Archive for April, 2011

Englishman Arrested for Disturbing the Peace of a Loud Japanese Election Campaign

It’s no secret that Japan has some of the loudest advertising, propaganda, preaching, and political campaigns around. Most foreigners, not to mention more than a few Japanese, would like to see the loud speakers crushed into dust. But we all put up with it, because this is Japan, and people put up over here, by gum. But not one brave man. Yes, call it reckless, but I am championing the drunken actions of one Englishman who just wasn’t going to take it any more.

According to Itai News, one Edward Jones was recently arrested for grabbing a mike from a politician at a train station and yelled about how Japanese elections are loud and annoying. He allegedly had just finished a few drinks with friends. After his display, he was hauled off to jail.

Itai News’s comments are also filled with Japanese netizens voicing approval for Jones’s actions.
Here is a select few that I felt able to translate:

よくやった
Well done!

許した
I forgive him.

許そうまじでうるさい
Let’s forgive him, they really are loud.

ほんとウルセェ
They are bleeding annoying.

gjgjgj
Good Job! Good Job! Good Job!

無罪
He’s sinless (innocent).

選挙は本当に日本の恥部だよ
Elections really are the secret shame of Japan.

ジョーンズさんに1票
One vote for Jones!

日本の選挙って合理的じゃないよな。
騒音カーで名前叫ぶより、アメリカみたいにテレビとかで政策討論させた方がいい。
Japanese elections don’t make any sense.
Instead of shouting their names from sound trucks, they should have American-style televised policy debates.

[via Hiko]

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Tons of Rotten Fish Litter Tsunami-hit Towns

ATV reports on the effort to dispose of all the rotten fish that is mixed in with the wreckage of tsunami-hit towns:

In Kesennuma, the tsunami destroyed warehouses that were filled with thousands of tons of pacific saury (sanma). The fish can now be found scattered all around. It’s been over a month since the tsunami, so the fish are very rotten. A similar situation exists in Rikuzentakata.

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Tepco President Offers Bows & Apologies to Angry Evacuees

Masataka Shimizu, president of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), visited Fukushima yesterday and met with and apologized to evacuees. As one might expect, there were few positive reactions:

It was the first visit of its kind, made over a month after the beginning of the nuclear accident. Some evacuees were clearly angry that it took so long for Shimizu to show his face before them. As he got down on his knees and bowed in apology, a shout of “it’s too late to apologize” could be heard coming from somewhere off camera.

From the Mainichi:

At the Big Palette Fukushima convention center in Koriyama, where about 1,650 residents from Tomioka and Kawauchi are taking refuge, President Shimizu crouched down on the floor with both hands and bowed in apology. But residents did not hide their anger, with some saying, “Buy our land” and “Just destroy the nuclear power plant.”

Kazuya Yokota, a 63-year-old unemployed man and one of the evacuees, said, “I wanted him to come here much earlier. My mother in her 90s used to say ‘I wanted to go home’ before dying yesterday due to emotional strain. I’ve cried myself tearless.”

And from the Straits Times:

Tepco has always said, ‘It’s all right, it’s all right.’ Now what is it all right about?’ one elderly woman was shown demanding of him on ATV.

‘Tepco is a murderer,’ charged another evacuee, Kazuya Yokota, 63, who said his 95-year-old mother had died the previous day in the shelter.

‘Eight friends of mine have died in evacuation centres,’ he protested to Mr Shimizu, Jiji Press news agency reported.

Shimizu also met with Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato, who was tired of hearing the same old apologies and excuses:

Sato replied, “Compensation must be provided at all cost,” and demanded the firm pay for several kinds of damages, including those caused by rumors.

Regarding the possibility of restarting the nuclear power plant, the governor said it was “impossible under the current situation.”

Sato openly showed emotion when he talked about children who have been forced to evacuate due to the nuclear accident. Sato said about 6,000 children had moved to other prefectures. “How can you understand the feelings of children from the disaster-hit areas? They’ve been scattered across the nation and only want to come home as soon as possible.”

The governor also expressed displeasure about Shimizu’s response to the accident. “Isn’t there a more sincere way to apologize? I don’t want to hear the words ‘unpredictable scale of the tsunami’ ever again,” Sato said.

“[The workers in the nuclear plant] are working harder than the president. They’re the only hope for the residents of this prefecture. I wish their working environment would be improved,” Sato said.

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Symbol of Hope: 1000-year-old Cherry Tree Blooms in Fukushima

A 1,000-year-old cherry tree in Fukushima prefecture is being seen as a symbol of hope after surviving the March 11th earthquake and beautifully blooming:

The Miharu-Takizakura cherry tree, a national treasure located in Miharu, Fukushima, is one of only three of its kind in the country, dating back more than 1,000 years.
It survived the devastation caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which hit the prefecture, with Miharu town suffering collapsed houses and cracked roadways.
This week, in a demonstration of resilience, the historic tree hit the peak of its springtime blooming, attracting an estimated 60,000 visitors to appreciate its pink flowers.
Thousands of visitors have streamed around the tree despite the tourist office’s cancellation of special cherry tree viewing bus services and the absence of illumination.

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Operation Soul Train: American Military Helps Fix Railways in Tohoku

A video report from FTV shows American soldiers and members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces working together to clean up a damaged railway station in Miyagi prefecture:

The effort, which aims to put the Senseki line back into working order, is being called “Operation Soul Train”:

Due to severe damage, particularly in coastal areas, the SDF and the U.S. Army Japan decided to assist the efforts at the request of the Miyagi prefectural government.

About 40 U.S. soldiers and 16 SDF personnel removed a refrigerator and a vending machine that had been washed into Nobiru Station in Higashi-Matsushima in the prefecture by tsunami triggered by the March 11 earthquake. They also used heavy machinery to clear debris left on the platform.

The U.S. Army Japan named the operation “Soul Train.” Col. Alan Neyland, who leads the operation, said that they wanted to put U.S. and Japanese soul into the restoration of the Senseki Line.

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Celebrity Dog Wasao Named Stationmaster in Aomori

Wasao, the most famous dog in Aomori prefecture, has been appointed stationmaster of Ajigasawa station:

Naming Wasao to the special position of “tourism stationmaster” is a move that is meant to remind people that Aomori wants tourists to come visit. Apparently, the area’s tourism industry has been suffering since the March 11th earthquake.

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