Archive for December, 2010

Rodeo Monkey Chased by Bad Guys

The horror movie “Real Onigokko 2″ is using Japan’s famous rodeo monkey in its DVD/Blu Ray release commercials:

The movie is about people fighting against Terminator-like bad guys that come from a parallel dimension. The bad guys appear unable to use guns, so they just chase people to “tag” and kill them. In the commercial, our monkey and boar friends are fleeing from a pair of bad guys who visit the zoo.

You can watch some making-of clips for the commercial on the film’s YouTube channel.

And here’s the trailer for the movie, if anyone is interested:

[hat tip to Clay]

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U.S.-Japan Alliance Manga: Part II

The U.S. military has released the second part of its series of comics that explain the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance using cute manga characters:

The manga, titled “Our Alliance — A Lasting Partnership,” focuses on the two main characters Arai Anzu, a Japanese girl, and Usa-kun, a boy visiting Japan from the U.S. The two characters explore and learn about the U.S. military in Japan. The new volume focuses on the role of U.S. Marines in Japan.

The remaining two issues, which will be written in Japanese like the first two, will be released in the coming months, according to a USFJ news release.

You can read it in Japanese here.

The manga provides a simple explanation of the historical circumstances that led to the alliance, as well as the role and duties of the Marines in Japan. On one page, the main functions of Okinawa’s major bases are explained:

Camp Hansen, Camp Courtney, Camp Foster, and the Ie Jima Auxiliary Airfield are represented by cute little characters. The controversial Futenma Air Station just gets a faceless helicopter.

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Prime Minister Kan Wants to Send Japanese Military Force to Korea

The headline and the picture at the top of this post are exaggerations, but Prime Minister Kan must be clueless if he thought it would be appropriate to make this kind of public remark:

Speaking with family members of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, “We must consider ways to rescue Japanese abductees in North in case of an emergency situation.” He added there are no rules on the dispatch of the Self Defense Forces for such rescue operations but he would “like to seek a Japan-South Korea agreement to allow the SDF to be involved in an emergency.” Kan added discussions “are ongoing.”

Kan later explained his intent was to see whether South Korea “could accept” Japanese military transport aircraft and other means “and that this needs to be thought about.” The Japanese media took a critical approach, saying the dispatch of troops would be against Article 9 of the Constitution and the military law, which prohibit the use of force, and the chances of it happening are scant. South Korean government officials said Kan’s comments were “totally unexpected” and there has been no previous discussion.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku has tried to conduct some damage control by vehemently denying that any such plans were being considered.

Here’s a quote from a Korea Times opinion piece that provides a great example of the kind of paranoia that Kan’s comment has reinforced:

Things will not calm down so easily, however, if his remarks prove to be a “premeditated gaffe,” as many Koreans suspect.

Even if the Japanese leader’s speech was aimed at pleasing ultra-rightist voters, it can hardly avoid criticism for being rash, dangerous and brazen-faced ― totally inappropriate in a word.

Kan was rash, as he made such utterances even before he sounded out the intention of his Korean counterparts. The remark is also dangerous, as it could exaggerate ― actually aggravate ― tension on the peninsula. Most of all, the comment was brazen-faced because the SDF’s activities here might not be limited to the rescue of the Japanese nationals, and it came at none other time than the centenary of Japan’s forced annexation of Korea.

What most Koreans see behind Kan’s statement is the specter of Japan’s rearmament under the pretext of yet-to-be realized threats from China and North Korea. Tokyo’s defense budget of $51.4 billion last year was the world’s fourth largest, following the United States, France and Britain. The 155,000-strong SDF, all consists of officers, can turn into 1.5 million-strong armed forces in no time. Scientists agree it has always been a matter of time before Tokyo becomes a nuclear power if it wants.

As you can see, paranoia is rarely based on a rational evaluation of actual evidence. Japan’s defense budget is actually the 6th or 7th largest, not the 4th (the KT has conveniently forgotten to include China and Russia in its ranking). When the author writes that Japan’s SDF “all consists of officers,” he or she either doesn’t know what the word “officer” means, or is straight out lying. The concern about the force strength of Japan’s military is also rather silly, considering the fact that South Korea has a military with over 600,000 active duty personnel and about 8 million reservists. And, as the Korea Times noted in an article earlier this year, “South Korea, like Japan, has the technology to build a nuclear arsenal quickly if it decides to do so.”

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Chinese Theme Park Builds Copy of Japanese Gundam

Japanese netizens are having a major lol-fest after a China-based blogger uploaded photos of a construction project being carried out at a theme park in Sichuan:

It’s a copy of Japan’s life-sized Gundam mobile suit (shown on the left). Although it is painted orange and is slightly smaller than the Japanese version, it is unquestionably a Gundam.

The weird use of orange seems to suggest that it is an unauthorized reproduction. Nobody seems to have been able to find out additional details, but it is already being compared to China’s infamous copy of Disney Land.

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Does Tequila Make You Crazy?

In the midst of the exhausting coverage of kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo’s drunken stupidity, one channel interviewed a Mexican guy who runs a tequila importing business in Japan. Apparently Ebizo’s remarks at a press conference had implied that “strong” tequila had caused him to become totally wasted. This Mexican fellow wanted to set the record straight about his country’s fine liquor:

The man, who thinks that Tequila’s image may have been damaged by Ebizo’s remarks, reminds viewers that tequila is just another form of liquor, and adults should act responsibly when drinking alcohol.

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Japanese Police Defeat Fake Biker Gang

Japanese police put on a show for the media to convince people that they can defeat rowdy gangs of motorcyclists:

Apparently the New Year’s holiday is a period in which cops try to crack down on biker gang activity, so the police want everyone to know they’re ready.

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