Pro-Pyongyang Protest March
Transmissions From Tokyo reports on seeing a group of people marching in Shibuya holding signs that demand Japanese tax money be spent funding pro-North Korea schools for ethnic Korean residents of Japan:
People holding signs and slogans demanding the government recognize “Chosen” (Korean) high schools as covered by the education act. They were basically demanding the government fund these schools and abolish tuition fees. These schools are currently classified as vocational schools and not supported by tax dollars.
This didn’t sit well with the right wingers and police came out in force to avoid physical confrontation. There was a lot confusion at first as hordes of police ran every which way. But mission accomplished, no blood was spilled.
Police tactics were interesting. They identified right-wingers and troublemakers in the crowds and then formed tight human circles around them. Police made no attempt to silence them however. Not that they could have I guess. The extremists love to shout, scream and give the finger. But it did avoid a violent situation. Well done Tokyo police.
Check out the original blog post for more photos.
Should Japanese tax money be used to fund schools that teach a pro-Pyongyang curriculum?
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Foreigners in Japan
A Prison Without Walls
A very special prison exists adjacent to the Shin Kurushima Dockyard in Ehime prefecture. It is a prison without walls, a normal-looking apartment building that houses just 31 prisoners. The prisoners participate in a program that trains them to become productive members of society by giving them real experience working at a shipyard. The clip below is a 15 minute ATV news report about the prison:
Competition is fierce for the limited number of spots in the program. As part of the entry process applicants must undergo 5 weeks of intensive training at a normal prison. To make sure that only well-disciplined prisoners are selected for the program, the training program includes lots of strict group drills and formation marching.
Learning a trade isn’t the only advantage of this program. Prisoners in the program are also eligible for early release. Whereas normal prisoners are usually only given parole after serving 80% of their sentences, these prisoners will be eligible for parole after serving 60%.
The reporter interview a 34-year-old prisoner about why he is applying for the program. He is in jail for a drug-related offense, serving a sentence of 2 years and 10 months. He says he is doing it so he can get return to his wife and children, who are having a difficult time without him. He hopes that he can stay away from drugs when he gets out of prison, but he lacks confidence. He hopes that the program will teach him the self-discipline that he’ll need to stay clean in the future.
The prisoner is interviewed by a panel of correctional officers and a shipyard official. He passes, along with the other 5 prisoners interviewed that day.
This shipyard training program has been going on for 50 years. Of the 3,500 prisoners who participated in the program, 2,500 have successfully completed the program without trouble.
(Note: This was only the first half of a two-part program. Although I have not found a copy of the second half, I figured the first half was interesting enough to post.)
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
Chimpanzee vs. Octopus
Performing chimpanzee Pan-kun returns “home” to his treehouse to find a tank full of vile octopuses! What will he do when one of them leaps out of the tank and onto his floor? Watch the clip and find out:
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Animal Videos
Cute & Creepy Window Dog
A dog in Japan that seems to always push his face against a glass screen door:
Nobody deliberately taught the dog to do that with the glass. However he was basically trained to do it, since his masters probably rewarded him with a treat the first time he did it, and have since made a habit of rewarding his “cute” behavior.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Animal Videos
Comments on the Sumo Match-fixing Scandal
A couple choice quotes from the Japan Times’ “Foreign sumo fans have their say on yaocho“:
“Sumo can only bounce back if the sumo world somehow turns off the constant drip, drip, drip of scandals that are devastating the sport. They have to modernize from top to bottom, which means not getting rid of the topknots, but changing the ways they train, reward and generally manage their operation.
“The system they have now rewards or winks at bad behavior, from grown men beating a teenager to death in the name of “discipline” to throwing bouts for cash. Calls for moral reform, with no real changes to systems and rules, are meaningless.
“When American pro baseball was nearly ruined by the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ World Series betting scandal, they gave an outside commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, total independence to clean up the sport — and he proceeded to do so, relentlessly. Will the sumo powers-that-be consider something so bold? I hope, but I doubt.”
Mark Schilling, author of “Sumo: A Fan’s Guide” and N-H-K guest commentator
“Short-term, there’s no doubt that the basho will resume. I’d say July at the earliest, and January next year at the very latest. But will anyone buy tickets?
“So long-term, I’m not optimistic. Not only will the JSA take a big hit in ticket sales, there’s no guarantee that N-H-K will choose to air the tournaments live from now on. Ratings were already terrible . . . if this was an ordinary TV show, it would have been cancelled long ago.
“The oyakata have shown that they’re incapable of running a business. As we know, their attitude is “this is the way it has always been done, and that’s the way it will continue to be done.” The only way they bounce back is by finding outside specialists who are willing to take on the Herculean task of turning sumo into a modern day professional sports organization.
“I’m not a fan of K-1 and other MMA sports, but they do an excellent job of marketing to the prime age group (men between 20-50 in age). Compare that to the Kokugikan, where I doubt most of the fans will still be alive 10 years from now. So they have to find people who know how to sell tickets. The first step is an easy one . . . move the matches to later in the day where the makuuchi bouts start around 7pm so that people can go after work.
“Yaocho will not be eliminated but I’m not so concerned about that because I’m pretty sure it involves mainly the marginal sekitori who are at the bottom of makuuchi or juryo, and are fighting simply to stay in the division and / or continue receiving a paycheck. I think that the yusho race is legitimate. In any case, everyone in the JSA should be ordered to look up the Japanese word for ‘integrity’ right away.”
Ross Mihara, N-H-K sumo announcer
And a video of Sumo announcer Doreen Simmons talking with the BBC:
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
Self Checkout Meow
“Nanikore” finds a supermarket in Wakayama prefecture where the self checkout machines make animal sounds instead of beeps:
They did it to entertain children. The self checkout machines make cat sounds, dog sounds, and sheep sounds.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Odd / Strange, Technology