not in a fight, we are in a judo bout. It’s not possible her eye would be that swollen just from a judo match. It must have been deliberate.”

I searched on YouTube and could not find a video of the infamous punching incident. When it becomes available, one can be sure that it will no doubt be incorporated into new versions of the “bad manners Korean judo” compilation.

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The Aggressive Monkeys of Nikko

The tourists who come to Nikko love to take photos of monkeys, but as this exciting FTV news report shows, the monkeys are wild animals that are not meant to live in such close contact with humans:

There really isn’t much that needs translating in this report: it’s just a collection of footage showing monkeys attacking people, grabbing food from the hands of tourists, shoplifting, and doing other aggressive or shocking things. Here are a couple interesting points, though:

• Tourists love to watch the monkeys causing mayhem.
• Some shopkeepers have resigned themselves to the daily visits of monkey thieves, and have placed the cheapest fruit (bananas) in a location where it is easier to steal. Better that than allow the monkeys to steal expensive fruit.
• It is unhealthy for the monkeys to feast on junk food, and some of them have become quite fat and their teeth are far more rotten-looking than the average wild monkey.
• Ten years ago, a local law was passed banning the feeding of wild monkeys in Nikko. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have achieved much. Monkeys are still able to steal food, and monkeys that were born and raised near humans are far more brave when it comes to grabbing food out of the hands of a tourist.

Back in 2002, the New York Times ran an article about the clashes between wild monkeys and humans in Japan. It contained some pretty interesting statistics, which probably haven’t changed too much in the last eight years. It appears we are facing a monkey invasion, and unless we do something to stop them, we will be overrun:

Monkeys are spreading across Japan, a tidy, cement-trimmed nation more commonly associated with bullet trains than wildlife. From a scraggly postwar population of 15,000, the number of monkeys has increased tenfold in half a century, reaching 150,000 today. In contrast, Japan’s human population, loath to reproduce, is expected to drop by half this century, to 65 million.

”If people just let the monkeys reproduce themselves, Japan would be the archipelago of the monkeys in 2200,” said Kunio Watanabe, a professor of primate sociology at Kyoto University. ”But I don’t think that Japanese are that patient.”

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Tanuki Golf Course

“Nanikore” finds a golf course in Okayama prefecture where tanuki (Japanese racoon dogs) can be seen wandering around:

The pack of 7 wild tanuki have been regularly coming to the golf course since 5 years ago, when some golfers started giving them food. They now no longer fear humans or golf balls.

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Japan Post Places Restrictions on Shipments to the United States

Americans in Japan who were thinking of mailing holiday presents to their family members in the States are going to have some trouble this year. Japan Post has enacted new restrictions that ban the mailing of packages that weigh over 453 grams (16 ounces / one pound):

The Japan Post Office announced November 12 that from November 17 it would indefinitely stop accepting mail parcels to the United States weighing more than 453 grams. The Post Office has at this time given no indication of how long this suspension will last only saying that it is “for the time being.” This suspension includes all regular international airmail parcels, as well as EMS. The Japan Post Office (JPO) has cut Japan off from the US entirely, at least as far as airmail parcels over a pound in weight go. The reason the JPO gives for this action is that following attempts to send explosives through air cargo from Yemen to the US, American security measures for air cargo have become increasingly severe. America and Guam are included in this provision, raising the strong possibility that Christmas and year end parcels will not be able to be sent from Japan to the US, which is likely to cause massive confusion.

You can read the official announcement here (in Japanese).

Update: I’ve noticed a lot of comments from people worried about being able to order anime or cd’s from Japan. It should be noted that this rule does not appear to restrict business shipping accounts.

LB has also offered the following correction:

According to Japan Post, and it actually says this in the right-hand column of the .pdf file James linked to, packages exceeding 1 pound (454 grams) in weight will not be accepted if they are posted through a mailbox outside a post office. If the sender brings the package into the post office personally, has it weighed, postage calculated and the post office puts the “postage paid” label on it (not stamps) there is no problem.

So you cannot just stick 2,700 yen in stamps on a 500 – 1,000 gram package, write “SAL” on the box and drop it into the mailbox in front of the post office. I don’t know too many people who do that anyway. Just take your box inside, let them weigh it and all should be well unless the idiot behind the counter cannot read Japanese well enough to understand what is written on Japan Post’s own announcement.

If anyone has tried to mail a package from a counter and been told that it is not permitted, please leave a comment and let us know.

Update 2: Reader rhi has spoken to somebody at Japan Post and received some more information.

I actually called the english service line to ask about the “correction”, and apparently walking into a post office in person will still not get your more-that-4whatever-gram package mailed. According to the lady I talked to, anyway. The only way they still accept packages over the new limit is if you have a special kind of account. This isn’t a bank account, but rather an account for frequent shippers, mostly business though individuals can use it too. I’ve forgotten the name of it already, but if you have an account where you pay at the end of the month for all the packages you sent and send a certain amount each month, then you probably have it and they will still accept your packages.

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Obama’s Matcha Ice Cream Moment

For the Japanese media, a major highlight of President Barack Obama’s visit to the APEC Summit was his side trip to Kamakura, where he re-lived his childhood experience of eating matcha ice cream:

Obama revisited the gigantic Buddha statue at the Kotoku-in temple in Kamakura, where he had toured at age 6 with his mother. Just like that time, a relaxed Obama enjoyed ice cream with the taste of green powdered tea (matcha) — which had captivated him as a child.

Seated on a bench flanked by chief priest Takao Sato, 47, and the priest’s mother Michiko, 75, Obama placed a matcha lollypop served by the temple into his mouth, telling them it tasted good.

Obama also toured inside the Buddha statue and wrote in a guest book that he was moved to have been able to revisit the great treasure of Japanese culture.

A couple videos of the ice cream moment:

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Japanese Celebrity Transformed into Black Man

“Shimura Zoo” turns former pro boxer Yoko Gushiken into a “black rapper” to see if his dog will still recognize him:

After some yo yo yo‘s, he goes back to his dog. It’s not clear if the dog recognizes him, or is just friendly to everybody.

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